Sen. Imee seeks to speed up proclamation of 171 hectares for socialized housing

MANILA -- Senator Imee Marcos sought to speed up a Presidential proclamation reserving 171 hectares of public land, known as Lupang Arenda in Taytay, Rizal, for socialized housing since almost 29 years have passed from the first presidential proclamation setting aside public land to develop low-cost and medium-rise housing for informal settlers living in Lupang Arenda and along the Pasig River.

Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare, and Rural Development, filed Senate Resolution 900 to inquire into the "unreasonable delay" in issuing a Presidential proclamation despite the completed staff work of a Pre-Proclamation Committee in 2018.

The Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council (HUDCC), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and National Housing Authority (NHA) led the Pre-Proclamation Committee.

"Panahon na para tuldukan ang masalimuot na kwento ukol sa mga proklamasyon para sa pabahay ng mga informal settlers," the senator declared. (It's time to resolve the complex story of proclamations for housing informal settlers.)

In 1995, then President Fidel Ramos issued Proclamation 704 to set aside 80 hectares of land for informal settlers along the Pasig River and poor families in Taytay, Rizal.

Eleven years later, then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Proclamation 1160 granting 20 parcels of land for urban poor families in the Manggahan Flood Complex and homeless employees of the Rizal provincial government.

However, in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, Macapagal-Arroyo revoked both proclamations amid fears of obstructing the Napindan River - a tributary of the Pasig River - and causing severe floods and loss of lives.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte restored Proclamation 704 through Executive Order 93 in 2019, but as of March 2022, only 41 certificates of land ownership had been distributed to informal settlers occupying 2.1 hectares of land in Lupang Arenda.

In September last year, the DENR had yet to provide the clearance required before the entire Lupang Arenda could be proclaimed a public housing area.

Senator Marcos noted that San Miguel Corporation's decision last March to cancel its Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) project has eased concerns about environmental degradation, flooding, earthquake risks, reduced river flow, and the interruption of duck raisers' livelihood along the Napindan River.

"Tens of thousands of informal settlers' households await a conclusive Presidential proclamation on Lupang Arenda. It would bring the government closer to its target of building one million housing units each year, as promised," she said.