ITOGON, Benguet – The municipal government is making available a 3-hectare land that it will purchase for the implementation of the government housing project under the Pambansang Pabahay Para Sa Pilipino Program under the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) to provide affordable housing for qualified residents.
Mayor Bernard S. Waclin said that the local government will simply pay for the 3-hectare land as the same had already passed the initial assessment and evaluation conducted for the said purpose.
“We will simply pay the private owners of the agreed amount so that it will be transferred in the name of the municipality. In turn, we will offer it to the DHSUD for funding of the housing project that will benefit qualified residents willing to avail of the housing units that will be constructed thereat,” Mayor Waclin stressed.
He claimed that the municipal government prefers to have low-rise condominium-type structures on the property to ensure to make it feasible for the beneficiaries as high-rise structures in the locality might not be advisable.
The municipal chief executive pointed out that the offering of the property to be purchased is part of the contribution of the municipal government to the realization of the desire of the present administration to put up some 1 million housing units for Filipinos by 2028.
According to him, the 3-hectare property is just an initial area offered by the municipal government for the realization of the housing projects of the national government to address the backlog on the available housing for Filipinos in the country.
The said property is owned by a well-known family in the municipality and that the municipal government earlier offered to purchase this as the site for the implementation of the government’s housing project geared towards providing adequate housing for qualified residents who want to live in the municipality.
Itogon has a land area of more than 60,000 hectares where more than 75 percent of the same are classified to be forest, watershed, timberland and covered by mining claims of large-scale mining companies operating in the municipality.
Waclin expressed his gratitude to the owner of the property for allowing it to be purchased by the municipal government for the government’s housing project.
The mayor added that all the necessary requisites for the purchase of the property had already been completed and what is being awaited are the documents that will support the release of the funds to consummate the purchase before the title will be transferred in the name of the municipal government.
Earlier, the DHSUD encouraged local governments to make available certain properties for the implementation of the government’s housing program geared towards the put up of over 1 million housing units by 2028 to significantly reduce the backlog in housing units for the Filipinos to have a house they can call their own.
