Pacquiao vows to replicate Pacman Village in entire Philippine

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Pacquiao is aiming to replicate his housing projects in General Santos City and Sarangani province into a massive housing project to provide houses for at least 10 million families in the next six years if elected president.

During his media tour of the Pacman Village in Alabel, Sarangani yesterday, Pacquiao said one of his centerpiece programs would be a version of President Duterte’s Build Build Build program, in which a massive housing project also serves as a job provider for thousands of workers.

“These would not only provide free housing for the poor but would also provide jobs for tens of thousands of workers and livelihood for thousands such as those who are in food and retail businesses, manufacturing and even those belonging to the underground economy,” he said.

The Pacman Village in Alabel – which has 200 houses provided for families displaced by Typhoon Yolanda – is one of five Pacman villages the senator built to provide free housing for his constituents.

The rest are in General Santos City and the Sarangani towns of Malungon, Glan and Maasim.

Pacquiao said his housing program is a key agenda in his HEALTH (Housing, Education, Aid, Livelihood, Transportation, Technology and Health) of the nation policy platform.

Yesterday’s event was organized to demonstrate how if one person can build thousands of homes, “the government can actually build millions to completely solve the country’s housing problem,” he said.

While he has fallen out of favor with President Duterte, with whom he locked horns over the leadership of their political party PDP-Laban, Pacquiao said he would be continuing some of the legacies of the Duterte administration, a factor that most supporters are looking for in the next president.

Pacquiao, running under the Cebu-based regional party PROMDI, is set to meet members of the transport and health sectors in Metro Manila in the coming days after launching his campaign in General Santos City on Tuesday.