Baguio housing for beneficiaries

BAGUIO CITY — The Dept. of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has granted the city P255 million that will allow it to proceed with a socialized housing project that would create a permaculture community.

City Planning and Development Coordinator Arch. Dona Tabangin said the city was the first local government in northern Luzon to secure a grant from the government to implement its socialized housing project at a 1.8-hectare property within the city.
Tabangin said that, under the grant, the city would be able to build eight structures that could accommodate 270 socialized housing units with provisions for road networks, bio-filtration plant, and solar farms on the roofs.

Permaculture is a holistic approach to regenerative living that highlights individual and community responsibilities for sustainability, and focuses on choice, values, ethics and the way in which human beings interact with the natural world.

Tabangin said only 40 percent of the land will be the built up area, with the remaining 60 percent being devoted for green spaces to help in bringing back the greenery in the city.

Initially, the city will be putting up two structures with 64 socialized housing units that will be offered for residents in identified high risk areas that need to be relocated to safer grounds.

The Irisan permaculture community will be the first of its kind socialized housing project not only in the Cordillera but also in northern Luzon, and will be the model for similar projects to be established in other parts of the country.

One of the major projects of the city is for the establishment of decent socialized housing projects for members of the city’s informal sector, and residents living in identified high risk areas that warrant their relocation to safer grounds.    

Tabangin explained that the preparation of the plans and specifications of the socialized housing project is a combined effort of the City planning and Development Office, the City Engineering Office, City Environment and Parks Management Office, and the City Buildings and Architecture Office, as all the issues and concerns relative to the same shall have been addressed.

The implementation of the project will be done in partnership with the DHSUD and the National Housing Authority (NHA), which are the lead agencies in the implementation of government-led housing projects in the country.