Defective housing units of Habitat in Cagayan de Oro City fixed

MANILA, Philippines—Nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity on Wednesday said it has addressed issues on the quality of houses it built for victims of Tropical Storm Sendong in Cagayan de Oro City.

“Three Habitat houses in Cagayan de Oro have received a clean bill of health from the National Housing Authority which conducted an investigation following media claims of damage. The government agency has verified that the homes are stable and that the alleged cracks, which were minor, have been repaired,” Carla Pekas, a representative from Habitat for Humanity-Philippines, said in a statement.

The statement came following a story published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer where residents at the NHA’s Calaanan relocation site were complaining that the walls of their houses had cracks and that the units could not withstand “even a low magnitude earthquake.”

But the NHA, however, has said that it has not yet cleared any housing unit in the area.

In a text message forwarded by Joey Salgado, spokesperson of the Office of the Vice President, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Undersecretary Cecilia Alba said that per NHA, they had not cleared any unit yet “although the minor defects were already rectified by Habitat.”

“NHA will be creating a team jointly with DSWD to do an in-depth investigation as to the causes and factors of the defects and deficiencies of the housing units. NHA is also closely coordinating with Habitat on the matters and issues raised by the PDI (Inquirer) to see the soundness and durability of the constructed units,” Alba said in the text message.

As of posting time, the NHA could not be reached for comment.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, also chairman of the HUDCC, had earlier instructed the NHA to investigate the reports, saying that the low budget of P110,000 for each housing unit should not be an excuse for shoddy construction.

“Before we started development of the resettlement sites, we have had several consultations with the constructors and other experts as regards the budget for each housing unit and they assured us that the amount would not compromise the safety of the families to be relocated therein,” Binay said in earlier statements.

Habitat, in the statement, said that it has never compromised on the quality of its houses, which the group said were always constructed to meet or exceed government building codes.

“We have been a major partner with the Philippine government, Filipino families, volunteers, corporates and other NGOs in addressing the issue of poverty housing in this country. Thanks to their generous donation of resources and time, we have been able to build affordable homes for low-income families for over two decades,” said the statement.

“As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we look forward to doubling our efforts to reduce the housing backlog so that more Filipinos will have access to decent shelter, which is a critical foundation for breaking the cycle of poverty,” said Habitat.