The House of Representatives on Monday night approved on third and final reading a bill granting local government units added powers in expropriating lands for the homeless families.
With 171 lawmakers present at the session hall, the Lower House unanimously nodded House Bill 6342 or “An Act Strengthening the Right of Local Government Units to Expropriate Lands for the Benefit of the Landless.”
Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, chair of the House committee on urban development and who was elected head of the House bicameral conference panel, said HB 6342 will amend the Urban Development and Housing Act.
“HB 6342 clears obstacles in the system [in order] for government to acquire land for socialized housing,” Benitez said.
Benitez said the bill grants local government units the power to identify and prioritize areas to be acquired as sites for socialized housing.
“Various modes of acquisition of land may be pursued with expropriation to be resorted only when all other modes have been exhausted,” Benitez said.
Under the bill, areas to be converted into socialized housing sites are the following: owned by the government or any of its subdivision, alienable lands of the public domain, unregistered or abandoned and idle lands and those declared areas of priority development, zonal improvement program sites and slum improvement and resettlement program locations.
The bill provides that private lands and Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services still not yet acquired may also be converted for socialized housing program.
“Prioritization of areas to be developed into socialized housing areas will also rely on proper government agency concerned, aside from LGUs.
“However, LGUs are enjoined to give budgetary priority on-site development of government lands to be converted into housing sites,” Benitez explained.
HB 6342 provides that the modes of land acquisition shall be through community mortgage, land swapping, land assembly or consolidation, land banking, donation to government joint venture agreement negotiated purchase and expropriation.
Once enacted, Benitez said the measure will help address the huge housing backlog in the country. “It will relax rules in the acquisition of land for housing projects for poor and homeless families,” he said.