1M poor families now have homes
More than one million poor families have been amortizing their own homes instead of renting since 2001, when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed office.
Vice President Noli de Castro, concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), said the President made housing a priority program since 2001 which now provided more decent homes to urban poor communities and the low- and middle income families.
At the Retrospective Seminar on the Housing Sector at the Shangri-La Hotel in
“For the past nine years, the President has transformed housing into one of the dynamic sectors of our economy,” De Castro said.
For the formal sector, De Castro said the Home Development Mutual (PAG-IBIG) Fund provided higher loanable amounts, lower interest rates, longer repayment terms, and faster processing of loan applications, resulting in the surge in home acquisition among low- and middle-income families since 2001.
For a P400,000 housing loan, De Castro said the affordable monthly amortization is now only six percent or P2,400 per month, more than 50 percent lower that the P5,400 monthly amortization in 2001.
De Castro said amortization for a P600,000 loan for low-income families stood at seven percent, while loans for middle income families worth P3 million stood at 11.5 percent.
For the informal sector, De Castro said the Asset Reform Program has improved security of tenure, particularly for the relocation of 105,000 families under the Rail Relocation and Resettlement Program, the biggest and most successful undertaking of its kind by the national government in recent history.
De Castro said the strengthened Community Mortgage Program (CMP) also released P5.3 billion, which funded 963 projects focused solely on shelter programs for the informal sector.
Another unprecedented achievement, De Castro said, is the President’s issuance of 113 proclamations declaring about 27,000 hectares of government lands all over the country as socialized housing sites, benefiting an estimated 280,000 families.
Expressing their gratitude to the President were housing beneficiaries such as Teodora Santos of San Pedro, Laguna who used to pay P6,000 in rent but now pays a P2,400 monthly amortization on her PAG-IBIG loan.
Adelo Flores, president of the relocation site, NorthVille I in
CMP beneficiary Carmela Inson, president of the Andrea Paz Homeowners Association in Calamba, Laguna, told the President they have now individual titles and have become true home owners under the government housing program.
Manny Crisostomo, national president of the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, praised the President’s housing program which greatly reduced red tape in the processing of documents, permits, and licenses with the creation of one-stop shops.
Crisostomo added the President’s directive to fully computerize the Land Registration Authority (LRA) will soon provide a faster and less costly land titling system.
Marissa del Mar, president of the National Real Estate Association, said the President’s housing program helped established over 1.1 million housing units since 2001 which contributed trillions of peso to the national economy.
In partnership with the private sector, Taguig City Mayor Sigfrido Tinga said his city garnered the Galing Pook Award last year through the government’s housing program for rail dwellers.
Gawad Kalinga chairman and founder Antonio Meloto, thanked the President for believing in the capability of the “ordinary Filipino” when they met while he was establishing a model community in
To date, Meloto said Gawad Kalinga has established more than 2,000 model communities in partnership with the national government, private donors and the beneficiaries themselves, with their work at the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Corp. (Baseco) Tondo community-cited by
Subic,
SUBIC BAY
This was the call made by business and community leaders from the Subic Bay Freeport and the Clark Freeport at the recent “Subic-Clark Logistics Corridor: Milestones and Prospects” forum, which was held at
The stakeholders also expressed concern that the “impressive” economic momentum in the former US military bases, which managed to post economic gains despite the devastation wrought by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, the major financial crises in 1997 and the recent recession, “might be halted if the next administration will enact major changes in governance, particularly in business policies.”
About 500 persons attended the forum, mostly from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), North Luzon Railways Corp. (Northrail), and chambers of commerce in both the Subic and
They were joined by key officials from the national and local governments, who presented the achievements of the Arroyo administration in Subic and
In the forum, SBMA administrator Armand Arreza and CDC executive vice-president Philip Panlilio both expressed optimism that “consistency in governance and business policies” will be maintained in the aftermath of the May 10 polls.
They also expressed confidence that both the SBMA’s five-year strategic plan for the Subic Bay Freeport (2010-2015), and CDC’s comprehensive master plan for Clark Freeport would sustain the development momentum in the two economic zones.
“The next administration will surely see the gains and benefits that was made during our term,” said Arreza, whose five-year strategic plan for Subic emphasizes development expansion into the surrounding areas of
Edgardo Pamintuan, former chair of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council, meanwhile reported on the body’s achievements in pursuit of President Arroyo’s vision to develop the Subic-Clark corridor into a highly-competitive international services and logistics center in the Asia-Pacific region.
“I believe that we have laid the foundation on which future public servants can build with the assurance of strength and the stability,” Pamintuan said.
Despite the optimism among SBMA, CDC and SCADC officials, representatives from the business sector said they were “a bit concerned” about the coming transition.
“As in business, when there is a change in management, there would be some disruptions. Hopefully, the next administration would implement existing policies, and leave alone business so business will thrive,” said Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce president Danny Piano.
To ensure the steady growth of trade in the Subic-Clark corridor beyond the elections, the stakeholders signed a “Declaration of Cooperation Between the Public and Private Sectors of Subic and Clark” and presented it to President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo.
Signatories of the document represented the SCADC, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), SBMA, CDC, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), and Northrail.
Officials of business organizations SBFCC and the Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) also signed the accord.
NSO Launches 2010 Census of Population and Housing
By Bradley de Leon
Last April 30, 2010,The National Statistics Office launched the 2010 Census of Population and Housing. It was held in Sulo-Riviera Hotel in Diliman, Quezon The census will take an inventory of the total population and housing units in the country and collect information about their characteristics. NSO is the lead agency in the conduct of the 2010 CPH that shall commence on May 17.
NSO Administrator Carmelita Ericta said that the start of the census operations coincides with Proclamation No. 2028, recently signed by President Macapagal-Arroyo declaring May as National Census Month.
The NSO chief also cited Batas Pambansa Blg. 72 which provides for the taking of an integrated census every 10 years beginning in 1980 and the requirement for an up-to-date and comprehensive data of the population at the local levels in line with the national government's trust to decentralize functions to the local government units (LGUs).
NSO will tap 13,500 teacher supervisors and 3,500 area supervisors to cover 42,032 barangays (villages) for the upcoming census operations.
DOE and
By Bradley de Leon
The Department of Energy, the government agency in-charge of implementing and administering the Philippine Energy Efficient Project (PEEP) and the local government of Baguio will sign on Thursday, May 6, a Memorandum of Agreement that will install CFL/ LED lighting system at Burnham Park.
In the said MOA, the DOE will be responsible in providing the funds for materials and labor cost and facilitate the bidding and awarding of the Electrical Contractor (EC) that will undertake the services of the project, In return, the Baguio LGU shall allow the EC contracted by the DOE to install and implement lighting system retrofitting at Burnham Park. It should provide assistance, through the city engineers, during the implementation of the project. It should allow DOE or PEEP staff to conduct documentation and inspection of the project after completion. It should provide and report the performance data in particular, the electricity consumption of the project for a period of at least one year after the implementation. Security and regular maintenance to the project shall also be provided by the Baguio LGU.
The DOE will be represented by Undersecretary Loreta G. Saycon while the Local Government of Baguio will be represented by its mayor, Reinaldo A.Bautista Jr.
