The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) housing project in Tondo, Manila has got a solid backing from no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after the President has set aside a 21,872-square-meter lot to develop its projects.

This comes after the President issued Proclamation 610 made public on Wednesday, which modifies Proclamation 96 (s. 2001) and established the Project Inter-Agency Committee with DHSUD as chair and members from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the local government of Manila.

“Proclamation 610 was issued by the President on 21 June upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” Malacañang said.

“It amends Proclamation 96 (s. 2001) by excluding a certain portion of the land, identified as Lot 4-A, Csd-00-003715, located in Tondo, Manila, allowing DHSUD to own it and carry out urban development subject to final ground survey,” it added.

To recall, the Parola Estate in Tondo was opened for tenant disposition in September 2001, subject to private rights and survey.

In addition, the previous proclamation assigned the DENR-National Capital Region the duty of carrying out surveys and furnishing required facilities.

Malacañang said that under Marcos’s recent proclamation, the DENR secretary is allowed to issue the matching Special Patent covering the territory set aside for DHSUD’s township development projects.

This also establishes a Project Inter-Agency Committee, chaired by DHSUD, with members from the DENR and the local government of Manila.

The Committee, under the Presidential Communications Office, “shall formulate and issue the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Proclamation, and identify the beneficiaries of the housing component of the township development.”