Republic of the Philippines
HOGSt OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

First Regular Session

House Bill No._ 198

Introduced by Hon. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The problem of shelter is one that is shared by almost all municipalities and cities in the
Philippines. Because it is a basic need, it is imperative that government place a special and
concentrated effort in providing solutions to the shelter problem which is aggravated by the
growth in our population.

The National Government has various agencies that are mandated to address this
problem. There is the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCO), the
National Housing Authority (NHA), Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and
government financing institutions that set and implement policies and programs for shelter.

However, circumstances surrounding shelter problems of municipalities and cities differ
from one another. Each locality has its own peculiarity that makes it difficult to set a standard or
uniform solution for the shelter problem. The housing agencies of the national government still
have to exert extra effort and spend additional time in formulating programs to be implemented
in various localities.

This bill seeks to institutionalize Local Housing Boards, which will be created at the level
of local government units. Because of their direct governance of their respective constituencies,
the local governments are in the best position to know the peculiarities of their locality and
establish their priorities. Local housing boards, which shall be composed of representatives
coming from the public as well as the private sector and civil society, shall be responsible for the
formulation of a housing program in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

Not only will this allow LGUs to chart their own destiny and shape their future with
minimum intervention from central government authorities but it will also enable the national
government to concentrate on national concerns and be relieved of the burden of managing local
affairs. It will further strengthen the autonomy of local governments, in line with the spirit of
giving more power to LGUs for self-determination as embodied in the Constitution.

In view of the foregoing, this representation seeks the passage of this bill.

Re io yf B. 46,
‘ive

Lohe District, Muntinlupa City


Republic of the
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
‘THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House BillNo._ 198

Introduced by Hon. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon

AN ACT
CREATING LOCAL HOUSING BOARDS IN EVERY CITY AND MUNICIPALITY,
PROVIDING FOR ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1. Title of the Act. — This Act shall be known as the “Local Housing Boards
Act.”

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. — a) It is the policy of the State to promote a just and
dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the
people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full
employment, a rising standard of living and an improved quality of life for all.

b) It is the policy of the State to adopt a continuing socialized housing program that will
make available at affordable cost decent housing and basic services to underprivileged and
homeless urban or rural poor dwellers.

c) It is the policy of the State to protect urban or rural poor dwellers from evictions or
demolitions undertaken in violation of the law or, in an unjust or inhumane manner.

4) It is hereby declared that the territorial and political subdivisions of the State shall
enjoy genuine and meaningful local autonomy to enable them to attain their fullest development
as self-sufficient communities and make them more effective partners in the attainment of
national goals. Toward this end, the State shall provide for a more responsive and accountable

local government structure instituted through a system of decentralization whereby local


government units (LGUs) shall be given more powers, authority, responsibilities and resources.
‘The process of decentralization shall proceed from the National Government to the LGUs.

€) It is the policy of the State to promote and institutionalize the participation of the
private sector, non-government organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs) in the
urban and rural development process.

f) It is the policy of the State to require all national agencies and offices to conduct
periodic consultations with appropriate local government units, non-governmental and people’s
organizations and other concemed sectors of the community before any project or program is
implemented in their respective jurisdictions.

Section 3. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms or words
and phrases shall mean or be understood as follows:

a) Balanced Housing Requirement refers to the mandate pursuant to Section 18 of the
Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA), whereby developers of proposed
subdivision projects shall be required to develop an area for socialized housing
equivalent to at least twenty percent (20%) of the total subdivision area or total
subdivision project cost, at the option of the developer, within the same city or
municipality, whenever feasible, and in accordance with the standard set by the
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and other existing laws;

b) Comprehensive Land Use Plan refers to the primary and dominant bases for land
use, applying a rational approach for allocating available land resources as
equitably as possible among competing user-groups and for different functions,
consistent with the development and zoning plan of the area and the provisions of
the UDHA;

5

Economic Housing refers to a type of housing project provided to moderately low-
income families with lower interest rates and longer amortization periods;

4) Local Government Pabahay Program refers to the program aimed at
synchronizing and coordinating efforts of all government housing agencies
involved in assisting LGUs in their respective socialized housing projects, in the

context of Executive Order No. 143, series of 1993;


