Every Filipino family aspires to have a decent and dignified home that they can call their own. About 3.7 million families live in informal settlements, flood-prone areas, or unsafe structures. In Metro Manila, nearly 500,000 families reside in danger zones along riverbanks, waterways, railways, and communities that face constant fire and flood risks.

This is why housing became the centerpiece of my 10-Point Agenda when I first ran for mayor. Many San Juaneño families have been renting for most of their lives. We want to give them the opportunity to finally have homes they can call their own. Rent is an expense, no matter how long you pay, the property will never be yours. Under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program, monthly payments serve as partial payments toward ownership. In the end, their homes become truly theirs.

Today, I am proud to say that San Juan is one of the strongest partners of the national government’s 4PH Program, which aims to reduce the housing backlog and provide safe, dignified, and affordable homes for Filipino families.

Last March, our Makabagong San Juan administration broke ground on a landmark 4PH development in Barangay Batis, a 34-storey, in-city, vertical public housing building with 1,013 units. Each unit ranges from 25 to 27 square meters.

The amount to be paid will be dependent on their age and income bracket. Property management fees are already included in the monthly amortization computation. As long as families religiously pay, the unit will be theirs.

Our responsibility does not end with construction. We exert all efforts for families not to be displaced outside the city. Instead of sending families to relocation sites in the provinces, we built an in-city staging area through the help of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

These prefabricated homes are temporary but safe, with no rent required. Families only pay for electricity and water while waiting for the construction of their public housing building to be completed. This keeps parents near their workplaces, children near their schools, and families connected to essential services. This is the Makabagong San Juan way.

In line with the national government’s Oplan Kontra Baha, we have begun clearing remaining obstructions along our waterways and flood-prone areas. Together with DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, we recently inspected the voluntary clearing of the structures of eight families along San Venancio Street in Barangay San Perfecto, one of the most flood-prone areas in San Juan City.

The affected families now reside in our prefabricated homes while we process their inclusion in the 4PH Program and await the completion of their permanent homes.

Through a whole-of-nation approach, with the national government, local government units and private sector working hand-in-hand in clearing waterways, rehabilitating drainage systems, dredging the San Juan River, Maytunas Creek and Ermitaño creek, and constructing additional pumping stations, we are optimistic to reduce flooding by 2026 but this must go together with proper waste disposal because garbage blocking canals contributes heavily to flooding.

The dream is becoming real. The first 4PH tower is now being built, and I am in discussions with the national government to construct additional buildings. Because San Juan is a small city with limited available land, we must embrace vertical housing solutions.

By June 30, 2028, as I finish my nine years as mayor, San Juaneños will see a truly progressive landscape in the City of San Juan compared to when we first started in June 30, 2019. And as I serve as the Metro Manila Council president and League of Cities of the Philippines national president, it is our objective to share this San Juan public housing model as a scalable framework for other local government units.

San Juan City’s strategy supports the national goals of the 4PH Program and reflects our commitment to decent and dignified in-city, vertical public housing, strong urban resilience through effective disaster mitigation, and people-centered governance that uplifts families and promotes inclusion.

(Mayor Francis Zamora of the City of San Juan is the president of the Metro Manila Council, the chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, the vice chairman of the Regional Development Council, and the regional representative of the National Capital Region in the League of Cities of the Philippines.)