Senate passes Quezon City Development Authority bill on 3rd reading
Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – A bill that aims to improve slums and provide socialized housing for poor urban residents of Quezon City was passed on third reading in the Senate Monday.
Senate Bill 2161, sponsored by Senator Vicente Sotto III, establishes the Quezon City Development Authority (QCDA) as a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) with the primary objective of providing socialized housing for urban residents particularly the informal settlers.
“The QCDA shall maintain as its primary focus the development of socialized housing and urban renewal… [through] slum upgrading or renewal of areas for priority development and environmental improvement and resettlement program,” the bill said.
The bill lists the objectives of QCDA as the following:
(a) To provide adequate and affordable housing to marginal and low-income families in Quezon City;
(b) To encourage the participation of the private sector in housing ventures and urban renewal;
(c) To promote greening and development of vacant, blighted and underutilized lands in Quezon City owned by the local government; and,
(d) To provide to the constituency of Quezon City projects that will improve their quality of life, such as affordable means and schemes of transportation, energy, telecommunication, information technology and manufacturing.
The nine members of the QCDA Board of Directors will be composed of the QC Administrator as Chairperson, four QC local government officials, and four representatives from the private sector that are residents of QC.
The QCDA will have the power to purchase privately owned land for use in housing development or resettlement as well as for urban renewal projects.
Idle or abandoned lands and those owned by the QC local government may also be acquired by the QCDA for development projects.
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