Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Friday directed the National Housing Authority (NHA) to look into complaints of substandard housing units in a resettlement site in Benguet.

            Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, directed the Baguio City branch of the NHA to investigate claims that the houses built as part of the Tuba Resettlement Project in Tuba, Benguet, were leaky and were of substandard quality.

            “I have received reports about the project. We will look into this,” he said.

            The target beneficiaries of the Tuba Resettlement Project are the 445 families affected by Typhoon Pepeng in Baguio City and the province of Benguet in 2009.

            The NHA has relocated 328 families so far.

            “The Local Inter-Agency Committee is in the process of identifying and approving the applications for the remaining 117 housing units available as some of the beneficiaries from Itogon opted not to avail of the housing units because of the distance of the relocation site,” Binay said.

            The Vice President also urged beneficiaries of resettlement housing projects to report any structural defects and issues on the construction and quality of materials used in the housing units.

            “This is primarily an issue on decent living conditions and safety. We take these reports seriously because we want the families who are now occupying in these houses to have peace of mind,” he added.

            The housing czar previously instructed the NHA to look into reports that some housing units built for the survivors of Tropical Storm Sendong in Cagayan de Oro City were also substandard.

            In earlier reports, some residents at the Calaanan relocation site in Barangay Canito-an complained of cracked walls and floors that they said could not withstand even a low-magnitude earthquake.

            Binay said the limited budget for housing units in relocation projects should not be an excuse for shoddy construction.