Posted: Friday, July 18, 2014
Re-Printed From The Official Website Of
VICE PRESIDENT JEJOMAR C. BINAY at http://www.ovp.gov.ph
Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Thursday said the government is now in the process of amending the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on housing cooperatives to strengthen the implementation of cooperative housing programs in the country.
“We are now in the process of amending the IRR on housing cooperatives, wherein the key shelter agencies and government financial institutions are enjoined to craft common guidelines for the implementation of cooperative housing programs and to create special loan windows that will cater exclusively to housing cooperatives,” the Vice President said during the First Cooperative Housing Summit in Quezon City.
“This IRR will also mandate government agencies to provide technical assistance and capacity building to housing cooperatives, and will also provide for conflict resolution mechanisms,”he added.
Binay is the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), which oversees the government’s key shelter agencies (KSAs).
Aside from amending the IRR, Binay said the housing sector is also taking “several compelling directions” to ensure the viability and sustainability of housing cooperatives.
“First, we have to ensure that the concept of cooperative housing is harmonized with our existing housing programs in the sector. It is important to have agreements to adapt the housing cooperative as a viable method of producing shelter, especially since they are already organized and could be made more capable through the key shelter agencies’ projects and programs,” he said.
Binay said the housing agencies should also continue to make financing available to cooperatives through regular programs or through a special loan window.
“In addition, we shall find a way to make the processing of requirements less stringent and more efficient and make it easier for housing cooperatives to engage in housing programs especially for socialized housing,” the housing czar said.
Binay said one area where KSAs and housing cooperatives could collaborate on is land acquisition.
“We all know that the cost and availability of land, especially in urban centers, are both limiting factors in its acquisition, and it will be easier for communities, through cooperatives, to acquire the land rather than go about it individually,” he said.
“The partnership of cooperatives with the key shelter agencies could be made stronger if each party will play their important part. And that is, the public sector providing capacity building, technical assistance, and financing, while the cooperatives make sure that each member is responsible and vigilant in their housing project or program. I assure you that by doing this, the whole will become greater than the sum of all parts,” the Vice President concluded.
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