ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) has approved a resolution that encourages housing developers to work closely with non-government organizations (NGOs) – a move that would help generate more housing units for low-income families.

“We recognize the important contribution of NGOs in addressing the need to provide housing, and the HLURB move hopes to encourage greater partnership between developers and NGOs,” Vice President and housing czar Jejomar C. Binay said.

The HLURB is one of the shelter agencies under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chaired by the Vice President.

Binay said that under the resolution passed by the HLURB, partnership with the Gawad Kalinga (GK) and Habitat for Humanity (HfH) would be considered as compliance by the developers with the Balanced 20 Percent Requirement set by law.

It will also serve as a means to be exempted from the requirements of License to Sell, he said.

It was learned that Section 18 of Republic Act (RA) 7279, or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, requires every developer of subdivision projects to develop an area for socialized housing equivalent to at least 20 percent of the total subdivision area within the same city or municipality.

The developer can also opt to shell out 20 percent of the total subdivision project cost if he decides to.

Binay said they saw the need to provide incentives to private developers, local government units (LGU), and NGOs in order to encourage them to lead in the production of more houses all over the country.

Binay expressed confidence that partnerships between developers and NGOs will help further reduce the country’s 3.7 million housing backlog.

He said they are targeting to build some 350,000 houses each year in order to fill the gap between housing stock and housing need.

“We are advocating a strong alliance among stakeholders – the property developers, the local government units and non-government organizations – so we could build more houses and produce faster results,” he said.

The Vice President outlined a new direction for housing in his first year as the country’s housing czar.

Under Binay’s leadership, the HUDCC now holds regular quarterly meetings to discuss policies and enhance coordination among government agencies, Congress, and the private sector.

Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) headed by Binay approved the extension of an incentive program for housing loan borrowers who are up-to-date with their payments.

The extension of the “good payor” program will benefit some 76,000 members.

“We hope that by continuing this program, we will further encourage our members to be good payors. I am glad that a substantial number of our members are paying their loans diligently and on time,” Binay said.

The program is intended to reward housing loan borrowers and to improve the institution’s collection efficiency by encouraging members to pay their amortizations on time.

According to lawyer Darlene Marie B. Berberabe, Pag-IBIG Fund’s chief executive officer, eligible borrowers under the Pag-IBIG housing loan program are entitled to a maximum of two-percent discount on their interests if they pay on or before their due date.

The Fund had granted a total of P269.8 million in discounts in 2010 alone.

Since the start of the incentive program in 2007 up to 2010, Pag-IBIG has granted a total of P1.2 billion in discounts to qualified borrowers.

Berberabe added that over 76,000 borrowers stand to benefit from the extension of the program, which is extended up to May 31, 2012.

“We in the Fund are constantly working to uplift the lives of our members,” Berberabe said. “The program is our way of easing their burdens.”