A CATHOLIC priest has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to immediately address the housing problem as thousands of informal settlers forcibly occupy government housing projects in Bulacan because, he said, Duterte did not fulfill his campaign promise to provide housing for the poor.
Fr. Pete Montallana, lead convenor of the Sikap Laya, Inc., said the government must work on probable solutions to address the problems on housing.
He said Duterte won because he promised housing assistance to informal settlers and addressed the problems faced by the urban poor.
“But unfortunately, the National Housing Authority has been foot-dragging in its job,” Montallana said in a radio interview.
The priest said housing and livelihood were the most common problem in almost all urban areas in the country.
Montallana is hoping Duterte would give due attention and provide probable solutions to particular problems.
Thousands of families from Metro Manila have earlier occupied more than 5,000 government housing units in Pandi, Bulacan and the City of San Jose del Monte without permission of authorities.
The housing projects were developed for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.