The Quezon City government and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) on Thursday broke ground for a massive housing project meant to help address the country’s need for some 6.5 million homes.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and DHSUD chief Jose Rizalino Acuzar presided at the signing of a memorandum of agreement and groundbreaking ceremony held at Barangay Batasan Hills for the housing project.
Acuzar said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship housing program will soon rise in Harmony Hills Terraces to provide a “safe, decent and
sustainable shelter” for 6.5 million families in six years.
“The cooperation of ever one is important so we could attain our goal. We are optimistic that you (the city) is our helping arm in our effort to build homes,” he said.
A brainchild of the President, the program aims to build one million housing units per year.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to be the President’s emissary in sending this good news to our countrymen here in Quezon City, and in the country as a whole—slowly (but surely), the dream of every Filipino family to own a house is now becoming a reality under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program,” Acuzar said.
For her part, Belmonte said the city was committed to allocate and secure lots for the development of various housing projects.
“The MOA signing solidified our previous agreement to work hand-in-hand in building houses for the city’s residents, especially the informal settler families,” she said.
Through the agreement, she said they “hope to build many housing projects that will benefit Quezon City residents, especially those who cannot afford a home they can call their own.”