“The largest challenge that we face, from my perspective, is the ability to continue moving forward so the agency will have a single mission: that is, to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing.” –Alphonso Jackson
It is doubtful the National Housing Authority (NHA) will succumb to any resolution passed by the Iloilo Provincial Board asking the agency to award government employees the unoccupied housing units established by the housing authority in Barangay Cruz, Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.
The Provincial Board has no jurisdiction over the NHA, which is a part of the Infrastructure Utilities Group and under the administrative supervision of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council. It is a wrong choice of word to say the provincial body will “investigate” the national agency’s P4.2 billion housing project in the municipality; even if the project reeked with anomalies, it is Congress who must grill officials of the concerned agency on a national level.
If the intention of the Iloilo legislature is to ask a favor, the proper word would be “request,” not “investigate.”
Local legislative bodies do not investigate government-owned or controlled corporations under the Office of the President because they have yet to turnover certain projects to the intended beneficiaries.
Board Member Domingo Oso, Jr., who serves as vice chair for the committee on infrastructure, was reportedly contemplating the passing of a resolution asking NHA to provide government employees with some of the 1,050 NHA housing units, intended for members of the police and military, if there were no prospective occupants.
The media quoted Oso, who is from Barotac Nuevo, saying, “Until now, the area is not occupied and, in my personal observation, the facilities, as required in accordance with the requirements, are not properly installed and put up by the developer.”
He added, “We are planning to pass a resolution that, if there are no takers, we will give [the unit] to government employees so that it would be used rather than wasted.”
NHA-6 Estate Supervisor Rhodora Lim disclosed 743 of the housing units have been occupied and the remaining units are reserved for soldiers currently assigned to Marawi City. She explained, the housing project has been purposely earmarked for members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at a unit cost of P260,000 and acquired through amortization and salary deduction for 30 years.
Oso’s intention are admirable, but the Iloilo Provincial Board can only request a list of the project beneficiaries; it cannot compel NHA to award the remaining lots to any Tom, Dick, and Harry in government, except for the members of the PNP and the AFP./WDJ