BACOLOD CITY: The Bacolod City government plans to put up 10,000 housing units each year for the city’s informal settlers through its Yuhom Village housing project.
Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said the construction of the Yuhom Village in Barangay Vista Alegre here is being targeted by its developer for completion in 2023.
The housing project aims to provide decent homes for informal settlers in Bacolod City, Acuzar said.
An initial 5,000 housing units will rise at the village starting in the first quarter of 2023 through the city government’s shelter program in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
Acuzar and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez led the groundbreaking ceremony barely a month after they signed a memorandum of agreement for a housing project under the “Pambansang Pabahay Para Sa Pilipino: Zero Informal Settler Family Program for 2028.”
The housing program of the Marcos administration seeks to build 1 million housing units per year, or a total of 6 million housing units for the next six years, to address the country’s housing backlog.
“The city is very blessed to be one of the first local government units to launch this program,” Benitez said.
The Benitez administration is targeting to help 10,000 families of informal settlers from Barangay 8, Banago and Vista Alegre.
A Yuhum Village will be composed of multistory structures made of concrete modular houses. Acuzar also confirmed that similar housing projects will be built in Victorias City, where the son of Benitez, Javier Miguel or Javi is the mayor. The city government is currently conducting a socioeconomic survey, profiling and eligibility assessment of its targeted beneficiaries.
Benitez, author of the law that created the DHSUD while he was still a congressman of the third district of Negros Occidental, said “this will change the landscape of housing industry of the Philippines.”
Benitez, who also signed a memorandum of understanding with DHSUD, said he intends to construct homes for informal settlers in Barangays 6A, 11 and 13 in Victorias City, where people are closest to their livelihoods and hospital and school needs.
“When we construct the housing sites, we also think of their daily needs,” he said.
DHSUD is also helping the Silay City government in its housing program.
Councilor Vladimir Gonzales, chairman of the committee on urban poor, housing and resettlement, said the city government is starting the processing of the permits and will identify the developer in the coming months.
“We’re looking at the first quarter of next year to start construction,” he added.
Low-income families could avail of affordable housing through membership with the Pag-IBIG Fund.