The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) will soon launch some 2,000 to 3,000 affordable housing units in New Clark City, to promote inclusiveness and as part of its vision to make the new metropolis livable for all income groups.
During the One Clark Forum at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium on Friday, BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Joshua Bingcang said the agency would be announcing the partnership for the initial affordable housing units within the next two months.
“We already received two proposals to build the first affordable housing, and this is also to address (the) backlog in housing nationwide,” Bingcang said at the event organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) and the BCDA Group.
Bingcang cited the three initial sites in New Clark City for the affordable residential projects, including the 83-hectare Capas Housing Site, the 50-hectare Bamban Housing Site, and the 33-hectare NCC Mixed-Income Housing.
The Capas and Bamban Housing Sites are projects under the Marcos administration’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program, the BCDA chief said.
“In New Clark City, we plan to provide affordable and mixed-income housing facilities. This will primarily address the residential needs of the employees working in New Clark City particularly those belonging in the low- to middle-income brackets, to live within the reach of business, industrial, and commercial districts,” he said.
The BCDA earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to develop the initial housing units under the 4PH Program inside New Clark City.
Bingcang said the BCDA would have the power to influence or make a decision on the prices of the housing units to be built since the BCDA’s share in the joint venture would be its land asset for the residential projects.
New Clark City is the BCDA’s flagship project with a total land development of over 9,450 hectares, envisioned to be the country’s first smart, green, and resilient metropolis. (PNA)