President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday reaffirmed his promise to provide one million houses for poor families every year under his administration’s public housing program.
Mr. Marcos was in Nueva Ecija on Wednesday to lead the groundbreaking ceremony of the Palayan City To wnship, a project under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program.
“I’m glad that we are continuing. This is not the first groundbreaking that I have attended. I hope… I know it will not be the last, and that we will continue to break ground in different parts around the country so that our dreams for one million homes a year,” the President said.
“One million homes a year, if we reach that, at least it will be of great help to at least solve our problem in housing,” the Chief Executive added.
According to the President, the administration’s concept is to provide families with shelter not only for poor residents but also for employed people who struggle to have decent housing.
Housing agencies and developers must consider providing their housing projects with facilities and necessities like water, power, schools, markets as well as transport hubs, Mr. Marcos said.
“All of these things have to come together. It is not a question. We already have an experience,” Marcos said.
“I hope that we’ll continue at this rate, and we have to do this. This is one of the many (projects) actually, that we are going to break ground, and I hope soon,” he added.
The President expressed his gratitude to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and to the Palayan City local government for their efforts in spearheading the housing project, stressing that collaboration is necessary for ventures like shelter projects.
The 11-hectare Palayan City Township Housing Project is part of the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program aimed at addressing the country’s housing needs by building one million houses each year in the next six years.
Once completed, the community township in Palayan City will give rise to 44 towers that can accommodate 11,000 housing units.
Under the three-phase project, 5,100 housing units will be built first, with support infrastructure such as an elementary school, livelihood center, administrative offices, a central park, basketball court, a mini market and hawker area, aquaponics area, sewage treatment plant, and materials recovery facility.
Construction will commence in April next year with the project’s phase 1, with 2,500 housing units seen to be finished in 2024.
The national housing project is expected to generate 1.7 million jobs every year from 2023 to 2028. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
Meanwhile, House Speaker Martin Romualdez lauded President Marcos Jr.’s inauguration of the project in Nueva Ecija.
“Building 6 million houses is the target of President Marcos Jr., I am very confident we can achieve this through our unity in purpose and the cooperation of all stakeholders in the program,” said Romualdez, who accompanied the President during the event.
He said the 6 million houses may be just another target to accomplish “but imagine giving 6 million families houses they can call their own.”
“That is not only addressing the housing backlog, it is also realizing the dreams of millions of Filipinos who yearn for a house they can call their own,” Romualdez added, saying this will go a long way in addressing the housing backlog in the country.
“President Marcos is addressing the country’s woes on all fronts almost simultaneously: food security, foreign investments, jobs and livelihood, public order and safety, health and social protection, and now social services like housing,” he said.
“We in Congress will do everything to support our President in all his programs because we also believe that if we work as one, we can achieve even the greatest of ambitions. This is how we move forward, this is how we move mountains,” he added.
Earlier this month, Marcos also turned over several housing units in Naic, Cavite to beneficiaries of the National Housing Authority (NHA).
There, he said that the government is eyeing to build mid- to high-rise buildings for public housing instead of row houses.