CEBU CITY, Cebu (PIA) – More local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas are set to roll out the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4HP) this year after it broke ground in Cebu City in 2023. 

Implemented by the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development Public Housing and Settlement Division (DHSUD), the agency has sealed 12 memorandums of understanding with various LGUs in the region. 

DHSUD has signed partnership agreements with the following LGUs: Cebu City, Mandaue-Tipolo, Mandaue-Looc, Talisay City, and Toledo City in Cebu province; Tagbilaran City, Panglao, and Ubay in Bohol; and Tanjay City, San Jose, Canlaon City, Guihulngan, and Bais City in Negros Oriental. 

The project started in July 2023 after the groundbreaking ceremony led by Pres. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the Cebu City South Coastal Urban Development Project in Basak, San Nicolas, Cebu City on February 27, 2023.

The target date of completion is in April 2024. 

Construction of the houses has already started in Tagbilaran City following the groundbreaking ceremony on January 15, 2024. 

“For Region 7, we have already started with Phase 1 in Barangay Cabawan, Tagbilaran City with 32 units and as of January 2024, it is already at 50 percent completion,” said Elenita Cañete, officer-in-charge of the Public Housing and Settlements Division and 4PH focal person of DHSUD. 

Construction of the three buildings by Mandaue-Tipolo in Cebu is expected to start in May this year, while the groundbreaking ceremony for the 300 units of 4PH in Bais City and 100 units in Canlaon City are set for March 2024. 

LGUs that are scheduled to sign an agreement with DHSUD for the 4PH program this year are Bindoy in Negros Oriental, San Miguel in Bohol, and Carcar City in Cebu. 

Informal settlers

Cañete said the socialized housing project will benefit the informal settlers who will be identified initially by the LGUs. 

“The priority of the 4PH program are the informal settlers families who will be pre-selected by the LGUs. The profiling and pre-qualified list will be checked by PagIBIG and the qualified list will then be given to DHSUD for the subsidy,” explained Cañete. 

DHSUD will then subsidize 5 percent of the PagIBIG housing interest, she added. 

The 4PH program involves the provision of interest support to reduce the beneficiaries’ monthly amortization for as low as P3,500 to P4,000 per month for a 24-square-meter lot.

This was made possible by Pag-IBIG Fund which has allocated a P1.145 million loanable amount for those who wish to avail of the 4PH housing.

While the project prioritizes informal settlers, it is also open to low-salaried employees and non-formal income earners such as vendors and drivers. 

“We have received requests from overseas workers through the Department of Migrant Workers and some government offices, which we also welcome since there are those who also earn less,” said Cañete.

Under the program, LGUs take the lead in implementing the housing projects with the participation of private sector developers and contractors as partners. 

In cases where the beneficiary fails to pay their monthly amortization, some LGUs have also initiated to pay on their behalf provided that the beneficiaries will also repay them.

Cañete said DHSUD is “positive that we will have more constructed 4PH buildings this 2024, especially that documentation is already in the process.” (MYP/PIA7 Cebu)