House OKs creation of new gov’t housing body

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a measure creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

Voting 196-6, lawmakers approved House Bill 6775, which seeks to create the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development by merging the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).

The new department is mandated to act as the primary national government entity responsible for the management of housing, human settlement, and urban development.

It shall be responsible for the implementation of a rational, well-balanced, orderly and efficient redevelopment of urban communities and the development of new settlements in rural and non-farm areas to assure dwellers of decent and affordable housing, job and livelihood opportunities, efficient mass transit, public safety, health care, educational opportunities, and clean environment.

The department shall be headed by a Secretary and assisted by four Undersecretaries and four Assistant Secretaries to be appointed by the President.

The bill proposes to reconstitute the HLURB into an adjudicatory body called Human Settlements Adjudication Commission, which shall adjudicate on all issues and controversies arising from the interpretation and implementation of the “Urban Development and Housing Act” (Republic Act No. 7279).

The bill also aims to rationalize and coordinate the functions of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC), Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), and National Housing Authority (NHA).

House OKs creation of housing department

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading the bill creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to govern the country’s basic housing needs.

House Bill No. 6775 was passed on Tuesday with 193 votes in its favor. Six members of the Makabayan bloc cast votes against it.

The proposed department would take over the functions of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and act as the primary agency responsible for the management of housing, human settlements and urban development.

HUDCC would be abolished, while HLURB would be reconstituted as the Human Settlements Adjudicatory Commission, an independent quasi-judicial body within the department that would resolve issues and disputes in the implementation of the Urban Development and Housing Act.

The National Housing Authority, the Housing Guaranty Corp., the National Housing Mortgage Finance Corp., the Home Development Mutual Fund, and the Social Housing Finance Corp. would be the department’s attached agencies.

It would also establish Socialized Housing One-Stop Processing Centers to process and issue all required housing-related permits, clearances and licenses.

The bill would mandate the implementation of a rational, well-balanced, orderly and efficient redevelopment of urban communities and the development of new settlements in rural and non-farm areas.

At the same time, the bill would mandate the State to guarantee the preservation of agricultural lands necessary for food security.

“Human settlements” was defined under the bill as the “integrative concept” composed of shelter and infrastructure, and community services such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation, food and nutrition.

Housing and urban development committee chair Negros Occidental 3rd Dist. Rep. Alfredo Benitez said the bill was “not just about putting a roof over the head, but about building homes and building communities.”

However, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, one of the bill’s opponents, said the bill was still designed under the current framework laid down by the 1992 Urban Development and Housing Act.

“We can, thus, expect nothing substantially new as far as improving the dire situation of the millions of our homeless people are concerned. There would still be more unutilized housing projects while many remain homeless,” Zarate said.

“The homeless and informal settlers do not need a new layer in our already cluttered bureaucracy. What they need are public and affordable mass housing programs that are available to them which have basic utilities and are near their sources of income,” he added.

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Once more, with feeling: DOTr promises improved MRT 3 operations

For the nth time, transportation officials promised long-suffering riders of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3) of improved train services in the coming days.

On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) vowed that the public could expect better service from the MRT 3 with the expected arrival of spare parts needed to repair and maintain defective trains. The bulk of the first batch of spare parts were expected to arrive today until Friday.

The rolling stock and track parts set to be received today by DOTr are from Linkers Enterprises and Nikka Trading, respectively.

The two were tapped by the government in December to supply the close to P16 million worth of spare parts needed by Metro Manila’s busiest railway system.

With the delivery of the spare parts, the public would “slowly experience better service at the MRT 3,” the DOTr said.

The oft-repeated promise was made as operations of the MRT 3 continued to deteriorate.

At 5 p.m. on Monday, the number of operational trains dropped to just seven, resulting in an 11-minute wait for passengers at the different stations.

Normally, the MRT 3 should have 15 trains in operation during rush hour and 12 trains at off-peak hours.

The deteriorating services and the long wait in between trains have led to a drop in ridership.

On Monday, the MRT 3 served close to 259,000 passengers, a steep drop from last year’s daily average of 463,000 passengers.

To help augment its operations, transport authorities have redeployed point-to-point or P2P buses during the morning rush hour.



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DOTr sees ‘improvement’ of MRT 3 service with delivery of spare parts

The initial batch of spare parts for the Metro Rail Transit Line (MRT 3) are set to be delivered starting Wednesday until Friday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.

The spare parts are vital in increasing the number of trains to reduce the waiting time for passengers on MRT 3 platforms.

“We expect that there will be an improvement in the services of the MRT within the next few months,” the DOTr said in a news statement.

Last December a Special Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) created by the MRT 3 management has procured a total of 18,579 spare parts, broken down as follows: rolling stock, 9,515; tracks, 7,776; overhead catenary system (OCS), 1,109; and power, 179.

The suppliers for the spare parts include Pink Armour Corp. for power and OCS, Linkers Enterprises for rolling stock and Nikka Trading for the railway tracks.

Meanwhile, more than 28,000 passengers have availed of the point- to-point (P2P) buses deployed by the DOTr as an alternative mode of transportation to the MRT since it was launched on February 1.

According to the DOTr, 389 buses made 521 trips and served 28,825 passengers under the MRT 3 bus-augmentation project.

The P2P buses are deployed on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the North Avenue station with drop-off points in Ortigas and Ayala.

DOTr has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canadian firm Bombardier for the procurement of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of the signaling spare parts and signaling maintenance for MRT 3.

Under the MOU, the DOTr will procure an OEM signaling spare parts and two-year signaling maintenance contract from Bombardier via direct contracting and emergency procurement, pursuant to the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act.