Palayan City will be the pilot site in Central Luzon of the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program of Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
The 11-hectare township located in barangay Atate will have 44 towers with about 11,000 units.
During Wednesday’s Groundbreaking Ceremony attended by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said the government will ensure that public services and sources of livelihood will be more accessible to Filipinos through the program.
“President Marcos envisions to provide not just decent housing to all Filipinos, but a holistic community where there are available sources of living and which could provide comfortable lives for all,” he emphasized.
With this, the cabinet official also thanked the provincial government of Nueva Ecija and the city government of Palayan for embracing and rolling out the program which will benefit the underprivileged families in the community.
For his part, DHSUD Regional Director Julius Ervin Enciso said the primary goal of the program is to provide one million housing units annually.
In Central Luzon, there are already identified housing sites in the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Aurora, and Zambales.
“When the other governors heard Secretary [Acuzar] presented the program, they expressed interest to meet with us and discuss this further. Basically, the role of the local government units (LGUs) is to provide a land which will serve as housing sites,” he said.
DHSUD asked Department of Budget and Management and Congress to allocate P36 billion for interest subsidy to make the housing units more affordable from a roughly P6,500 to P7,000 monthly amortization to just P3,500 which is payable within 30 years.
Enciso said the agency also provides subsidies through private developers for development of common facilities such as multi-purpose hall, day care center, wet and dry market.
Beneficiaries can go to the National Housing Authority, Pag-IBIG Fund, and banks for their housing loans. The target start of construction is January to February 2023. (CLJD/MJSC-PIA 3)