Philippines’ first high-rise public housing breaks ground

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s first 22-floor high-rise public housing building is set to rise in San Juan City in 2022.

Officials from the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the San Juan City government, led by Mayor Francis Zamora, signed a memorandum of understanding and broke ground for the building yesterday.

NHA general manager Marcelino Escalada said the management of the facility would be turned over to the city government once the construction is complete.

The building, set to cost the NHA around P1 billion, will be constructed on a 1,850-square meter government property in Barangay St. Joseph.

It will have 396 units with an average size of 29 square meters as well as a multi-purpose hall and 10 commercial space units.

The high-rise public housing facility is one of the campaign promises of Zamora, a first-time mayor, who said the city government has multiple high-rise projects worth P2.5 billion lined up.

A committee will be formed to process applications for potential occupants.

Zamora assured that the guidelines would ensure reasonable amortization for residents and that the property would be turned over to them in 25 years. 

There are currently around 6,000 informal settler families in San Juan.