Rama secures P575M pledge for five socialize housing units from country’s top investors

From left, Cebu City Planning Division Officer Archt. Yumi Espina; Lawyer Collin Rosell, the secretary to the mayor; Atty. Jerone Castillo, the special assistant to the mayor on fiscal management, and Cebu City PIO Cerwin Eviota during a press conference in a hotel in Cebu City on Tuesday, August 16, 2022. CDN Digital photo| Wenilyn Sabalo

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama’s four-day “investment promotion” in Manila yielded about P575 million worth of pledges for the construction of at least five medium-rise buildings (MRBs) for the City’s socialized housing project.

The amount is an estimate based on the P115 million total cost of the MRB that Cebu Landmaster Inc. (CLI) constructed in Barangay Lorega-San Miguel, Cebu City in compliance with the balance housing development section of the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA).

READ: MRB for socialized housing turned over

These MRBs are expected to house urban poor communities in the cities, particularly those families affected by the City’s clearing of illegal structures situated within the three-meter easement of its rivers and waterways.

In a press conference in a hotel in Cebu City on Tuesday morning, August 16, 2022, Lawyer Colin Rosell, secretary to the mayor, said the developers who pledged funding for these MRBs will either report their pledges as compliance to balanced housing under Republic Act (RA) 7279, as amended by RA 10-884, or pursue the same as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

“Sa balanced housing, initially, ni-trigger ta og discussion nga asa man ang inyoha nga nga compliance niini? Pero other than that, nisulti man sila nga ‘balanced housing, yes, we just need the land asa nato ibutang?’ ‘we wanted to enter into a partnership,” he said.

“Gusto sad sila nga ang ilang Corporate Social naa pod. Just imagine what change it will give to our socialized housing program,” he added.

Rosell said the Mayor aims to have these projects realized within his three-year term.

Rosell said with these funding commitments, the next step for the city is to conduct inventory of all its acquired properties and city-owned properties to identify the location of these would-be MRBs. 

Among the developers Rama was able to talk with during the series of investment meetings he had in Manila from August 9 to August 12, 2022, were Manny V. Pangilinan of PLDT; Bernard Vincent “Bobby” Dy, the CEO of the Ayala Land, Inc; Frederick Go, the president and CEO of the Robinson’s Land Corp.; Jonathan Gotianun and Tristan las Marias, the chairman and president of the Filinvest Land, Inc.; the SM Group with its chairman Hans Sy, Sr.

The press conference was held hours ahead of Mayor Rama’s scheduled meeting with the executive officers of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), which he also heads.

/bmjo