San Jose del Monte City lone district Rep. Florida "Rida" Robes (center) (Facebook)

A ranking congresswoman is pursuing a measure that would help delinquent beneficiaries of the government’s housing program keep their houses without fear of being ejected.

For this purpose, San Jose del Monte City lone district Rep. Florida Robes penned and filed House Bill (HB) No.9125, or the proposed Act prescribing the authority of the National Housing Authority (NHA) to grant amnesty to its socialized housing beneficiaries with delinquent accounts, condoning thereby any unpaid amortization, association dues or any miscellaneous fees.

The measure also seeks to institute a payment restructure program, or acquire and award the same to qualified beneficiaries through the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) program.

According to Robes, there are thousands of beneficiaries who are set to be ejected due to their failure to pay monthly amortizations.

“Kawawa naman ang mga kababayan natin, nahihirapan na, mawawalan pa ng bahay (I pity our countrymen, they struggle to make ends meet, and now they might lose their homes),” said the chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

The measure, dubbed the NHA Amnesty and Acquisition Act of 2023, aims to authorize the NHA to grant amnesty or condone the unpaid amortization/lease payments to ease the burden of the beneficiaries, or acquire the units from the original awardees in order to be allocated and awarded to qualified beneficiaries through the Build Better and More (BBM) and the 4PH.

Robes noted that Section 9 of Article XIII, of the 1987 Constitution provides that the “State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, 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."

She also noted that the same Constitutional provision mandates the State to “promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the implementation of such program the State shall respect the rights of small property owners".

Section 10 of the same Article, also states that: “Urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner. No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.”

In her bill, the lady solon says that the NHA is the national agency mandated to engage in housing production for low-income families.

“It has been discovered that there is a low occupancy rate for the government housing program mainly due to the failure of the beneficiaries to pay the monthly amortization and/or association dues, resulting to selling their rights or leasing-out their units to other individuals and entities," she said.

Robes cited reports that some of the beneficiaries have used their units as collateral for unregulated private and personal loans by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which gives the creditor unilateral right to seize the units in their favor.

“In effect, it defeats the very purpose of the government housing programs and NHA initiatives to provide decent and affordable housing for the underprivileged and marginalized Filipino Citizens,” the congresswoman explained.

The Robes bill also mandates the State to adopt viable land acquisition and management approach; Strengthen housing as a platform to reduce poverty, promote climate resilience, improve social outcome; and Intensify and widen its authority and functions to effectively fulfill their mandate.

Robes said her bill covers all NHA projects such as house and lot, medium rise buildings, and condominiums . It also calls for an inventory and verification of all NHA housing/units prior to the implementation of the amnesty program.

“This Act shall cover the total condonation of all unpaid amortizations/lease payments and association dues of the awardees/beneficiaries in the socialized housing program of the NHA, including any surcharges and penalties emanating thereto. Upon effectivity of this Act, the individual delinquent payments of the awardees shall be condoned and off by the government thereby relieving them from the burden of payment thereof,” read the bill.