DBP, Ormoc City seal P300M loan agreement for housing project

State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has approved a P300-million loan to finance the City Government of Ormoc’s site and land development in support of the flagship national shelter program of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., a top official said.

DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Michael O. de Jesus said the financing assistance is a maiden approval under the Bank’s Credit Facility for the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (BAHAY-4PH) program, a new lending program designed to complement the priority housing initiative of the Marcos Administration.

“DBP’s latest partnership with the city government of Ormoc is a timely response to the call of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to ensure that all Filipinos are given access to affordable housing,” he said.

DBP is the tenth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four priority sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; the environment; and social services and community development.

Ormoc City is a first-class independent component city with an estimated population of more than 230,000, and is widely regarded as the agro-commercial, industrial, and tourism hub of Eastern Visayas.

The  BAHAY-4PH is a sub-program of the DBP – Building Affordable Homes Accessible to Every Filipino (BAHAY) Program, which serves as the Bank’s primary credit facility for the housing sector. It is intended to fund the site development, construction of housing units, and land acquisition of local government units, developers, contractors, and joint venture entities participating as project proponents in the 4PH program.

De Jesus said that the loan to Ormoc City will finance the construction of two four-storey buildings consisting of 96 housing units each that will benefit qualified low-income families as well as those who are still living in government-owned properties.

He said DBP’s assistance to fledging cities such as Ormoc would serve as an impetus to achieve the overarching goal of the Marcos administration to alleviate poverty and provide decent and affordable housing to eligible beneficiaries and ultimately reduce the number of informal settlers to zero by 2028.

“Through the BAHAY-4PH Program, DBP seeks to ramp up its support to the National Government’s efforts to achieve the national housing target of 6.5 million units from 2022 to 2028 and  foster inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable human settlement in the country,” he said.