HUDCC eyes takeover of idle housing projects

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay said here the other day that the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) which he heads is prepared to take over “non-performing” housing projects worth about P100 billion nationwide in its bid to address the 3.6-million housing backlog.

The houses have become “non-performing assets” and have been deteriorating in the past 10 years in various parts of the country, he said.

This, as Binay appealed to local government units to upgrade their comprehensive land use plans (CLUPs) and set aside disaster-free alienable and disposable lands which could be given free under the government’s low-cost and socialized housing program.

In an open forum during the Pabahay Caravan of the HUDCC here Monday, Binay said his agency is empowered by law to assume control of housing projects which, for various reasons, have been abandoned for 10 years or more.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rodolfo Valencia, chairman of the House committee on housing, cited during the caravan a report from the Commission on Audit (COA) indicating that over the years, various government housing agencies have incurred receivables amounting to at least P100 billion from housing projects of either private developers or government institutions.

In an interview, Valencia said those constructed by private contractors were approved for funding under the housing programs of agencies such as the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) but have remained idle for 10 years or more.

Valencia said a syndicate is involved in selling off some of these properties at a huge loss to the government.

He recalled how some 40,000 housing units in various parts of the country were sold during the Arroyo administration for only 40 percent of the actual value of the properties.

Binay and Valencia expressed confidence that Congress would soon pass a bill creating a Department of Housing and Urban Development that would integrate the functions of several government agencies involved in housing.

“It is now one of the top five priorities in the House, after President Aquino certified it as such. It’s now at the House committee level,” Valencia said.

Binay said the creation of such a department would not counter the government’s thrust in involving local government units in fast-tracking low-cost and socialized housing projects.

He said the country’s 3.6-million housing backlog grows at a rate of 250,000 every year. – With Ric Sapnu