1st 4PH project in CAR breaks ground
THE Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has officially set into motion its first housing project under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s “Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Housing” (4PH) Program on Wednesday.
Benguet and Baguio City local executives led the groundbreaking ceremony for a 6,400-unit shelter project in Sitio Topinao, Barangay Poblacion in Tuba town, with Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Marilene Acosta representing Department of Human Settlements (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar.
Mayors Benjamin Magalong of Baguio City, Clarita Sal-ongan of Tuba, and Bernard Waclin of Itogon represented the local government units (LGUs) in the area, along with their council members and representatives of government agencies and private partners.
Aiming to further expand sustainable communities in the region, the project site spanning 6.4 hectares will allocate a solid 5-ha area for shelter and the rest for mixed-use development.
In a statement, Acuzar expressed “high hopes” for the project in serving as a “model urban development” that promotes sustainable and progressive housing communities while protecting cultural heritage and natural resources.
“As an advocate of striking a balance between progress and cultural preservation, I see this housing project to hopefully serve as a testament that we can achieve both, particularly in providing shelters for our brothers and sisters in the Cordillera,” Acuzar said.
The 4PH program aims to build one million housing units per year until the end of the current administration’s term as a strategy to address the country’s housing backlog, pegged at 6.5 million units.
It also espouses township development that will provide home dwellers easy access to sources of livelihood and basic services, while transforming urban spaces toward resiliency and sustainability – all aligned with the mandate of DHSUD as the primary government agency responsible for the management of housing, human settlements and urban development.
At present, 4PH has tapped at least 143 LGUs around the country to participate in the program.
Also present during the groundbreaking ceremony were DHSUD Undersecretary Wilfredo Mallari, Assistant Secretaries Tiburcio Canlas, Daryll Bryan Villanueva, and Krsnadasi De Leon and Regional Office-CAR Director Maria Amoroso.
