Tuesday, April 05, 2016
By CARLA N. CAÑETTERESA D. ELLERA

SAN JUAN CITY -- Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito and Negros Occidental Third District Representative Alfredo Abelardo Benitez were among the officials who led the signing of the manifesto for the adoption of a viable housing policy agenda to address the country’s problems on housing and urban development.

BACOLOD. Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Alfredo Benitez (left) and Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito sign on Monday, April 4, the manifesto for the adoption of a viable housing policy agenda to address the country’s lack of homes for families. (Carla N. Cañet) see CREBA 24TH NATIONAL CONVENTION gallery

Ejercito and Benitez are the chairpersons of the Senate and House of Representatives committees on housing and urban development, respectively.

During the event held at the Flying V Filoil Arena on Monday, April 4, about 8,000 people gathered and advocated the need to provide a system that would provide housing in phases to the 1.5 billion informal settlers in the country, particularly in Metro Manila and in the countryside.

“We, the leaders and representatives of various agencies and institutions from the government, civil society, people’s organizations, business groups and international development organizations, call for the adoption of a viable housing policy agenda to address the country’s problems on housing and urban development,” the statement read.

The signatories said they were bound by their conviction that the government should continue to uphold the people’s right to adequate, decent and affordable shelter.

“We call on the government to ensure that in-city housing and people’s planning process is the preferred option on shelter delivery and to recognize that enabling a wide range of options for decent and affordable housing should be a priority agenda in the state’s goal to achieve inclusive growth,” they said.

They further stated that, “We are united by the participatory process of the National Housing and Urban Development Summit, which provided a venue for all stakeholders to extensively discuss present issues on housing and to come up with solutions agreed upon by the stakeholders.”

Benitez said the joint launching of the National Housing and Urban Development Summit is a pioneering effort of the Congress, which was envisioned to become a platform for a broad representation of all housing stakeholders to have an in-depth discussion on the present housing concerns as well as develop solutions through proposed policy and program reforms.

The rationale is for the policy makers, implementers, and beneficiaries to unite on a general roadmap to eliminate the housing backlog and make housing affordable.

Benitez said that the culmination of the summit signals the start of a vibrant advocacy campaign for the continuing support and commitment of the participating agencies and organizations in pushing for the Housing Summit Policy agenda.

Ejercito said the summit was borne out of the very desperate and distressed conditions faced by many of the homeless and vulnerable citizens.

“I share the vision of Congressman Benitez to make socialized housing a reality for the millions of low and middle income Filipino families, and for the aggregation of informal settlers and urban poor that continue to populate the urban areas of our country, who have been dreaming of having their own homes,” the senator added.

Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on April 05, 2016.