Recto questions NHA housing program for AFP, PNP personnel
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Wednesday questioned why the National Housing Authority (NHA) has to provide housing for personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“Yung AFP, PNP dapat nasa formal sector yan because may sweldo yan e,” Rector said during the budget hearing of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) at the Senate.
(AFP and PNP personnel should be part of the formal sector because they recieve salaries.)
The NHA is an attached agency of the DHSUD.
According to the NHA’s website, its AFP-PNP Housing Program intends to “provide decent and affordable housing to low-salaried personnel” of the AFP, PNP, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Bureau of Fire and Protection, and the Bureau of Corrections.”
Recto pointed out that the DHSUD requested P23.36-billion from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fund its AFP-PNP Housing Program for 2021. This funding, however, was not approved by the DBM.
The senator said the AFP and PNP personnel should just apply for housing loans with the Pag-IBIG fund.
“I don’t think there is a need for NHA to build homes for them,” Recto said.
“They should be eligible to borrow from Pag-IBIG and let the private sector build the homes so they can choose where they want to live and the quality of the homes will be better,” he added.
Further, Recto stressed that the mandate of the NHA should focus on informal settlers.
“I think the mandate of NHA should be for informal settlers. Yung mga walang sweldo, that’s how it should work. That’s how our system is supposed to be designed so yung walang sweldo, yung nakatira sa estero, yung nakatira kung saan-saan yun yung tutulungan ng NHA,” the senator said.
(I think the mandate of NHA should be for informal settlers. Those who are not receiving a salary, those living along creeks, and those who do not have permanent homes are the ones the NHA should help.)
“Yung may sweldo, dapat makapagutang yan sa Pag-IBIG and it’s the private developers building the homes that they can choose where they want to live,” he added.
(Those who have salaries should be able to borrow from Pag-IBIG and it’s the private developers building the homes that they can choose where they want to live.)
