DILIMAN, Quezon City-- The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will be providing decent and affordable housing to the country's agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) through a housing loan program in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

DAR Secretary Brother John Castriciones admitted that it would be a challenge for them to deliver housing units to at least 600,000 ARBs by the end of the Duterte administration but ensured that many will still benefit from it.

During a virtual public briefing, Brother John said they are aiming to deliver affordable housing units to about 20 percent of the three million agrarian reform beneficiaries in the country before President Duterte's term ends next year.

DAR Secretary Brother John Castriciones delivers his speech virtually through the Department's Facebook page.

The virtual orientation was conducted by the DAR to join in the celebration of the National Family Week, which is being celebrated from Sept. 20-26 2021 marking its 29th year of the weeklong celebration in the Philippines during the last full week of September.

"It's a very challenging project. We will do our best to build as many houses as possible for our farmers before the President's term ends. This is a very worthy achievement. I pray that we would be able to sustain this because this would greatly help in uplifting the economic lives of our farmers," Brother John said.

The project has pilot sites in Umingan, Pangasinan; Bayombong, Nueva Vizvcaya, Gabaldon or San Jose City in Nueva Ecija, Basey in Samar, Argao, Cebu, Daet in Camarines Norte and Calinan in Davao.

The program, called BALAI Farmers and Farmworkers' Housing Program, will provide farmers duplex-type housing units with two bedrooms each, covering 36 square meters.

DAR Undersecretary for support services Emily Padilla said each housing unit will be paid for by the farmer-beneficiaries through their cooperatives at P1,475 a month on average, payable in 30 years.

According to DAR Undersecretary for support services Emily Padilla, the land, and its development, as well as the provision of livelihood, will be free of charge.

She said the housing program would also provide each housing community with bio-digesters for use in producing petroleum gas for cooking, food processing, and marketing center and solar-powered water system with storage tanks for use in irrigation.

"Based on our studies these livelihood facilities can provide a monthly income of P5,000 to P8,000 per family," Padilla said.

The housing unit, however, will be paid for by the farmer-beneficiaries through their cooperatives at P1,475 a month on average, payable in 30 years.

"The provision of housing is demand-driven, and payment will be based on the farmers' capacity to pay, where the maximum term of housing loan will be at 30 years and amortization payment scheme will be based on cropping and harvest schedule of farmers," Padilla said. (DAR)

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