ACCESS to livelihood and the affordability of socialized housing for qualified beneficiaries are crucial for the success of the Cebu City government’s high-rise housing programs.
A major issue affecting the project’s success is the “government’s view of housing as merely a structure with four walls and a roof, said Francisco Fernandez of the Pagtambayayong Foundation Inc., in an interview on the sides of a flood control and mitigation forum at a hotel in Cebu City, on Thursday, Aug. 22.
Fernandez said the government and most developers proceed with housing projects without consideration to the accessibility of primary services and livelihood, and affordability, among others, when they decide for relocation of informal settler families (ISFs).
Pagtambayayong Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit, and non-governmental organization established in 1982, that works on facilitating and backing grassroots community development; these include the promotion of self-help housing cooperatives, creating opportunities for decent employment, and implementing suitable technology.
Fernandez said previous housing projects of the government include constructing socialized housing units for the less fortunate that is payable with lessen monthly amortization or free-of-charge; however, the majority of these projects were located in remote areas with less accessibility to major roads, transportation, and from primary services and facilities.
‘Far from work’
Fernandez said Cebu City Government’s socialized housing program, situated in upland areas, is far from the city proper and lacks adequate public transportation.
This, he said, has made it difficult for residents to reach their workplaces or access essential services and lead beneficiaries to abandon their socialized housing units, and opt to return to the city center to rent or, in some cases, become informal settlers once again.
Affordability
Fernandez highlighted that one of the main challenges of the national government’s 4PH program is the affordability of the housing units.
Launched in September 2022, the 4PH program aims to address the millions of housing backlogs by providing affordable homes and reducing monthly amortization costs.
This is achieved through loan grants from the Pag-IBIG Fund and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, targeting less fortunate and homeless individuals.
Fernandez said without the subsidized monthly amortization from the national and local government unit, beneficiaries have to shell out at least P9,000 per month.
The amount is already beyond the financial capacity of the beneficiaries, such as informal settlers and homeless, to afford for a long payment term of around 30 years.
He said there is a possibility that selected beneficiaries without access to stable and sustainable livelihood or work might defer payments that might result in foreclosure of properties in the future.
In compliance with the 4PH program, several private developers in Cebu City have committed to building medium-rise structures for beneficiaries displaced by the city’s clearance of structures from the three-meter easement along rivers and waterfronts.
However, these plans have yet to be implemented.
A socialized housing project in Barangay Lorega San Miguel, intended for informal settlers, remains incomplete three years after its construction began in 2021.
Acting Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia eyed to rebid the project with at least P118 million to spend for the project’s completion.
To speed up the clearing operation of informal settlers along the rivers and waterfronts, Garcia also eyed to bid the 400 transitional housing units to be deployed at South Road Properties (SRP) and Block 27 in the North Reclamation Area.
The transitional housing will temporarily house affected families until the permanent MRBs have finished construction. / EHP