©) Local Shelter Plan refers to a general framework that effectively provides a step-
by-step procedure by which cities and municipalities could formulate solutions to
their housing problems. It shall include measures to enable cities and
municipalities to plan and implement their specific mandates based on the UDHA,
and to facilitate a linkage with comprehensive land use plans as defined under this
Act;

) Local Shelter Plan Guidelines refers to a model for the preparation of local shelter
plans, es embodied in the National Urban Development and Housing Framework
(NUDHF), or that which was developed under the PHI/89/F02 Project,
implemented by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
(HUDCC) and executed by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
(UNCHS);

g) National Urban Development and Housing Framework (NUDHF) refers to the
authoritative document issued by the HLURB aimed at achieving the objectives of
the UDHA;

h

=

Rural Areas refer to those areas that are not urban areas as defined under this Act;

i) Socialized Housing refers to housing programs and projects covering houses, lots
or house and lots, undertaken by national or local governments or the private
sector for underprivileged and homeless citizens, which sball include sites and
services development, financing, liberalized terms on interest payments, and such
other benefits in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations;

J) UDHA refers to the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 or Republic Act
No, 7279 (R.A. No. 7279);

k) Underprivileged and Homeless Rural or Urban Poor Dwellers refers to

individuals or families residing in rural or urban areas whose income or combined

household income falls within the poverty threshold as defined by the National

Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and who do not own housing facilities,

and shall include those who live in makeshift dwelling units and do not enjoy

security of land tenure; and


1) Urban Areas refers to all cities regardless of their population density and to

municipalities with a population density of at least five hundred (500) persons per

square kilometer;

Section 4. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all cities and municipalities in both urban

and rural areas.

Section 5. Mandate. — Every city and nmmicipality, through its local housing board, shall

formulate, develop, implement and monitor policies on the provision for housing and

resettlement areas and on the observance of the right of the underprivileged and homeless to a

just and humane eviction and demolition.

Section 6. Composition. - The local housing board in a city or municipality shall be

composed of the following:
i) The City/Municipal Mayor as Chairman;
ii) The City/Municipal Vice-Mayor as Vice-Chairman;
iil) The Chairperson of the Sangguniang Panghungsod/Bayan Committee on
Housing and Urban Development or its equivalent, as Member;
iv) The City/Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator as Member;

7]

vi)

‘The City/Municipal Engineer as Member; and

Representatives of People’s Organizations (POs)/Non-Government
Organizations (NGOs) operating in the city or municipality, who shall
constitute not Jess than one fourth (1/4) of the members of the fully
organized Board as Members: Provided, That a PO/NGO already
represented in any local special body may be concurrently represented in
any local housing board.

Section 7. Powers and Functions. — City or municipal local housing boards shall have

the following powers and functions:

a) Prepare, based on local shelter plan guidelines and with the assistance of HUDCC and

other concemed government agencies, local shelter plans which shall form part of the

city/municipal development plans: Provided, That public hearings shall be conducted

for the purpose;


b)

°)

4

°)

8)

h)

id

Designate at least one (1) representative to their respective local development
councils: Provided, That said representative is not already a member of the council;
Assist the city/municipal development councils in the formulation of their respective
comprehensive land use plans;

Approve preliminary and final subdivision schemes and development plans of
subdivisions, residential, commercial, industrial and other purposes, in accordance
with the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 957, as amended, otherwise known as
the Subdivision and Condominium Buyers’ Protective Decree, and its implementing
standards, rules and regulations concerning subdivisions and condominiums;

Approve preliminary and final subdivision schemes and development plans of all
economic and socialized housing projects as well as individual or group building
‘occupancy permits covered by Batas Pambansa Blg. 220 and its implementing
standards, rules and regulations;

Evaluate and resolve the opposition to the issuance of development permits for any of
the projects stated in the two (2) preceding sub-sections, in accordance with the said
laws and the Rules of Procedure promulgated by the Housing and Land Use
Regulatory Board (HLURB) incident thereto;

