BCDA speeds up housing for workers

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is accelerating the development of affordable housing in New Clark City, Tarlac, where government offices are expected to be established.

BCDA president and CEO Joshua Bingcang said on Wednesday the government agency has been in discussions with the Senate to secure authorization for a housing project, particularly for government workers who will be relocated to New Clark City.

He said they include workers from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Agriculture, the Supreme Court, National Bureau of Investigation and the country’s first Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines.

“We want even minimum wage earners to own a home and live inside Clark. We want to also have a nighttime population because, after work, they will go out,” Bingcang said.

He said the BCDA expects the housing proposal to be passed into law soon by the 19th Congress.

“In Clark, we’re only allowed to lease properties to industrial firms for 50 years, but a lease arrangement for residential properties is not attractive to Filipinos,” Bingcang said.

Based on a BCDA study, Bingcang said the amortization for the houses would equivalent to the rent workers would pay if they lived outside New Clark City.

Bingcang said the BCDA also aims to allow land ownership for institutions like the Ateneo de Manila University which has expressed interest in putting up a campus in New Clark City.

“We want to address traffic in other areas and that’s why we’re also attracting schools,” he added.

New Clark City spans 9,450 hectares, of which 220 hectares are set for government satellite offices at the National Government Administrative Center.