Community Mortgage Programis a socialized housing program of thePhilippine Government. It provides for land acquisition by the occupyingcommunity associationbased on the concept ofcommunity ownership. It is being implemented through theSocial HousingFinance Corporation, a subsidiary of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation, and in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 7279 otherwise known as theUrban Developmentand Housing Act enacted on March 1992.
Seeing the need to expand its services deep in to the far flung areas of the country, ThePhilippine Senatepassed Republic Act 7835 otherwise known as the Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Financing Act ofDecember 1994appropriating 12.78 billion peso fund for the implementation of the Community Mortgage Program.
In January 2004, PresidentGloria Macapagal-ArroyosignedExecutive Order272 creating the Social Housing Finance Corporation and authorizing the transfer of the Community Mortgage Program from the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation.
To effectively implement this program, the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), which maintains its headquarters in the Philippinefinancial districtofMakati City, began enlisting the support of accredited originators to help facilitate the program by educating community associations, whose members are underprivileged sector of the Philippine society.
As of December 2008, a total of 1,686 projects were taken out under this program amounting to P7.7 billion with 203,752 underprivileged Filipinos benefiting from it.
Philippine housing czar Vice-President Noli “Kabayan” De Castro, who all heads the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), reiterated his call to other Philippine housing agencies to rally behind his effort to keep the housing sector moving.3rd PHILIPPINE HOUSING FINANCE FORUM (Posted Thursday, February 19, 2009) www.ovp.gov.ph/speeches
Supplemental Text
PHILIPPINE LAWS ON HOUSING AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
I. PHILIPPINE LAWS ON HOUSING
A. Urban Development and Housing Act (RA 7279)
(Date of Effectivity: 29 March 1992)
1. Constitutional Basis:
Art. 13. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Sec. 9. The State shall, by law and for the common good undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable cost decent housing and basic services to underpriviledged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to citizens. In the implementation of such programs the State shall respect the rights of small property owners.
Sec. 10. Urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwellings demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner.
No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.
2. Objectives:
a. Make available to underprivileged and homeless citizens decent housing at affordable cost;
b. Provide for rational use and development of urban land;
c. Regulate and direct urban growth and expansion towards a dispersed urban net and more balanced urban-rural interdependence;
d. provide for an equitable land tenure system that shall guarantee security of tenure to program beneficiaries but shall respect the rights of small property owners and ensure the payment of just compensation;
e. Encourage more effective people's participation in the urban development process; and
f. Improve the capability of local government units in undertaking urban development and housing programs and projects.
3. Beneficiaries:
> must be male or female Filipino underprivileged and homeless citizen (individual/families in urban/urbanizable areas whose income/combined household income is within poverty threshold and who do not own housing facilities and those who do not enjoy security of tenure)
> must not own real property in urban or rural areas
> not a professional squatter or not a member of squatting syndicates
4. Salient Provisions:
National Urban Development and Housing Framework
a comprehensive plan for urban and urbanizable areas to serve as basis for achieving the objectives of the law
formulated by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) under the direction of the Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council (HUDCC) in coordination with all local government units and other concerned public and private sectors
UDHA Socialized Housing Program
The housing program of the law provides for:
a) Beneficiary listing (coming up with a master list of beneficiaries within one year from the effectivity of the law)
a) Land inventory (within the territorial jurisdiction of LGUs)
a) Identification of socialized housing sites
a) Acquisition of identified socialized housing sites
a) Disposition of lands for socialized housing
UDHA Resettlement Program
resettlement of persons living in danger areas (esteros, railroad tracks, garbage dump, riverbanks shorelines and waterways) and public places (sidewalks, roads, parks and playgrounds)
the LGUs, in coordination with the National Housing Authority, are tasked to provide relocation or resettlement sites with basic services and facilities and access to employment opportunities sufficient to meet the basic needs of the affected families.
