VP Binay: Housing sector can help avert disasters

In Tacloban, Leyte, Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Jejomar Binay yesterday said the housing sector could help prevent tragedies resulting from natural calamities through proper land use planning.

“We all know what happened in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte. There was this landslide and many homes were buried, which caused so many dead and buried,” Binay said during the HUDCC Pabahay Caravan in the province.

The Vice President noted that out of 143 cities and municipalities in Region VIII, only 52 have updated CLUPs.

The housing czar added that CLUPs enable LGUs to identify lands appropriate for housing, agriculture, commerce and other uses.

Binay assured the LGU executives that the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board will guide them as they formulate their land use plans.

The Vice President also made the same guarantee last week to local officials in Zamboanga City during the launch of the Pabahay Caravan for Region IX and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Binay was also hailed as an adopted son of the Municipality of Alangalang by virtue of Resolution No. 11-143 signed by the Sangguniang Bayan last July 4, 2011.

The Vice President, who served as mayor of Makati for 24 years, also turned over multi-cabs to seven sister municipalities of the city, including Tabontabon, Barugo, San Miguel, Tanauan, Bato, and Carigara in Leyte, and Daram in Samar.