A House panel has approved a measure that, once enacted, would institutionalize a P3,500 monthly rental subsidy for informal settler families (ISFs) or "squatters" in urban and rural areas in the country.

Passed by the Committee on Housing and Urban Development last Friday was a substitute bill, which represented the consolidation of nine bills namely House Bill (HB) Nos. 157, 2417, 3035, 4280, 7008, 7215, 7269, 7292 and 7364.

Among the authors of the proposed rental housing subsidy program for ISFs was Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who welcomed the development in a statement Monday.

The bill defines ISFs as “households living in a lot, private or public, without the consent of the property owner; or those without legal claim to the property they are occupying; or those living in danger areas such as esteros, railroad tracks, garbage dumps, riverbanks, shorelines, and waterways."

Rodriguez said the 1987 Constitution mandates that the state “shall, by law and for the common good, undertake…a continuing program of urban land reform and housing, which will make available at affordable cost decent housing and basic services to underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas.”

“Unfortunately, this provision of the Constitution has not been implemented properly with data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showing that there are around 4.5 million homeless people in our country, three million of whom are in Metro Manila,” he said.

The lawyer-congressman said the bill aims to provide financial assistance to the homeless while waiting for government-built permanent housing. “The aid would help them have decent living conditions,” he added.

The proposed law provides for a rental subsidy of P3,500 monthly for qualified ISFs in Metro Manila. For those in the provinces, the monthly amount of financial aid would be set by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the National Economic and Development Authority, taking into consideration regional wages but not to exceed P3,500.

The assistance would be paid by the DHSUD on the basis of a list of qualified beneficiaries to be determined by the National Housing Authority. The aid would continue to be given until the beneficiaries transfer to a permanent housing project.

Cavite Rep. Strike Revilla chairs the Housing panel.