Monitor the nature and progress of land development of projects it has approved, as
well as housing construction in the case of house and lot packages, to ensure their
faithfulness to the approved plans and specifications thereof, and impose appropriate
measures to enforce compliance therewith;

Ensure compliance with the Balanced Housing Requirement as provided in Section
18 of R.A. 7279 and its implementing rules and regulations;

Conduct an inventory of all lands within their respective localities, and update the
same every three (3) years, in accordance with Section 7 of R.A. 7279 and guidelines
issued for the purpose;

Identify the sites for socialized housing, subject to the requirements prescribed by

Section 8 of R.A. 7279 and guidelines issued for the purpose;


K) Advise the Sanggunian on matters of local taxation which may affect the local
government housing program, which includes, but shall not be limited to, the
formulation of a socialized housing tax, idle lands tax, and an additional levy on the
real property tax to constitute a Special Socialized Housing Fund;

1) Recommend, for approval of their respective local chief executives (LCEs),
formulated schemes for the acquisition and disposition of lands within their localities
for socialized housing purposes, subject to Sections 9 to 14 of R.A. 7279 and its
implementing guidelines: Provided, That such schemes shall ensure that the valuation
of a particular land for socialized housing purposes shall be within the affordability
levels of prospective beneficiaries;

m) Recommend for approval of their respective LCEs partnership arrangements with the
national government on, but shall not be limited to, the following programs:

i) Housing Production Assistance, Resettlement Assistance, Local
Housing, Cost Recoverable Joint Ventures and other relevant
programs of the National Housing Authority (NHA);

ii) Local government housing assistance programs of the Home
Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), National Home Mortgage
Finance Corporation (NHMFC), Home Guaranty Corporation
(HGC), and for this purpose, local housing boards shall coordinate
with the Advisory Committee created to oversee the
implementation of the Local Government Pabahay Program; and

iii) Other socialized housing projects undertaken by other national
government agencies and government-owned and controlled
corporations within their respective localities.

n) Ensure the registration of underprivileged and homeless urban or rural dwellers as
socialized housing beneficiaries under Sections 16 and 17 of R.A. 7279: Provided,
That local housing boards shall assume the functions of city or municipal registration
committees as constituted under the implementing rules and regulations of the same

Sections;


©) Coordinate with government agencies and instrumentalities performing functions

which may affect housing and urban development;

p) Submit to the President and the Congress of the Philippines, an annual report as

provided by Section 41 of R.A. 7279; and

@) Perform such other related functions established by law or ordinance, as necessary to

implement the mandate of local government units under the Urban Development and
Housing Act.

Section 8, Generation and Mobilization of Resources. - Local housing boards are
hereby constituted as the primary entities tasked to advise local chief executives on matters of
sourcing of fiunds for socialized housing. For this purpose, local housing boards may recommend
the following schemes for funding socialized housing projects:

a) build-operate-transfer and other related schemes;

) bond flotation and other credit financing arrangements;

©) availment of foreign or local grants: Provided, That local housing boards are hereby

authorized to receive foreign and local grants which shall be remitted to the local
treasury, and shall be credited to the socialized housing account of the local
government unit concerned;

d) loan packages from government financing/tending institutions;

) joint venture projects with private sector groups or developers; and

f) pooling of resources between and among LGUs, the private sector, NGOs and POs.

Section 9. Demolition Clearinghouse. - Local housing boards are hereby tasked to
oversee the implementation of Section 28 of the UDHA and its implementing rules and
regulations: Provided, That just and humane eviction and demolition procedures under Section
28 of the UDHA and its implementing rules and regulations are likewise made applicable to rural
areas.

In this regard, local housing boards shall:

a) Oversee and coordinate government activities relative to consultation, relocation, and

resettlement of underprivileged and homeless urban or rural poor dwellers in cases


where evictions and demolitions affecting them are necessary and allowed by existing
laws;

b) Recommend policy measures and/or undertake appropriate action to ensure full
compliance with the constitutional mandate and statutory requirements prior to
evictions and/or demolitions affecting underprivileged and homeless urban or rural
poor dwellers; and

©) Issue directives, rules and regulations, consistent with laws, as it may deem necessary
to effectively carry out the purposes of the constitutional mandate to ensure just and
humane evictions and demolitions.

