THE PRESIDENTIAL palace has issued a proclamation reserving a slum area in the district of Tondo, Manila for development under the government’s housing program.
The June 21 proclamation reserved a portion of land in Tondo, Manila identified as Lot 4-A, Csd-00-003715, for the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development’s township development projects.
An inter-agency committee composed of the Human Settlements and Environment departments and city government of Manila will issue the rules that will enforce the proclamation.
In 2020, there were 654,220 people living in Tondo, the largest of Manila’s 16 districts in terms of size and population.
Tondo was the pilot site of the government’s food stamp program launched last year, with more than 2,000 beneficiaries.
In an executive order (EO) last year, Mr. Marcos declared the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) a flagship program of the government. Under 4PH, the government will build a million housing units yearly until 2028.
The order allows the Human Settlements department to identify national and local government lands for housing, including new townships and estates that will be developed with the help of local governments.
It mandated government entities including state corporations and local governments to conduct an inventory of the lands they own and administer, and submit a complete list to the agency.
“The inventory of lands shall include government-owned idle lands or lands that have not been used for the purpose for which they have been originally reserved or set aside for at least 10 years, and on which no improvements have been made by the owner as certified by the concerned local government unit,” according to the order.
It also tasked the Land Registration Authority to help prepare the inventories by providing a list of titles.
Pag-IBIG Fund, a government-owned and controlled corporation, released a record P28.09 billion in housing loans in the first quarter. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
