The city government here will soon build 10,000 housing units for informal settler families (ISFs) in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

In rites at the Bacolod Government Center on Saturday, Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to start the establishment of the Yuhum Village in the city this coming October.

It will be among the agency’s settlement projects under the “Pambansang Pabahay Para Sa Pilipino: Zero ISF Program for 2028,” which seeks to build one million housing units per year or a total of six million housing units during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“This is a very historic moment in terms of our dream to have decent and affordable housing for every Bacolodnon. Bacolod will take the front seat as a pilot model for things to come in our housing industry,” said Benitez, a former congressman of the third district of Negros Occidental, who authored Republic Act 11201, the law which created the DHSUD in 2019.

The Yuhum Village housing projects will rise in the city’s relocation site in Barangay Vista Alegre and coastal villages such as Barangay Banago as up to five-storey structures made of concrete modular houses.

Acuzar said the beneficiaries need to be members of the Pag-IBIG Fund, whose funds will be initially used to pump-prime the housing program.

“This is part of the program that (will address) the six million housing backlog. We will provide financial assistance. We’re 100-percent committed to build the 10,000 housing units for Bacolod,” he added.

After the MOU signing, Acuzar and Benitez inspected a Yuhum Village basic concrete modular house model, with a floor area of 24.5 square meters, mounted inside the Bacolod Government Center.

Councilor Vladimir Gonzales, chairman of the committee on urban poor, housing, and resettlement, said there will be fast delivery of the housing units since these are pre-fabricated.

“It is sound-proof, earthquake-resistant and well-insulated. The basic unit has a toilet and kitchen counter. The owners can make it one bedroom or two bedrooms. We’re showing them what they can do with it,” he added. (PNA)