HUDCC to certify as urgent housing projects for Yolanda victims

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) will certify as urgent housing projects to expedite the processing of documentary requirements from concerned government agencies in order to speed up the delivery of housing units for the victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013.

From the existing estimated 10% completion rate of the housing targets in Yolanda-affected communities, the new measure aims to resolve the backlog, which was mainly attributed to bureaucratic red tape.

Vice President and HUDCC Chairman Leni Robredo said that during emergency situations, processing of documentary requirements should be fast tracked.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) agreed to examine ways to eliminate the red tape and allow the shelter agencies a faster implementation of the slow-moving Yolanda housing programs.

HUDCC will issue certifications for urgent housing projects to serve as basis for BIR and other concerned agencies to prioritize and speed up the processing of the documentary requirements required from their agencies.

“We are happy that the agencies are very supportive of our proposals on how to eliminate the bureaucratic red tape, especially in the provision of emergency shelter response in disaster-torn communities. This is especially crucial in our goal of returning families into decent homes more quickly than ever,” said Robredo.

This was agreed during the coordination meeting of the Vice President, together with the agencies involved in the processing of housing and resettlements that HUDCC will come up with a template of the certificate which will be used as reference for the BIR.

Three years since the Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the country, an estimated 25,000 have only been completed out of the 205,128 target housing units to be constructed.

During the inter-agency coordination meeting, Robredo presented the “choke points” in the process of implementing the Yolanda housing programs including the proposed measures on how these may be resolved.

The Vice President explained that it takes almost two years or more to complete the processes from land identification and acquisition before the actual site development and housing construction begins.

These are due to the lack of suitable land for housing, the prolonged issuance of the Presidential proclamation for public lands and/or when the land has to be converted from agricultural use to residential.

Project documentation takes anywhere from 1 year 6 months to more than 3 years from the time of the site development and construction.

Among the agencies present during the coordination meeting were the Office of the Executive Secretary, National Economic Development Authority, National Housing Authority, BIR, Land Registration Authority and Commission on Audit.