By Tara Yap
Iloilo City – Senator JV Ejercito vowed to look into the alleged sub-standard housing projects for survivors of super-typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in Iloilo province.
“We will look into that,” said Ejercito, chairperson of the Committee on Housing, after Friday’s Senate hearing in Iloilo on the effect of the tax reform program.
While the public hearings on sub-standard projects implemented by the National Housing Authority (NHA) all over the country have been conducted, Ejercito said he has yet to get details about the housing projects in Iloilo.
Vice Governor Christine Garin told Ejercito that many towns in northern Iloilo province have Yolanda housing projects.
The Iloilo Provincial Board, which Garin heads, will conduct a committee hearing today on the controversial R290-million NHA project in Concepcion town.
Last March, the Manila Bulletin broke the story of the complaints of Yolanda survivors of poor living conditions in Bacjawan Sur village.
The 1,000 housing units have unstable wall partitions, leaking roofs, incomplete doors or windows and unfinished bathrooms.
Philanthropist Rhett Zerrudo even called Malacañang’s Presidential Complaint Center on behalf of the residents, but the problem persists.
Ejercito noted the inefficiency of government housing programs when occupancy rate is below 50 percent.