by Rio Araja
[ manilastandardtoday.com ] July 16-17, 2011
At least 20,000 low-cost houses will be made available each year until 2016 to eligible members of the National Police, Armed Forces, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Bureau of Fire Protection.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said that each housing unit measures 20-square meters and costs P200 in monthly amortization for 30 years. Eligible members of the uniformed service will get a P25,000 subsidy for lot amortization and another P75,000 for house improvement, he said. The rank-and-file employees who do not have their own homes will get the first crack at the house-and-lot package.
President Aquino wants the first 20,000 housing units completed in December, Robredo said during the turnover of keys and awarding of certificates of land titles to the first batch of 300 beneficiaries of the housing program.
The thrust of the Aquino administration is to build 20,000 houses each year until 2016 not only in the National Capital Region and Luzon, but even as far as Visayasa and Mindanao, he said.
On Friday, Robredo along with San Jose del Monte, Bulacan Mayor Reynaldo San Pedro, led the symbolic turnover in a 300,000-square meter property developed by the Golden Ville Realty & Development Corp. in Barangay Gaya-gaya, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
The property can accommodate a total of 2,000 housing units, Robredo said.
“We are trying very hard to push the program for our men in uniform. We do not only provide you with the much-needed equipment, but we are also looking after your needs,” Robredo said. “We would want to ensure that what is due you must be given, and that this would not just be a lip service.”
The local government promised to build least two elementary schools, a high school, a day-care center and a multi-purpose center in 2012 near the housing site to complement the DILG’s shelter program through the National Housing Authority.
A train line will soon be built to connect Quezon City and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, he said as he encouraged the police and soldiers to avail themselves of the subsidized housing program.
Several developers have also been tapped to build more houses for the servicemen in Bocaue, Bulacan; Baras, Rizal; Calamba, Laguna, and Trece Martires, Cavite.
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