57K houses for police, soldiers unoccupied

From the Manila Times (Sep 10): 57K houses for police, soldiers unoccupied

Of the 60,000 housing units for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) nationwide, 57,000 remain unoccupied, according to Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito.

Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement, who visited on Friday the AFP and PNP housing units in Barangay Felisa, Bacolod City, said the National Housing Authority (NHA), in consonance with a joint resolution filed by him and Rep. Alfredo Benitez (3rd District, Negros Occidental) that was approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, was authorized to redistribute the housing units to willing takers, who are qualified beneficiaries.

Issuance of a joint resolution prompted informal settlers led by Kadamay (Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap)-Negros and its allied groups to storm the military and police housing site in Barangay Felisa, Bacolod City, to demand that the units be awarded to them.

But the NHA said 1,498 housing units have already been awarded to uniformed personnel.

Ejercito said Kadamay members can avail of the houses, as long as they can pay and they are qualified.

“I hope they understand that the collections will be used to build more housing units,” he added.

The senator pointed out that 1.2 million housing units are immediately needed.

It will go up to six million in 2022 if the housing backlog will not be addressed.

“What Kadamay did was not good. It does not help the situation,” Ejercito said, citing what the militant group also did in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and recently in Bacolod City.

Uniformed personnel are paying P200 to P400 a month for every housing unit and even the lowest salaried government workers are trying to save money for the housing units, the senator added.

He said the housing project is not free.

Lack of transportation, use of substandard materials and locations of housing projects, which are far from the city or town centers, are among the common complaints aired against the housing projects of past administrations, according to Ejercito.

But the new NHA leadership, he said, is undertaking housing reforms, based on recommendation of his committee, and that of Benitez, who heads the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, he said.

Ejercito added that the creation of a Housing Department, which is now being deliberated on by both Houses of Congress, will improve the quality of housing and increase the number of houses to be constructed.

https://www.manilatimes.net/57k-houses-for-police-soldiers-unoccupied/439946/