NHA admits failure in design in housing units for Zamboanga siege victims

The National Housing Authority (NHA) on Tuesday admitted that there was a failure in the design of the housing units for victims of the 2013 Zamboanga siege.

Incumbent NHA general manager Marcelino Escalada Jr. made the admission on Tuesday as the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development resumed its investigation into the resettlement projects in the city where housing units were allegedly made of substandard materials.

House housing and urban dev’t panel resumes inquiry on the collapse of housing unit for victims of Zamboanga siege. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/iWPobQvR0K

— Erwin Colcol (@erwincolcol) May 29, 2018

"Certainly from how it looks right now, there is failure, as I see it in the design. The recent and the present administration with respect to the stilt housing units, we acknowledge the fact that there is failure on the design," Escalada told the members of the panel.

During the previous hearing, former NHA general manager Chito Cruz admitted that the house on stilts were originally to be constructed using concrete, but it did not materialize due to lack of budget and the urgency to build houses for displaced residents.

Following the recommendation of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the NHA had the house on stilts constructed using wood as foundation, with yakal as the original specification.

However, due to its unavailability in the market at the time, the original specification of yakal was changed to gmelina, which the DENR said was of the same quality as the former.

The DENR made this recommendation during the meeting of the Local Inter-Agency Council meeting in March 2015.

But in Tuesday's hearing, Carlito Tuballa, regional director for DENR Region IX, admitted that gmelina is "not advisable" to be used for house on stilts as it could not withstand being submerged in water.

"We discourage na magamit [ang gmelina] sa water, dahil mahina talaga siya," he said.

House panel chair Alfredo Benitez has earlier pointed out that the materials used for the housing stilts were the same ones used for the wooden footbridge in Barangay Rio Hondo, Zamboanga City that collapsed in April.

It is not impossible then that the house on stilts for the Badjao community living in the area would also fall down, he said.

Escalada himself admitted that gmelina is not the most appropriate type of wood to be used for house on stilts.

But when he assumed office on June 30, 2016, the housing projects in Zambonga have been "substantially completed" and were already in Phase 4.

"Right now, as a matter of policy, I have already instructed our regional managers and the contractor to consider redesigning of the remaining 40 percent of the Phase 4 and consider concrete post for stilt housing as well as concrete post for the footbridge," Escalada said.

He added that the NHA is looking into investing and spending for "quality" housing, no matter how costly they are.

"We’re approaching the existing projects that can be remedied but there are big plans where quality not quantity," he said.

Benitez urged NHA to look into the allegedly substandard construction of the housing projects.

"I urge the agency if you can do a complete comprehensive investigation on who is accountable to the kind of designs, put them on preventive suspension while this is ongoing," he said.

"I’ll make sure that all the projects are top quality," Escalada replied. —KG, GMA News