the law requires that this program be undertaken within 2 years from the date of its effectivity (March 29, 1992 - March 29, 1994)
Balanced Housing Program
Developers of proposed subdivision projects are required to develop an area for socialized housing equivalent to at least 20% of the total subdivision area or total subdivision cost with the option tocomply instead through any of the following:
development of a new settlement; slum upgrading; joint-venture projects with LGUs or any housing agency; or, participation in the community mortgage program
Eviction and Demolition (Rules and Procedure)
- The law discourages demolition as a practice. Eviction or demolition may be allowed only when:
a. persons/entities occupy danger areas
b. persons/entities occupy public places
c. place occupied is a gov't. infrastructure project site
d. there is a court order for eviction or demolition
e. construction falls under the category: new illegal structure (construction after March 29, 1992)
f. structure belongs to a professional squatter or a member of a squatting syndicate
- In the execution of eviction or demolition involving underprivileged and homeless citizens, the following are mandatory: (Sec. 28, UDHA, Implementing Rules and Regulations)
* 30-day notice
adequate consultation
only during office hours and good weather
presence of LGU officials
all those participating in demolitions must have proper ID
the Philippine National Police shall be in proper uniform (their task is not to demolish but for law enforcement and disturbance control only)
* heavy equipment shall not be used except for concrete structures
Moratorium on Eviction and Demolition
- There shall be a moratorium on the eviction of all program beneficiaries and on the demolition of their houses or dwelling units for a period of 3 years from the effectivity of the law (March 29, 1992 - March 29, 1995), this while the program components, i.e., the Housing Program, Resettlement Program, Balanced Housing Program are being accomplished or otherwise set in place.
What is the Urban Land Reform Law?
Presidential Decree No. 1517 issued on June 11, 1978 is what is known as the Urban Land Reform Law. It was a piece of legislation that instituted the Urban Land Reform Program of the government. Briefly, this program aims to rationalize — with due process and through equitable means — the existing pattern of land use and ownership in urban and urbanizable areas. As such, it involves the imposition of certain limitations on the use by the owner of his property.
Is urban land reform the same as agrarian reform?
No.
Agrarian reform (AR) involves the diffusion of land ownership through the imposition of retention limits for owners of large tracts of land. It is mandatory in the sense that the landowner cannot refuse not to sell the agricultural land in excess of the retention limit to the tenants who till the same.
In urban land reform (ULR), on the other hand, a landowner cannot ordinarily be compelled to sell the land to the tenant. It is only when the land is expropriated that he or she is forced to sell, but only after due process. In the event, however, that a landowner voluntarily decides to sell the property, the tenant has a pre-emptive right to buy the property or the “right of first refusal” before it can be legally sold to another. The law compels him merely to offer it first to the tenant.
In AR, all agricultural lands are covered although exemptions may be applied for. On the other hand, ULR applies only to selected parcels of urban land.
Is the “right of first refusal” available to all urban tenants?
No. PD 1517 limited its application to Urban Land Reform Zones or specific parcels of land later identified and proclaimed.
What are Areas for Priority Development or APDs?
The term Areas for Priority Development (APDs) was used in the pertinent decrees and proclamations interchangeably or alternatively with the term Urban Land Reform Zones (ULRZs). From all indications they have the same meaning. They refer to the 244 areas in Metro Manila specifically described and identified in Proclamation 1967, and other sites later identified and proclaimed.
How many APDs/ULRZs are there at present?
There are at present 284 APDs / ULRZs.
In addition to the 244 APDs in Metro Manila under Proclamation No. 1967 and Dagat-Dagatan, Tondo under Proclamation No. 2284, nineteen (19) Slum Improvement and Resettlement (SIR) sites were included pursuant to Proclamation No. 1810 (Declaring that all sites under the Zonal Improvement Program (ZIP) and SIR areas shall become ULRZs upon proclamation by the President). These are located in the regional cities of Bacolod, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao. Subsequently, pursuant to the same decree, the National Housing Authority identified and proclaimed 20 more APD sites – 19 in Metro Manila and one in Cebu City.
