Tuesday, May 28, 2019

DHSUD eyes P50B annual housing fund

THE IMPLEMENTING rules and regulations (IRR) of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Act will be signed by June 15, according to Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Eduardo D. del Rosario.

In an interview at the Palace on May 20, Mr. del Rosario told BusinessWorld that the final draft of the IRR will be signed by the HUDCC, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), and other concerned agencies by June 15.

“Nagsimula na kaming gumulong ‘yung (We have started moving along with the) six months [transition period]. Three months for the completion of the implementing rules and regulations, so it will be completed and signed by June 15,” he said.

“After that, we will have our organizational structure and staffing pattern para ‘yung (so that the) different bureaus and regional offices will be defined with their corresponding heads,” he added.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11201, also known as the DHSUD Act, on Feb. 14. Mr. del Rosario said the HUDCC and the HLURB are now crafting a roadmap for the new department, which will be operational beginning 2020.

“So it depends now on the budget, we presented our proposed budget for 2020 to the DBM (Department of Budget and Management),” he said, which “at the moment” will be “about P50 billion a year.”

Most of the budget, he explained, will go to the informal settler families nationwide.

“Those living in areas whose lots are not theirs and those living in hazard areas,” he said.

“We would like to achieve our housing need. They call it backlog, I call it housing need of 6.5 million from 2017 to 2022. In order to achieve that, we need about a minimum of P35 to P40 billion. But the budget for the housing sector for this year alone is only P2.7 billion. How could we possibly achieve that? So it is very timely that the department is created so that in 2020, we can possibly scale up,” he said.

Mr. del Rosario also noted that the current housing agencies are drafting a proposed bill to address the country’s housing needs.

He said the bill is “for the housing production so that there will be an allocation of at least P50 billion a year to construct for over 20-year period… about two million housing units.”

“We are now drafting the proposed bill. Once the next Congress resumes, we will request a senator or a congressman to sponsor the bill so that we can have a yearly budget allocated for housing. Because previously, it’s about P30 to P33 billion already. It ran down to P2.7 billion this year,” he added. — Arjay L. Balinbin

https://www.bworldonline.com/dhsud-eyes-p50b-annual-housing-fund/

National Flag Days start today

By Anthony Giron

IMUS, Cavite – The 15-day period that is known as National Flag Days starts today, May 28, and will be until June 12, Philippine Independence Day.

The Department of Interior and Local Government and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) have called on government offices, business establishments, schools and other institutions and private homes to display the Philippine flag during the period.

The declaration of the 15-day National Flag Days is contained in Republic Act No. 8491 or the “Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines” and House Bill 5224 which were approved by Congress.

The 15-day Flag Day period is also declared in Executive Order 179 issued by President Fidel V. Ramos.

The EO had set the extension of the commemoration of the national flag from May 28 to the days leading to Freedom Day on June 12. It also called on officials and residents to display the Philippine flag distinctly during the period.

The Flag Day is being celebrated on May 28 in Imus district, which was where the new Philippine flag was first raised and waved in victory by the revolutionaries, according to Philippine history.

The flag, designed by Aguinaldo, was sewn in Hong Kong by Marcela Agoncillo, her daughter Lorenza, and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, a niece of Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

Battle of Alapan

The “Battle of Alapan” on May 28, 1898 was a hard-fought encounter of the revolutionaries under General Emilio F. Aguinaldo against the Spanish force prior to the proclamation of the Philippine independence on June 12, 1898.

The battle in Barangay Alapan I was a victory for Aguinaldo and the revolutionaries after the return of the general to the Philippines on May 18, 1898 from exile in Hong Kong.

Aguinaldo and the other revolutionaries also displayed the Philippine flag at Teatro CaviteƱo in Cavite Nuevo (now Cavite City) following the capture of more than 270 Spanish soldiers in the “Battle of Alapan.”

PH Independence Day

The flag was also waved in victory by Aguinaldo and the other revolutionaries by the window (now a veranda) at the General’s residence in Kawit during the proclamation of independence.

The country commemorated the Flag Day and anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine Independence on June 12 from 1941 to 1964.

In 1965, President Diosdado Macapagal ordered the commemoration of the day of the flag moved to the date when it was first unfurled – May 28 – through Proclamation No. 374.

Flag Display Festival

Imus is the only city which had commemorated Flag Day with pomp and colorful program with its own “Wagayway” (Flag Wave or Display) Festival.

Imus was tagged as “Flag Capital of the Philippines” citing the historical Alapan encounter with the revolutionaries and the Philippines flag at the fore.

Officials said that some 3,000 Philippine flags would be displayed in Imus’ plaza, roads and public edifices, during the Flag Day celebration.

Organizers in Imus have set a month-long program of activities for the celebration, which started May 5.

The flags will remain on display in the city until June 12.

Nationalism and patriotism

Meanwhile, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday assured that it will continue to strengthen initiatives that will instill nationalism and patriotism among learners.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that the DepEd continues to ensure that students are educated about the country’s history so they will have better appreciation of the greatness of the Filipino race.

DepEd enjoined all schools to display the Philippine Flag in the respective classrooms, offices and residences of all teaching and nonteaching personnel from May 15 to June 30, 2019.

In particular, these special discussions should take place when teaching subjects such as Sibika at Kultura, HEKASI, Araling Panlipunan, Values Education, Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH), Filipino and English at least once a week for the whole school year.

Flag Campaign in Schools

Earlier, DepEd – in partnership with Ayala Foundation Inc., Chooks-to-Go of Bounty Agro Ventures Inc., and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) – also distributed 163 Philippine flags to the Schools Division of Quezon City to kick off the #MagingMagiting Flag Campaign.

10,000 flags

The NCR Flag Campaign is the first of 17 on-ground flag distribution events that will be done in all 17 regions nationwide. The goal of the campaign is to distribute 10,000 flags to public schools nationwide by 2019. (With a report from MERLINA HERNANDO-MALIPOT)

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/05/27/national-flag-days-start-today/