04/27/2011 [ tribune.net.ph ]
In a move to address the country’s 3.6 million housing backlog within the next 10 years, Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman Jejomar Binay plans to adopt the “Gawad Kalinga” style of involving beneficiaries as volunteer manpower for the construction of their own homes.
Binay said he hopes this would lessen the cost of building houses, making them more affordable to low-income families.
He also expresses optimism that the housing gap could be closed within 10 years provided key shelter agencies of the government will be able to deliver the targeted 350,000 units annually.
“Our housing agencies are committed to provide more homes. With the help of GK and other civic organizations, I am confident we will be able to address our housing needs sooner than we intended,” Binay said.
Binay is scheduled to leave today for Las Vegas, USA, to join Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in the US to raise funds to build 150 housing units in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City.
He will attend the first Gawad Kalinga (GK) Hope Ball.
“As HUDCC chairman, I am glad we have Gawad Kalinga as our partner in providing shelters to our kababayans, especially those who are less fortunate,” Binay said.
“Through the GK Ball, I hope we would be able to build decent homes and a sustainable community for 150 families in Caloocan,” he added.
When Binay was still mayor of Makati, the city government teamed up with GK to provide low-cost housing to informal settlers. The partnership resulted to the creation of the Dreamland Project in Bulacan where around 500 homes were built. PNA
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