A member of the left-leaning Makabayan Bloc on Thursday batted for free housing units for the urban poor sector like the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap.
Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said that while he agreed that the occupants of the vacant and deteriorating housing units in six relocation sites in Pandi town, Bulacan should pay amortization fees, the government must also provide them a free housing program.
“Kadamay members are willing to comply with the requirements needed in the process of the profiling and validation. Bu the government should review, revisit and reorient the housing laws,” Casilao said.
Casilao said that he and the rest of the Makabayan Bloc support the free awarding of government housing program to poor and homeless Filipino families.
Casilao said the National Housing Authority’s charging of amortization is an ingenious way of evicting the Kadamay occupants, as it is obvious they have no capacity to pay as most of them are unemployed, contractual workers and semi-workers with no regular sources of income and livelihood.
“They don’t even have enough budget for basic needs such as food, health and other basic services, when they occupied the housing units. They merely wanted shelter although, there is no utilities such as electricity and water, hence, charging them with amortization is a way to evict them, especially upon their binding with the onerous contract drafted by the NHA,” Casilao said.
Based on news reports on NHA amortization, monthly rates on the first four years is set to P200 monthly, but on reaching the 10th year, rates roughly increase more than three-fold, by the 15th year by 450 percent and by the 25th year onwards by 565 percent, Casilao said. A housing unit to be paid in 30 years would amount to P347,400 to P429,000, he added.
Casilao also urged President Rodrigo Duterte to address the plight of the urban poor sector and avert any violent means of evicting them.
On the other hand, Casilao asked the members of Kadamay to keep their strong unity in attaining their legitimate demands.
“The hunger for social justice and social services, literally drove the urban poor families to occupy the housing units. Their action has also catapulted the ‘housing crisis’ in the public opinion and the exigency to further unravel the practices of NHA and other government. agencies from the past presidencies, that led to wasting of billions of pesos of public funds, alongwith, barring the utilization of the project by legitimate awardees, to prevent a repeat under the present administration,” Casilao said.