QUEZON CITY -- The government remains steadfast in fulfilling its commitment of providing decent yet affordable homes to Filipino families, as seven more housing projects were rolled out in November.

“These housing projects are solid testament of the Duterte administration’s commitment to provide resilient, safe and affordable shelters to all Filipinos, especially the underprivileged,” Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario said.

“Through DHSUD, the government is now expanding its reach to assist more Filipino families to avail of decent and affordable homes they can call their own,” he added.

This month (November) alone, seven government housing projects were either inaugurated/launched or broke ground – targeting more than 3,500 families in various parts of the country as beneficiaries.

On November 4, the housing czar flew to Iloilo City for the groundbreaking of the Uswag Low-Rise Residential Building in Barangay San Isidro, Jaro District. Jointly undertaken by DHSUD, SM Development Corporation (SMDC) and the Iloilo City government, the project aims to benefit about 120 local government employees.

Six days later, Secretary Del Rosario graced the ribbon-cutting and ceremonial turnover for the three-story Marangal Village Homeowners Association Inc. High Density Housing (HDH) in Brgy. Longos, Malabon City, and the four-story Samahang Magkakapitbahay Na Nagkakaisa HOA Inc. HDH in Brgy. San Agustin, Novaliches, Quezon City.

Both housing projects were carried out by the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) in coordination with the local government units.

The Malabon project will benefit 282 member-families of a local homeowners’ association while the newly constructed settlement building in Novaliches will accommodate 92 informal settler families (ISFs) living along the Tullahan River.

On November 19, Secretary Del Rosario led the groundbreaking and ceremonial turnover of check donation for land development of the 1Bataan Village in Orion, Bataan.

Through the housing scheme, a total of 2,936 housing units will be built to accommodate ISFs who were displaced by a fire two years ago. It will also serve as a resettlement site for ISFs living along danger zones across the province.

The 1Bataan Village is jointly undertaken by DHSUD, the Bataan provincial government, the National Housing Authority (NHA) and AyalaLand Corp., through its incentivized compliance to balanced housing program.

Three days later, the DHSUD chief travelled to Baler, Aurora – celebrating his birthday by rolling out two more housing projects in the province that intend to benefit 143 families living along danger zones.

Earlier, the housing czar sealed a Memorandum of Agreement with Palayan City Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas for a soon-to-be-constructed settlement facility in the city.

The agreement will pave the way for the construction of a socialized housing project to be led by the NHA through allocation of developers’ incentivized compliance to balanced housing and will benefit informal settler families.

Meanwhile, on November 16, Secretary Del Rosario also approved the Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan (PDPFP) of South Cotabato for the 2020-2028 period – which promotes industrial development without causing harm to the environment. (DHSUD)