TABUK CITY, Kalinga – More than three thousand housing units will be constructed by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) in partnership with the local government for the establishment of a township settlement in the city and to provide adequate housing for qualified residents not only of the city but also of the whole province.
Mayor Darwin C. Estran͂ero said that the local government is simply awaiting the formalization of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between DHSUD and the local government for the realization of the proposed put up of the township settlement in the city.
He added that the said housing units will be located in some 14 medium and high rise buildings that will be constructed within a 3- to 4-hectare property to make available housing units to qualified beneficiaries identified through the assistance of concerned government agencies.
Mayor Estran͂ero claimed that the establishment of the township settlement in the city is part of the government’s Pambansang Pabahay Program of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. that aims to construct more than one million housing units within the next several years to address the country’s housing backlog.
According to him, the local government has more than enough landholdings that can be used as counterparts so that concerned government agencies will consider the fast growing city as their sites for future development initiatives that will spur the local economy and provide additional sources of livelihood for the people.
He expressed the gratitude of the people and officialdom of Tabuk to DSHUD officials headed by Secretary Jose Acosar for considering the city as one of the sites for the implementation of its township settlement project that will benefit thousands of residents not only from the city but also from the different parts of the province.
On the other hand, Mayor Estran͂ero disclosed that the local government is also looking to put up additional housing units right in the heart of the city or the additional spaces at the public market structures where the two-storey buildings will be increased to as high as 12 stories to be able accommodate socialized housing units in the upper floors of the said buildings that will be constructed by the market developer.
The mayor explained that he is awaiting for the amendment of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the market developer so that it will include an additional source of income for the local government with the establishment of the housing units above the areas that will be occupied by the city public market. Tabuk has a land area of more than 700 square kilometers making it the third largest city in the country behind Davao City and Ilagan City in nearby Isabela province. It was created as a city by virtue of the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9404 which was ratified by the people of Tabuk during a plebiscite held on June 24, 2007.
Estran͂ero remains hopeful that the aforesaid projects will be immediately implemented and completed the soonest so that interested residents wanting to own their houses will be able to do so through the realization of the government’s nationwide housing program that had been earlier rolled out to reduce the gap among the people without decent housing. By Dexter A. See