Published: January 11, 2015

                  Vice President Jejomar C. Binay said the government housing agencies are targeting to complete 120,000 housing units in 2015 for families displaced by Typhoon Yolanda.

                  Binay, who is the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the head of the Yolanda Resettlement Cluster, said that as of December 2014, P13.4 billion has been released for the construction of 46,129 housing units. Of these, 37,500 have already been bidded out and awarded.

                  "By the end of 2015, we plan to provide disaster-resilient housing in safer communities to families living in high-risk and hazardous areas," Binay said.

                  Binay said an additional P1.3 billion has also been approved for release and another P7.99 billion approved supplemental budget will generate an additional 31,752 housing units.

                  "These projects have been bid out and ready for award but could not be awarded yet pending release of funds to the National Housing Authority," he added.

                  According to Binay, a total of 205,128 houses are needed for Yolanda victims in 116 cities/municipalities.

                  At the end of 2014, key shelter agencies have already completed a total of 2,100 housing units.

                  Binay admitted that the government housing agencies are facing several issues which hampers the  implementation of the Yolanda Housing project.

                  One of these problems is the difficulty in identifying land suitable for housing with appropriate environmental clearances.

                  "Administrative Order 44 was issued on October 28 which is expected to fast-track the issuance of clearances and permits. However, some concerned agencies are still crafting their respective IRRs while others have just recently started operationalizing their processes," Binay said.

                  Another problem is that municipalities like Camotes Island are still classified as reserved land.

                  "In the case of these areas, we are still waiting for a Presidential Proclamation that will carve out areas that can be used for housing," Binay said.

                  Meanwhile, Binay also recognized the need to fast-track the operationalization of Local Inter-agency Committees (LIACs) as the central planning, implementation and monitoring committee for permanent housing projects.

                  "Regional Resettlement Clusters have been established and regional shelter fora with Mayors have been conducted to facilitate the process," Binay said.