Section 4Sec./Art. 4

National Shelter Program Implementation.- Consistent with the aforementioned policy and objectives, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), through the respective agencies, shall intensify the implementation of the vital components of the National Shelter Program requiring government budgetary assistance as follows:

(a) Resettlement Program. This program shall involve land acquisition and site development by the National Housing Authority to generate serviced homelots for families displaced from sites earmarked for government infrastructure projects, those occupying danger areas such as waterways, esteros, railroad tracks and those qualified for relocation and resettlement assistance under Republic Act No. 7279. To sustain this program, the NHA shall engage in land banking activities to ensure availability of land.

(b) Medium-Rise Public and Private Housing. This shall entail the construction of medium-rise residential buildings by the government and/or private developers in all high-density urban areas of the country to maximize the utilization of scarce, highcost urban land, except in areas where there are existing arrangements on housing and/or land utilization prior to the effectivity of this Act. Low-income families and other beneficiaries as defined in Republic Act No. 7279 shall gain access to the program either through direct sale with homebuyers' financing assistance or through lease arrangement depending on the affordability of the intended beneficiaries.

Implementation of this program shall be carried out by the following agencies:

(1) The National Housing Authority (NHA). The NHA is hereby mandated to formulate policies and guidelines pertinent to the implementation of the Medium-Rise Public and Private Housing Programs. It shall likewise take over portions of military lands in Metro Manila and other urban areas, except those previously identified and segregated for specific purposes pursuant to pertinent legal issuances for the development of Medium-Rise Housing. It is likewise mandated to formulate, adopt and promulgate systems that will enable the private sector to participate in the Medium-Rise Housing Program of the government to augment current rental housing stock;

(2) The National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC). The NHMFC is hereby mandated to provide homebuyer's financing, to formulate and implement a schedule of amortization payments for the Medium-Rise housing facilities and implement schemes that would ensure an effective and efficient recovery and collection of government investments in the program;

(3) The Local Government Unit (LGU) or the Public Estates Authority (PEA). Upon the completion of all public rental housing facilities constructed under this program, the LGU or the PEA shall assume the administration of the said facilities to include the implementation of the Estate Management Policies and to ensure the efficient and effective recovery and collection of rental and other fees due the government from the beneficiaries of the public housing program. It shall maintain the physical integrity of the public rental housing facilities including those of its immediate environs.

The HUDCC, NHA and PEA are mandated to formulate the policies and guidelines, rules and regulations in the administration and management of the public rental housing facilities, in consultation with the LGU and the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor; and

(4) The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP). The PCUP is hereby mandated to coordinate with the NHA, and the concerned LGU or the PEA in the identification and processing of qualified beneficiaries of public rental housing facilities provided for in this Act. The PCUP shall likewise formulate and implement preoccupancy educational programs to enable the beneficiaries of the program to adapt to medium-rise living conditions, and shall organize them into homeowners associations which would ensure proper day-to-day maintenance of said facilities.

(c) Community Mortgage Program.Under R. A. No. 7279, this program, through the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), shall assist organized community associations to acquire tenure and ownership of the land they are presently occupying adverse against the interests of landowners. Financing at very low interest rate is granted to beneficiaries to purchase the land as a whole and to improve the sites.

(d) Cost Recoverable Programs. These programs shall involve the development of sites with housing component and the provision of serviced homelots through joint-venture schemes with the private sector or local government units. Program beneficiaries shall fully repay on installment basis the financial assistance granted for the purchase of the housing units.

(e) Local Housing. To ensure the equitable distribution of housing benefits across the country, the NHA is hereby tasked to implement cost-recoverable socialized housing projects in selected urban and urbanizable areas in all congressional districts. Criteria for the selection of sites shall be formulated by the HUDCC and NHA pursuant to Republic Act No. 7279.