DHSUD signs housing agreements in Cebu 

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario has finalized two more housing agreements for target beneficiaries in Cebu.

On Friday, the housing czar signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and spearheaded the groundbreaking for a BALAI (Building Adequate, Livable, Affordable and Inclusive Filipino Communities) housing project in Brgy. Lorega with Cebu City Vice Mayor Mike Rama and representatives from a local real estate developer.

The project which will be established on a 1,350-square-meter property is intended for families living in hazard areas such as creeks and riverbanks across the city. Other beneficiaries include designated recipients pursuant to the guidelines under Republic Act No. 7279.

One hundred housing units are slated to be constructed under the scheme – each unit equipped with a kitchen, toilet, living room and dining room. The project will likewise feature parking lots with ramps and a multi-purpose hall.

In another event, Secretary Del Rosario graced a MOA-signing activity with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and officials from another local real estate developer.

The project, with a total land area of 73,955 square meters, will be constructed in three phases in Brgy. Tungkil in Minglanilla. It will benefit employees from the provincial capitol and other eligible individuals from Minglanilla with 902 housing units.

Both projects were spearheaded by the DHSUD Regional Office 7 led by OIC-Director Engr. Francis Ordeniza.

The MOAs will pave the way for both projects to utilize the incentivized compliance of developers for the LGUs’ balanced housing programs.

As part of the housing chief’s regional monitoring, Secretary Del Rosario also visited for the first time the new DHSUD Regional Office 7 at the sixth floor of the ADG IT Center in Subangdaku, Mandaue City. He likewise met with the DHSUD Regional Office 7 officials and heads of the region’s key shelter agencies.

Over the past months, Secretary Del Rosario has been actively engaging LGUs and housing stakeholders in line with efforts to boost linkages and coordination – part of the Department’s key strategies for this year. Upholding the basic housing principle that shelter is a right, homeownership is an option and the Department’s responsibility to capacitate Filipino families, particularly those from low-income groups, to have decent and affordable houses of their own, is also among DHSUD’s key platforms for 2021.

In May, the housing czar also finalized similar pacts with two Nueva Ecija LGUs – Talavera and San Leonardo towns – as part of DHSUD’s mandate in helping low-income Filipino families have access to decent and affordable housing. It was the 11th and 12th MOA, respectively, for housing projects that the Department had signed with LGUs.

Secretary Del Rosario said the pacts underline DHSUD’s commitment in helping fulfill the dreams of most Filipinos who wish to have a house of their own, especially those living in danger zones.

The housing czar looks forward to finalizing 50 MOAs with LGUs nationwide by the end of the year.

Secretary Del Rosario’s Cebu visit comes a week after the finalization of a Memorandum of Understanding jointly led by DHSUD and the Department of Agrarian Reform with 19 LGUs for a BALAI housing program for agrarian reform beneficiaries.