DHSUD chief backs pro-housing bill

Housing czar Eduardo del Rosario is batting for the passage of a pro-housing bill into law.

Del Rosario said that he is strongly supporting President Rodrigo’s Duterte’s initiative in passing into law two key housing bills aimed at championing public welfare, especially the underprivileged.

“We at Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development welcome the President’s call for lawmakers to hasten the passage into law of the National Housing Development and Rental Housing Subsidy bills, which are vital to providing one of man’s basic needs—shelter —to Filipino families, particularly those in the low-income group,” he said.

“Having such legislations will make it easier for the government to carry out its housing programs nation-wide,” he added.

In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte called on lawmakers to fasttrack the passage into law of the two bills.

The National Housing Development bill aims to earmark funds to hasten government-led housing programs for the underprivileged.

The proposed legislation had been filed both at the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2019, but remained pending at the committee level.

The Rental Housing Subsidy bill, seeks to provide a flat-rate rental cash aid to informal sector families from the government, enabling them to access the formal housing market.

The DHSUD is now in the process of crafting a 20-year housing strategic roadmap to be implemented in the form of short, medium- and long-term programs and projects, and covers a 20-year period, aligned with Ambisyon Natin 2040.