President Rodrigo R. Duterte administers the oath of office to Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, during her inauguration as Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary at the Malacañan Palace on July 12. Also in the photo are Robredo’s daughters, Jillian, Janine and Jessica. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) — Vice President Leni Robredo dared big business on Tuesday to help her build over one million affordable houses that will help uplift the lives of the poor without necessarily sacrificing profit.
Robredo, who chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), said she was looking at the medium to high-rise models deployed in Hong Kong and Singapore.
She cited a Phinma Properties project in Quezon City where former informal settlers pay a P2,000 monthly amortization for 26-square meter homes through Pag-Ibig, the state housing fund.
“We will disrupt and innovate. We will enjoin the private sector to be our partners in providing not just houses, but decent and affordable communities where our people will find jobs, where their children can safely go to school, attend church, run around and play safely,” Robredo told a business conference.
“We are not asking for your charity,” she added.
Robredo said she would improve coordination among agencies under the HUDCC which tend to work “on their own.”
“We have a lot of cleaning up and straightening of policies so we can be more effective,” she said. (MNS)