Rama asks developers to build cheap houses

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City’s top officials have urged the developers in the country to help the city government build medium-rise buildings (MRBs) for its socialized housing program.

Mayor Michael Rama and Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia made the call during the gathering of members of the Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) last Wednesday.

Rama said that he saw a glimpse of hope again after the developers reconvened after the pandemic hit the country. He is hoping that more MRBs will be established in the city with the developers complying with the socialized housing law.

The Cebu Landmasters, Inc. has established two MRBs in Barangay Lorega-San Miguel.

“You are the answer to our Medium-Rise Building needs that we would like to be in place in the City of Cebu…and we need your help. Will you accept to be part of it?” Rama asked the developers as reported by the city’s Public Information Office.

After receiving a positive response from them, the mayor asked them to make a pledge to join his administration’s vision and desire of transforming Cebu into a Singapore-like city.

Garcia, for his part, told the developers that they could build their socialized housing in the city, through the construction of MRBs, because 90 percent of the residents here are in the urban area.

He added that they would be a great help, as thousands of families in the urban area do not have proper homes.

The vice mayor added that he saw the problem himself, being the chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Housing.

He said that one of the things that he had observed was that there are developers who do not care about the socialized housing as part of the law when they build structures here.

“The developers go to Cebu City, look at it as a very lucrative place for them to build condominiums or subdivisions, and then they need not care where they will comply with their socialized housing aspect,” said Garcia.

According to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Resolution No. 965, “socialized housing” refers to housing programs and projects covering houses and lots or home lots only, or residential condominium units, undertaken by the Government or the private sector for the underprivileged and homeless citizens, which shall include sites and services development, long-term financing, liberalized terms on interest payments, and other benefits.

The city government is planning to establish more MRBs for the city’s informal settlers, among them are those who will be displaced by the development of the waterfront area as well as the strict implementation of the three-meter easement for the waterways. — GAN (FREEMAN)