By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 28, 2017 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines -  A senior administration lawmaker has urged President Duterte to issue an executive order allowing the utilization of idle government lands for purposes of establishing on-site, in-city or near-city housing projects for the poor.

“An order from the Palace or a law authorizing the use of idle government lands in Metro Manila to put up in-city housing is a key to address the increasing housing backlog in the capital,” Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez said.

Benitez, chairman of the House committee on housing and urban development, said the number of homeless Filipinos is expected to reach 6.6 million by 2022 – when Duterte finishes his term – from the current housing backlog of two million. 

“We need affordable, resilient, in-city housing to ensure that informal settler families are provided adequate housing without being economically displaced,” Benitez said.

He has repeatedly stated that there is still hope in providing homes for the homeless, since the government can convert idle lands, like some 3,419 hectares in Metro Manila — into commercial hubs, where the poor can be employed and avail themselves of housing units in the process.

Benitez also disclosed that 1,234 hectares of government-owned lands are occupied by informal-settler families (ISFs) while 2,185 hectares of public lands are idle and ready for housing programs.

The committee had endorsed for plenary approval a measure establishing a local government resettlement program that will implement an on-site, in-city or near-city strategy for ISFs, who now reportedly occupy even private lands covering more than 2,000 hectares.

Benitez said he is readying a bill mandating the government to apportion state-owned lands for housing programs.

Another administration lawmaker, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, expressed support for the on-site, in-city or near-city housing projects for the poor that are already being implemented in his district.

“In the second district, many informal settlers in some barangays have been benefitting from this program. The government-owned land in many barangays is being awarded to my poor constituents where they live,” he said, enumerating Commonwealth, Batasan, Holy Spirit and Payatas as examples.

“The on-site, in-city or near-city housing projects are the most effective way to provide decent housing and at the same time give dignity to the settlers,” Castelo, chairman of the House committee on Metro Manila development, said.

Benitez, son of the late Conrado Benitez who was housing czar during the Marcos era, is also pushing for the creation of a Department of Human Settlement.

“We need a Department of Human Settlement that will supervise and manage government lands. In turn, the agency will just allocate the land for different agencies for government structure and housing programs,” he said.

“If we say Department of Human Settlement, it’s not just for housing, it will also include urban planning that has to be strengthened.”

At present, two measures are pending in the housing and urban development committee instituting a national comprehensive framework on resilient housing and human settlements.