DHSUD starts Iloilo City housing project 

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario on Thursday graced the rolling out of another housing project in this fast-developing city.

The housing czar on Thursday flew to Iloilo City for the groundbreaking of the Uswag Low-Rise Residential Building in Barangay San Isidro, Jaro District.

Jointly undertaken by DHSUD, SM Development Corporation (SMDC) and the Iloilo City government, the project intends to benefit local government employees.

In his message, Secretary Del Rosario stressed the importance of pushing for the construction of vertical housing projects, noting that such an approach is the future of the national shelter industry particularly in highly urbanized areas like Iloilo city.

Secretary Del Rosario likewise lauded DHSUD’s partnership with SDMC and expressed hope that more Filipinos, especially those in the low-income bracket will be able to benefit from their collaboration in empowering further the housing sector.

“This is a major component of our project implementation in ensuring that we can provide socialized housing to the low-income families,” the housing czar said.

He also vowed support to the Iloilo City government and thanked the LGU for its cooperation in turning the housing scheme into a reality.

“For the Iloilo LGU, we would like to express our full support to this project and we hope we could be of service in your desire to provide shelter to all your constituents. DHSUD considers shelter as a right of every Filipino family and we are here to capacitate individuals, LGUs and organizations so that together, we can develop synergy in providing shelter to majority of Filipinos,” Secretary Del Rosario added.

Prior to the groundbreaking event, Secretary Del Rosario visited the DHSUD Regional Office-6 headed by OIC-Director Atty. Melchor Calopiz and graced the ceremonial awarding of Certificates of Entitlement to Lot Allocation to more than 300 Department of Agriculture employees.

Following the long weekend, DHSUD picked up where it left off in terms of expanding the government’s reach in providing decent and sustainable homes to Filipinos on Wednesday, when the Department finalized a Memorandum of Agreement with Palayan City Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas for another housing project.

The pact will pave the way for the construction of a socialized housing unit to be led by the National Housing Authority through allocation of developers’ incentivized compliance to balanced housing and will mainly benefit informal settler families, including those residing in “high-risk” areas.

“Yan ang ating goal sa Department – decent and livable housing for every Filipino family. We’re not just building housing units, we are building communities. And this is part of our overall scheme of improving the lives of Filipinos through our resettlement projects,” Secretary Del Rosario said in his message.

DHSUD has been actively engaging with local government units across the country over the past months in pursuit of its mandate of giving Filipino families access to safer, more resilient, sustainable and affordable homes.

The Department had likewise been signing key pacts with LGUs meant to boost linkages and coordination with housing stakeholders – an integral part of the Department’s agenda for this year.

Since its creation two years ago, DHSUD has been upholding the basic housing principle that shelter is a right, homeownership is an option and it is the Department’s responsibility to capacitate Filipino families, particularly those from low-income groups, to have decent and affordable houses of their own.