In summary:
Number of APDs/ULRZs
By Proclamation No. 1967 – 244
By Proclamation No. 2284 – 1
By Proclamation No. 1810 – 19
By NHA Approval – 20
Total – 284
What is the significance of a parcel of land’s being within an APD/ULRZ?
Within an APD/ULRZ:
1. Legitimate tenants who have resided on the land for ten years or more who have built their homes on the land, and residents who have legally occupied the lands by contract, continuously for the last ten years shall not be dispossessed of the land and shall be allowed the right of first refusal to purchase the same within a reasonable time and at reasonable prices.
2. No urban land can be disposed of or used or constructed on unless its disposition or use conforms with the development and zoning plans. This is implemented through the requirement of development use permit or locational clearance for projects within these areas.
3. In cases where the tenants and residents are unable to purchase the said lands, the government may acquire the same by expropriation or other land acquisition techniques in accordance with the policies of existing laws.
May apartment dwellers invoke the “right of first refusal”?
No. The law is explicit that it applies only to urbanland.
How do we know whether or not the land that we own or the land that we lease is within an APD or ULRZ?
HLURB prepared books of detailed maps and land use plans for 245 APD sites declared under Proclamation 1967 and 2284 and has condensed this to a Locational Reference Handbook which is available to the public. This handbook presents the physical location of the sites though maps in relation to their immediate vicinity and provides the precise location and complete boundary description. If necessary, HLURB also issues a certification whether or not a piece of property is within or outside of an APD.
Did the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7279) repeal the Urban Land Reform Law?
No. UDHA is actually more expansive than the ULR law.
As to Coverage:
PD 1517:Limited to areas proclaimed
RA 7279: All lands in urban and urbanizable areas,including existing areas for priority development sites, and in other areas that may be identified by the local government units as suitable for socialized housing.
As to Thrust
PD 1517:Land tenancy protected, with land purchase and expropriation only as an incident thereof
RA 7279 :Socialized Housing as primary strategy for providing shelter to put an end to tenancy status
As to Beneficiaries:
PD 1517:Legitimate tenants
RA 7279:Underprivileged and homeless citizen, must not own any real property, not a professional squatter or a member of squatting syndicates;–must be actual occupants to avail of right of first refusal if property is government-owned or acquired.
B. Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act (RA 7835)
Increasing and regularizing yearly appropriation of the major components of the national shelter program. It consists the following major component programs:
Resettlement Program
Medium-Rise Public and Private Housing
Community Mortgage Program
Cost-Recoverable Programs
Local Housing Program
Resettlement Program(Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 5.2B)
Target Beneficiaries: families displaced by government infrastructure projects; those occupying danger areas such as waterways, esteros, railroad tracks, etc.; and, those qualified for relocation and resettlement assistance under UDHA
It has 3 types of program delivery scheme:
NHA-Administered Resettlement Program
Resettlement Assistance Program for Local Government Units (the LGUs shall provide the land while the NHA provides funds for land develoment)
Resettlement Program with Other Government Agencies and the Private Sector (may include 20% balanced housing by developers)
Medium-Rise Private and Public Housing(Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 3B)
Target Beneficiaries:
For Medium-rise Public Housing: city relocation alternative for families affected by relocation activities and qualified for assistance under UDHA
For Medium-rise Private Housing: housing option to low-income families and to provide rental housing stock in high-density urban areas
Implementor: National Housing Authority with the participation of other government agencies, local government units and the private sector
Manner of Acquisition: units are to be disposed either through: outright sale or lease, depending on the affordability of the beneficiaries
Community Mortgage Program(Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 12.78B)
Governed by all existing CMP guidelines issued by NHMFC
Key Players: NHMFC - primary implementor
Gov't. agencies, LGUs, NGOs and POs as originators