Vice President and housing czar Jejomar Binay urged the 15th Congress to pass the National Land Use Bill, saying that it should be a priority bill in Congress.

“The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) will be primarily responsible for housing and urban development, which could mean providing appropriate guidelines on land use, pending the passage of an appropriate comprehensive land use law, which I hope will be among the priority measures of the 15th congress,” Binay said in his remarks during the 25th anniversary of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

It will be recalled that the passage of the said bill has been among those mentioned by President Aquino during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, which he hoped that the Congress would deem as a priority bill, along with the Whistleblowers Bill, and the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, among others.

The National Land Use Bill, filed by Sen. Pia Cayetano in the 14th Congress, aims to classify lands that are for production, preservation and commercialization.

“In housing, the coverage is national in scope and without limit as to the classification of local government units (LGUs), we are now looking into the financial structure of this sector to find out whether the financial resources are adequate and the setup is conducive to public-private partnership.

Otherwise, we will have to find out what linkages must be established with agencies outside the HUDCC ambit to enlarge our capability,” Binay said.