Senate to approve Department of Housing bill

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is expected to quickly pass the bill creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development as it is considered an economic and anti-poverty measure, Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said yesterday.

 Ejercito, chairman of the committee on urban planning and housing, last week presented for immediate approval Senate Bill 1578, which seeks to create the new department to consolidate and harmonize all eight government agencies that focus on the sector.

 Senators Sonny Angara, Franklin Drilon, Sherwin Gatchalian, Loren Legarda, Manny Pacquiao, Joel Villanueva and Ejercito authored the measure.

 “Human settlements and urban development is an investment to secure every Filipino family and an investment for the country’s inclusive and sustainable economic growth,” Ejercito said in sponsoring the bill in plenary.

 He said by creating a single department, “we are not only building houses and physical structures and ensuring that each one has a roof over their head.”

 “We are paving their path out of misery and poverty. We are securing their present needs and the bright future that every Filipino deserves,” he added.

 Ejercito believes that the lack of one single entity to oversee and implement programs for the sector is one of the major reasons families displaced by disasters – like the Super Typhoon Yolanda and the Zamboanga siege in 2013, major earthquakes and the ongoing battle for Marawi City – cannot find adequate shelter.