MANILA, (PIA) -- President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is set to grace and inspect on Friday, Oct. 28, one of the government’s mega housing projects located in Marikina City under the “Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program.”

The Bagong Sibol Housing Project, located at Barangay Nangka in Marikina City, that will be personally visited and inspected by Marcos, is projected to accommodate more than 10,000 families.

According to the development plan presented at the site, the project involves the construction of a compound of multiple high-rise buildings, reaching up to 21 floors each.

Under the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) aims to build six million housing units nationwide over the Marcos administration’s six-year term.

The DHSUD, the agency in-charge of the Marcos administration’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, hopes to produce a million housing units per year, a significant increase from the previous 200,000 annual target, said DHSUD Assistant Secretary Avelino Tolentino, during a recent interview over the Laging Handa public briefing.

The Marcos administration’s mega housing program was created to address the 6.5 million housing need in the country, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)’s data from 2017 to 2022.

To recall, the Marikina City Government signed on Oct. 7, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the DHSUD during a ceremony at Brgy. Nangka for a mega housing project under the Marcos administration’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program.

The event was attended by DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar together with Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro. 

For his part, DHSUD Secretary Rizalino Acuzar assured the continuous progress of the National Housing program of the Marcos Administration.

Sec. Acuzar said that after the series of groundbreaking ceremonies and MOA signings in different local government units, construction for the mega housing project will also begin immediately.

This includes the housing project in Marikina, which President Marcos is personally inspecting this afternoon, he added.

The DHSUD is targeting that in the next three months there will be houses under construction under the PBBM housing program, and these will be ready for occupancy within a year. 

In a report by Radio Pilipinas, Sec. Acuzar had a meeting last night with President Marcos and officials of some of the leading banks in the country, as well as government financial institutions.

Some of those discussed include how the private banking sector can help in financing the PBBM Housing program. (PIA-NCR)