Section 10. Compliance Report. - Before undertaking evictions and/or demolitions that
will affect underprivileged and homeless urban or rural poor dwellers, the city or municipality
concerned, national government agencies or other proponents of eviction and demolition
activities, including employees of the judiciary, shall submit a Compliance Report to the local
housing board, with a statement under oath that:

a) adequate consultation as defined and outlined under pertinent laws, rules and

regulations have already been undertaken with the affected residents;

b) adequate relocation, as defined and outlined under pertinent laws, rules and
regulations, is available, ready, and sufficiently supported by relocation and
resettlement funding; and

©) the requirements and procedures prescribed under the implementing rules and
regulations of Section 28 of the UDHA, specifically on the Pre-Relocation,
Relocation, and Post-Relocation Phases of eviction/demolition activities have been or
shall be observed.

The Compliance Report shall include a certified list of families to be evicted and/or
relocated. The local housing board shall have the power to review the Compliance Report and
approve or disapprove the same.

Section 11. Meetings and Quorum. ~ The Board shall meet at least once a month or as
often as may be deemed necessary. The presence of the Chairman or the Vice-Chairman and a

majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum.


Section 12. Compensation and Remuneration. — Members of the local housing Board
who are not government officials or employees shall be entitled to the necessary traveling
expenses and allowances chargeable against the funds of the local housing board concemed,
subject to existing accounting and auditing rules and regulations.

This does not preclude cities and municipalities from mobilizing other possible funding
sources for the compensation and remuneration of members of the local housing board who are
not government officials or employees.

Section 13 Budget. — The cities and municipalities shall appropriate at least one percent
(1%) of their Internal Revenue Allotment for the year for the operations and activities of the
Board.

Section 14, Penalties. — Failure to submit the Compliance Report as required by Section
10 of this Act, or any act of misrepresentation or fraud in connection with any information
contained in a submitted Compliance Report, or unjustified failure or refusal of a mayor to
constitute the local housing board as created and defined by this Act, shall subject the national
and local government officials and employees responsible for such omission, misrepresentation,
fraud, or unjustified faiture or refusal to:

a) disciplinary action under Book I, Title Two, Chapter 4 of the Local Government

Code; and/or

b) prosecution under the penalty clause of the UDHA.

For this purpose, local chief executives of cities and municipalities shall constitute such
local housing boards within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act. Failure to constitute
the local housing board within this prescribed period shall be prima facie evidence of unjustified
failure or refusal to do so.

Section 15. Transitory Provisions. ~ Cities and municipalities with existing local
housing and urban development boards or similar entities are hereby given ninety (90) days from
the effectivity of this Act within which to amend their respective ordinances to conform with the
provisions of this Act: Provided, That nothing herein stated shall preclude cities and
municipalities from designating additional functions and/or appropriating additional funds to

achieve the objectives of this Act.


Section 16. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within sixty (60) days after the
approval of this Act, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and
the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), in consultation with the
concemed government agencies, the private sector, POs and NGOs, shall formulate the
appropriate rules and regulations necessary to effectively implement any or all of the provisions
of this Act. Such rules and regulations shall include, among others, guidelines on the following:

a) resource generation and mobilization for socialized housing purposes;

b) schemes for local government housing assistance; and

c) accreditation and selection of representatives of the private sector, NGOs and POs to

the local housing board.

Section 17. Repealing Clause. ~ (a) Sections 447 (a) (2) (x) and 458 (a) (2) (x) of the
Local Government Code are hereby repealed;

b) Section 107 (b) of the Local Government Code is hereby amended;

c) Executive Order No. 71, series of 1993 is hereby amended insofar as the assumption

by the local housing board of the functions devolved from the HLURB to LGUs; and

d) All laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules and regulations, and other

issuances, or part or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions of this
‘Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 18. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, any provision of this Act is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions not affected thereby shall continue
to be in force and effect.

Section 19. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect upon publication in at least
two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,