An estimated 3,000 informal settler families (ISFs), including fire victims back in 2019, stand to benefit from a new housing project in Bataan.
This came after the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario led Friday the groundbreaking and ceremonial turnover of check donation for land development of the 1Bataan Village in Orion, where 2,936 housing units will be constructed to accommodate ISFs who were displaced by an accidental fire in a local town two years ago.
It will also serve as a resettlement site for ISFs living along danger zones across Bataan province.
The project will be jointly undertaken by the DHSUD, Bataan provincial government, the National Housing Authority (NHA) and AyalaLand Corp., through its incentivized compliance to balanced housing program.
In his message, del Rosario stressed that the Department, together with its key shelter agencies (KSAs), consider shelter as a right of every Filipino.
DHSUD and the Bataan LGU finalized a Memorandum of Agreement in December last year. Under the pact, the Department, through the NHA, will lead the land development to pave the way for the construction of six three-story buildings on the housing site acquired by the Bataan LGU.
According to del Rosario, DHSUD’s two other housing principles are building Filipino communities, not just housing units, and ensure that no substandard housing project is built under the Duterte administration.
Also in attendance at the key event were Bataan Governor. Albert Garcia, Vice-Governor Ma. Cristina Garcia and Orion Mayor Antonio Raymundo Jr. as well as DHSUD Regional Office 3 Director Lyndon Juntilla, Assistant Regional Director Felix Brazil, Housing and Real Estate Development and Regulation Bureau OIC-Director Angel Aguila and former Assistant Secretary Leira Buan.
For his part, Garcia thanked the national government through DHSUD for helping make the project into a reality.
Since last year, del Rosario has been spearheading a number of groundbreaking events for land development of housing projects that were finalized with LGUs across the country in partnership with its KSAs and developers from the private sector.