Kadamay demands gov’t anew to allot idle houses to urban poor

FILE – Members of the urban poor group Kadamay gather at a government housing site in Pandi town, Bulacan province, for a validation process conducted by the National Housing Authority. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Members of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) trooped anew to the National Housing Authority (NHA) headquarters in Quezon City on Friday, a day after the deadline set by the government agency for police and military personnel to occupy the housing units awarded to them.

During the protest, the group demanded for the distribution of the idle homes to the urban poor after President Duterte had said that bigger and better homes would be constructed instead for uniformed personnel.

Gloria Arellano, Kadamay chair, said NHA officials had informed the group that the list of officials and units to be occupied by members of the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces would only be released next week.

“We were told that they still have not finalized the list,” she told the Inquirer. “What is taking them so long when they already extended the deadline?”

The NHA had given the police and military personnel until June 15 to occupy the government housing units awarded to them. If they fail to do so, the units would be given to other beneficiaries, such as informal settlers.

Before the extended deadline, the PNP and AFP housing boards were initially given until May 30 to submit a master list of personnel still interested to live in the projects.

Arellano warned that the urban poor would once again stage an “Occupy” movement if the master lists would not be released soon.

“There are still so many vacant government housing units. In Bulacan province alone, there are 10,200 idle ones,” she said. “Nationwide, there are more than 100,000 vacant units.”

Citing government numbers, Kadamay said the number of informal settler families was pegged at 1.5 million.

However, Arellano expressed optimism over a scheduled dialogue with NHA General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr. on Monday about the housing issue.

Kadamay made headlines after they occupied idle housing projects in Pandi, Bulacan, in March. Mr. Duterte had announced that the units may be awarded to the urban poor, vowing better housing for the military troops and policemen by the end of the year. #