Iloilo City to turn over 400+ housing units in 2027

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

The Iloilo City government is set to turn over more than 400 housing units to qualified beneficiaries in the first half of 2027, developed through partnerships with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and private property firms.

The city government, led by Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu, and the DHSUD, led by Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling, led a ceremonial concrete-pouring Thursday on two projects under the city’s Pabahay para sa Pamilyang Ilonggo (PASILONG) program.

The projects include the Iloilo Residences Rental Housing Project in Brgy. Sambag and the USWAG 4PH Condominium Complex in Brgy. San Isidro, both in Jaro district.

The Iloilo Residences Rental Housing Project is being developed under the DHSUD, valued at PHP 640 million, funded through the department’s escrow funds, with Muntinlupa City-based Thaison Builder and Developer Inc. as the developer.

The Iloilo Residences project will consist of two seven-story residential buildings with 181 units each — 25 units on the ground floor and 26 on each upper floor.

Each unit is designed with a floor area of 27 square meters.

The USWAG 4PH Condominium Complex is being developed through a joint venture with Iloilo City-based EON Realty and Development Corporation (ERDC).

It will consist of 13 residential buildings with a combined 1,677 units — 129 per building — with floor areas of 24 to 27 square meters.

Under the partnership, ERDC will cover the PHP 2.5 billion project cost at no cost to the city government.

Both projects target lower- to middle-income, working-class Iloilo City residents who will be first-time homeowners.

In her remarks at both concrete-pouring ceremonies, Treñas-Chu said both developers have committed to completing a portion of their respective projects within the first half of 2027.

For the Sambag project, Thaison has committed to finish one building within 11 months, or by approximately April 2027, while ERDC has committed to finish two buildings within 10 months, or by approximately March 2027.

At least 439 units will be awarded to qualified beneficiaries in 2027 — 181 in Sambag and 258 in San Isidro.

Iloilo City Local Housing Office (ICLHO) head Peter Jason Millare said the office is studying eligibility criteria for the rental housing project in Sambag in partnership with the Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning program of the University of the Philippines Visayas.

For the USWAG 4PH project in San Isidro, eligibility will be processed through the Home Development Mutual Fund, or Pag-IBIG Fund, as the project is part of the national government’s Pambansang Pabahay Para Sa Pilipino (4PH) program.

Out of 600 applicants for the project, Pag-IBIG Fund has already identified 200 qualified beneficiaries and submitted their names to the ICLHO.

Those 200 beneficiaries will be notified of their qualification later this year.

Millare said applicants are preferably Pag-IBIG members to verify their contribution records with the state-run home financing entity.

“For you to avail [of Pag-IBIG financed housing], you need to pay at least two years contributions. That can be lumped. In 10 months, the [Uswag 4PH] will hopefully be completed, [so] in six months from today, we will ready the first batch of awardees to the first two buildings to be delivered,” Millare told reporters Thursday.