Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council (HUDCC) chair Jejomar C. Binay has emphasized the importance of a strong partnership between business and government, saying it was vital to ensuring economic development.

                  In a speech before members of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. Friday, Binay stressed the need to develop an investment-friendly business climate particularly for the housing sector.

                  "The ideal relationship is one of cooperation and coordination, in which government and business remain in charge of their respective areas of special competence," he said.

                  “Your role is to create goods and services for the economy. The role of government is to provide the best possible environment for your noble enterprise,” he added.

                  The Vice President also stressed the need to seize the opportunities brought about by renewed investor confidence in the country. "We must prioritize the maximum good of all our people and our friends who want to contribute to our progress," he said.

                  During his stay in Davao, Binay also met with the Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) where he again emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships.

                  He said the government should explore options and mechanisms where poor homebuyers can buy with their services and the government can pay developers with tax incentives.

                  The Vice President also pushed for strengthened lending to and collection from the middle class, especially Overseas Filipino Workers. He added that by keeping the money circulating in the home lending system, more people can borrow, buy and amortize houses.

                  “A strong middle class-based home ownership system will enable the government, in partnership with the private sector, to address the housing needs of the less capable sectors of society,” Binay said.

                  He further said there is a need for the development of standardized housing components industry and encouraged inventors to make use of local and native technology. He added this will lessen the country’s dependence on imported raw materials and open the door for its own product exports.

                  Meanwhile, the Vice President also distributed land titles to beneficiary families in Brgy. Agdao as part of the HUDCC’s drive to bring housing to the less fortunate.

                  Binay led the awarding of Transfer Certificates of Titles (TCTs) to 49 family-beneficiaries after full payment of their respective loans under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP).

                  The CMP is an innovative mortgage financing system where residents of blighted or depressed areas or the urban poor may acquire a privately-owned tract of land through the concept of community ownership.

                  “Sana patuloy kayong magsikap sa pagbabayad ng inyong obligasyon sa ilalim ng programang ito upang matamo ninyo ang tunay na kasiguruhan sa palupa,” Binay said to the awardees.

                  “Ang tagumpay ng programang ito ay masusukat hindi lamang sa dami o bilang ng mga lupa at bahay, kundi higit na makabuluhan din ang pagbubukas ng pagkakataon para sa ating mga maliliit na kababayan upang magkaroon ng dignidad at umunlad ang kanilang mga pamumuhay,” he added. 

                  Since the start of its implementation in 1989, the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), program administrator, has granted a total of P8.5- billion loans to secure the tenure of 218,347 informal settler families nationwide.

                  Of the total P412.6 million granted to Region XI to date, Davao City has been granted the highest CMP loan approval in the region accounting for 63 percent or P262 million for 73 CMP projects.