Binay orders probe on substandard 'Sendong' houses

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay has ordered the National Housing Authority (NHA) to immediately conduct a thorough investigation into reports that some housing units built for the survivors of tropical storm “Sendong” in Cagayan de Oro City were substandard.

Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, issued the order after receiving complaints from residents of the Calaanan relocation site in Barangay Canito-an that cracked walls and floors in their housing units could not withstand even a low magnitude earthquake. 

Binay said he has directed NHA general manager Chito Cruz to look into the complaints.

“We are taking these reports seriously because it is first and foremost an issue of the residents’ safety,” he said.

Binay said the tight budget for each housing unit, roughly P110,000, should not be an excuse for shoddy work.