Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council chairman Jejomar C. Binay called for the implementation of a housing program for government employees.

                  In a letter to President Benigno Aquino III, Binay said that while the government has been providing housing opportunities for informal settlers and poor dwellers, many of our government personnel are still homeless.

                  There are about 1.3 million government employees, who under existing laws, should be GSIS and Pag-IBIG members and are eligible to avail of housing loans.

                  However, only a small percentage of government employees have availed of the said loans because the existing housing options, especially those in Metro Manila, are not affordable. Also, low-income government employees find it difficult to access and comply with the requirements needed. 

                  "This housing program would strengthen HUDCC’s existing mandates to provide for institutional or government employees’ housing.  This is aligned with HUDCC’s new thrust to assist and guide government agencies and local government units in the conceptualization and implementation of housing projects for their employees and is consistent with our mandate to provide housing for the homeless," Binay said.

                  The proposed housing program directs all government departments and agencies to establish housing committees and conduct an in-house survey to determine their employees' housing needs and financial capabilities.

                  It also directs all government agencies to submit to HUDCC the list of idle and underutilized government lands for the past ten years as possible housing sites for their employees.

                  “Utilizing idle government properties for housing would make it easier for government agencies to provide housing for their employees and other qualified beneficiaries,” the Vice President said.

                  It can be recalled that past proclamations already declared certain government lands as housing sites for specific groups of government employees. The AFP Off-base Housing, Department of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) Employees Housing, and the New Bilibid Prison Reservation are some of these sites.  However, most of the declared housing sites are yet to be developed.