The National Housing Authority (NHA) remains firm in its stand on the issue of urban group Kadamay’s illegal occupation of government housing sites in Bulacan.
In a press briefing on 05 February 2018, Chief of Staff Atty. John Christopher Mahamud addressed the video that went viral on Facebook where Kadamay member Jerry Lavado was seen “selling” one of the many housing units occupied by his group.When pressed on NHA’s actions against this, Atty. Mahamud said, “We asked our Legal
Department to study on that matter. It is not just an isolated case, so titignan pa namin, there are reports coming in. Gaya nga ng sinabi namin, we validate all these reports and let our Legal Department study what rules can be implemented.” He warned the public not to purchase any housing unit since these are illegal and will not be authorized by NHA.
Atty. Mahamud also reiterated that from the beginning, the NHA was clear with its position to only negotiate units reserved for the uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP); and not those intended for Informal Settler Families (ISFs), since these are constructed for families who went through NHA’s qualification and screening process.
Meanwhile, NHA Spokesperson Ms. Elsie B. Trinidad and Central Luzon Department Manager Engr. Romuel P. Alimboyao clarified that Kadamay members will still go through the validation process to determine who among them are qualified to receive the idle units intended for the AFP and PNP.
This, after field validation proved that 3,295 housing units intended for the ISFs from danger areas in Metro Manila are among the properties forcefully occupied by Kadamay. To date, 8,494 households are occupying 5,278 units in Bulacan; 1,983 of which are intended for the uniformed personnel of the AFP and PNP. Present data also notes that 71 Kadamay families were previously awardees of other NHA housing projects.
Following President Duterte’s pronouncement after the takeover in March 2017, a joint resolution has been passed in the Congress and is now awaiting the President’s signature. This resolution will authorize NHA to re-award the occupied AFP/PNP housing units to qualified Kadamay members as mandated by Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.