(UPDATE) QUEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Tuesday confirmed that the local government has sealed a new partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) for new rental housing units for informal settler families, including those living in danger zones.
Belmonte told The Manila Times that she and of Human Settlements Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling signed a memorandum of agreement for the construction of medium-rise buildings in Sauyo and Bagong Silangan districts.
These were identified by the local government for rental housing modality under the expanded Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program being implemented by DHSUD and its attached shelter agencies, the city chief executive said.
According to Aliling, around 2,900 people, particularly those living along waterways and danger zones, stand to benefit from the proposed housing projects.
“The DHSUD and the Quezon City government are finalizing details of the two rental housing projects,” the housing czar said.
With the initial site works ongoing, the DHSUD chief said the first rental housing project under 4PH is the Marilag Residences located in the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus, which is expected to benefit at least 3,000 people.
Aliling reiterated that the agreement his agency forged with the local government was the result of last year’s exploratory meeting between him and Belmonte, who threw her full support to the agency’s push for a rental housing scheme under the national government’s housing program.
Upon his assumption to office last year, Aliling ordered the inclusion of rental housing among the new modalities under the 4PH program. Apart from the three rental housing projects in Quezon City, similar project modalities are slated to start soon in the cities of Victorias and Iloilo in the Visayas.
Aliling also said that the expanded 4PH has housing modalities for the working class, through the Pag-IBIG Fund, which offers the lowest interest rate for beneficiaries.
