President Aquino delivers on promised houses

AS PROMISED, President Aquino turns over a housing unit to the family of a police beneficiary of the government housing project for soldiers and policemen. Looking on is Vice President Jejomar Binay. EDWIN BACASMAS

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna—This classmate delivered.

President Benigno Aquino III on Friday found an occasion to defend the appointment of his close friends and former classmates to key government posts after one of them, the general manager of the National Housing Authority (NHA), made good on a commitment to produce 4,000 low-cost houses for soldiers and policemen before his State of the Nation Address next week.

“My friends and classmates have been criticized. Chito Cruz is one of my friends; he’s one of my classmates,” the President said in a speech before distributing the keys to 30 houses at the Lake Breeze Residences in Barangay (village) Looc, where a total of 1,500 houses had been made available.

“The reason why I’m assigning them is that when they commit, itaga ninyo sa bato (mark it in stone), it will happen,” he said, referring to the 4,000 NHA homes that beneficiaries from the military and police would pay for in initial monthly installments of P200.

The cost of each low-cost house and lot is P175,000. The average lot size and floor area are 36 and 22 square meters, respectively.

Mr. Aquino went on to press Cruz to deliver by November the remainder of the 21,800 housing units that the NHA had targeted for completion this year for beneficiaries in Luzon.

“Then your promise to me is that by next year we would already be in the Visayas and in Mindanao. Perhaps, the output there should be greater than or equal to the output this year. But perhaps, the output there should be greater,” he said.

No more worries

The President told the uniformed personnel that he clearly understood their situation: “It’s not easy to do service when you worry that the posts of your house could give way any moment.”

He said the NHA managed to come up with 4,000 low-cost homes just three months after he signed Administrative Order No. 9, which mandates the agency to produce housing projects for 20,000 military and police personnel.

He promised the housing units for the soldiers and policemen during the 25th anniversary of the 1986 Edsa Revolution.

Earlier Friday, the President also gave away house keys to 20 beneficiaries at the Bocaue Hills subdivision in Bulacan province.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo led similar ceremonies at HeroesVille I in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, and Philippine National Police Director General Raul Bacalzo at HeroesVille II in Baras, Rizal province.

A total of 90 keys were distributed in the housing sites attended by the President, Robredo and Bacalzo. Vice President Jejomar Binay, chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, joined Mr. Aquino in the Laguna event.

Family savings

“These four sites will represent the 21,800 housing units for the Armed Forces and the PNP for this year,” the President said.

“Before long, these homes will serve as the nests of prosperity for the families of our valiant police officers and soldiers,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said the affordable monthly amortization would result in savings for the uniformed personnel and their families.

“From paying [at least] P4,000 in rent to paying just P200, that’s significant,” he said.

Speaking with reporters after the event, the President said it took just four months from conceptualizing the housing program to making it a reality for 4,000 new homeowners.

“I think it’s already okay to make the dream a reality in just four months,” he said.