Speaker vows funding for P10B yearly subsidy for housing program

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Tuesday vowed congressional support for the subsidy of the government’s socialized housing project.

“Initially, our calculation is at least P10 billion. Mukhang makukuha natin ‘yan. We’re hoping that, as you can see, our national budget increases every year,” Romualdez told reporters.

Romualdez made the assurance after Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Jerry Acuzar appealed for such subsidy amount during the site inspection of the low-cost housing program in San Mateo, Rizal. 

The government’s housing program, dubbed as the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program (4PH), has 20 location sites nationwide so far.

The San Mateo site is expected to serve 4,000 families, with each housing unit measuring at 24 to 27 square meters.

The unit price is still under deliberation, but the ballpark period so far is at P1.6 million per unit.

The San Mateo site will also have a common area of central park, basketball court, and swimming pool.

“I am happy that people will get to enjoy these amenities that is only normally seen in subdivisions or condominiums,” Romualdez said.

The San Mateo site will be composed of six buildings. Building 1 is at least 66% complete, while Building 2 is at 35%.

Building 3 is at 22% completion, while Building 4 is at 12%.

Building 5 and 6 are just at 8% and 5.9%, respectively.

Government records showed that the housing backlog in the country is at 6.5 million units.

As of May this year, Acuzar said Pag-ibig fund had already released about P761.5 million to private contractors who are now constructing the four 4PH programs in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. —VAL, GMA Integrated News