Police, military personnel shun housing projects

From the Business Mirror (Nov 24): Police, military personnel shun housing projects

The government may be forced to spend more for the refurbishment of unoccupied houses primarily constructed for the police and army personnel, according to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

In a news statement, Vice President and HUDCC Chairman Maria Leonor G. Robredo said only 8,397 houses of over 60,738 houses built for the police and military are currently occupied.

HUDCC said many of the unoccupied units have become dilapidated over time due to nonuse.
“While a few housing projects have been successful, the conditions of most of the houses in the sites I visited simply weren’t acceptable for the families of our soldiers and the police,” Robredo said. 

During a technical working group (TWG) meeting convened by the Department of National Defense  last month, National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Manuel Escalada Jr. said NHA would explore combining units to make the houses more livable.

The TWG also discussed the possibility that a portion of the unoccupied houses could be provided as housing grants to the families of soldiers and the police who are wounded or killed in action.

“We need to fill the gaps and fulfill the original objective of providing our soldiers and the police with decent and affordable homes for their families,” Robredo said.

The HUDCC said many opted not to occupy the units, even if they were required to do so after 30 days of construction, because they did not agree with the design and size of the lots.

The vice president said the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and the NHA raised their concerns even during the design phase of the project, but the previous administration still went ahead and constructed the units.

Each row house that was constructed was only about 22 square meters. These were on 40-sq-m lots in 65 barangays in 34 provinces nationwide.

The program began five years ago under Administrative Order  9, Series  2011, with a total budget of P20.78 billion to provide homes for “low-salaried” soldiers and police and their families across various barangays in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Soldiers and policemen had to pay an amortization of only P200 per month for the first five years. This will increase to P1,330 per month by the 25th year. With the low payment terms, HUDCC said many soldiers and the police take the houses for granted.

“The past administration pushed through with the design, however, since many soldiers and the police expressed their interest, nonetheless, given the affordability of the units compared to housing from the private sector,” HUDCC said.

Police Senior Superintendent Wilfredo Cayat said there was a mismatch in the location of the housing sites vis-à-vis the needs of the police.

The agency said there are sites that lack applicants while other sites do not have enough houses to meet the number of applications.

In August, Robredo said the absence of occupants and sheer number of units built could turn the NHA housing program for military and police personnel into a “white elephant.”

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/police-military-personnel-shun-housing-projects/