Habitat Rent-to-Own Houses for Underprivileged Filipino Families

Habitat for Humanity Philippines (HFHP), popularly known as Habitat, is a non-profit housing ministry that helps build responsible and self-reliant communities by helping poor and middle-class Filipino families in need to acquire affordable, decent and durable homes. It partners with government and private organizations, institutions and individuals in transforming lives and promoting people’s dignity through building homes and conducting community development programs. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of homeowner families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit, financed with affordable, inflation-adjusted mortgage loans. Habitat houses are considered as “rent-to-own houses.” The homeowners’ monthly mortgage or rental payments go into a local revolving fund and are used to build more Habitat houses. In addition to monthly payments, homeowners invest their own labor – “sweat equity” – into building their Habitat house and the houses of others, increasing the pride of ownership and fostering the development of positive relationships within a community. Over the years, Habitat has helped rebuild the lives of over 24,000 families and built over 200 school classrooms nationwide. Its latest project is the Habitat Pasig Project located at the Government Lot F, Bernardo Compound, Caliuag Street, Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City. Dubbed also as the “Habitat’s Pasig 1 Medium Rise Project,” it aims to serve Pasig constituents who live in danger areas along both sides of Pasig river who wish to have a better quality of life. To realize this mission, the office of Pasig Mayor Robert Eusebio has spearheaded the construction of 2 four-storey medium-rise buildings with the use of Habitat’s core competency and appropriate technology. The vision of Pasig City’s Local Government Unit (LGU) in partnership with Habitat, is to provide homes for families who live along the danger zones of Pasig river and low-income families in other Pasig “barangays” who are not capable of obtaining decent and quality homes through commercial means. Habitat’s technology allowed the construction of decent, durable and affordable housing units for 120 families, thus giving poor residents of Pasig City a chance to improve their quality of lives. Each unit is 20 square meters in size, with a provision for a loft, built with concrete interlocking blocks. Pasig LGU provided the land, approximating a lot area of 1100 square meters. Last week, as headed by Madame Stella Araneta, chair of Bb. Pilipinas Charities Foundation, 27 pretty ladies – comprising 24 Bb. Pilipinas 2009 candidates together with 3 reigning beauty queens of Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, Bb. Pilipinas-International and Bb. Pilipinas-World - volunteered to join the house building activity, donned their hard hats, put on their work gloves, and worked tirelessly together with the homeowners and other LGU volunteer workers to build the much needed homes at the Habitat Pasig project. The Bb. Pilipinas beauties transported 179 pails of gravel, cut 176 rebars, bended 138 rebars, and fabricated 27 concrete interlocking blocks. The beauty queens turned builders also donated dust masks, towels and gloves for use by the skilled homeowners and other volunteer workers. The homeowners and other construction volunteers who got to mingle with the stunning ladies not only appreciated the contribution of Habitat and Bb. Pilipinas groups, but took to heart the fact that complete strangers have committed to helping them rise from their plight. It is this spirit of “bayanihan” that often helps them to surge on and make better lives for themselves despite the hard comings they often have to face. Pinoy Tenant salutes the Habitat and other concerned government and private organizations through this Urban Renewal Project, a very worthy pro-people undertaking that involves building new communities and transforming existing communities so that underprivileged Filipino families will have decent homes and have equal opportunity to live and work in urban center in dignity. Acknowledgement: Habitat for Humanity Philippines Pasig City-Local Government Unit (LGU) Bb. Pilipinas Charities Foundation

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