LAS Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos on Tuesday expressed his gratitude to the Marcos administration for its strong support of the city’s socialized housing program following the inclusion of nearly ₱255 million in the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Santos said the allocation will significantly strengthen the implementation of in-city and socialized housing initiatives aimed at providing safe, decent, and affordable shelter for low-income families in Las Piñas.
“This substantial budget allocation reflects the Marcos administration’s firm commitment to addressing the housing needs of our most vulnerable constituents. With this support, we can accelerate the delivery of decent and affordable homes for Las Piñeros who need them most,” Santos said.
The multi-million-peso housing project will be implemented by the National Housing Authority (NHA) following the approval on final reading of the General Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2026 by the House of Representatives late last year.
With the funding secured, Santos said the project will allow for the construction of three medium-rise buildings (MRBs) that will provide safe and secure homes for underprivileged families who do not yet have housing of their own.
“Instead of limiting the use of public funds to flood control projects, we fought in Congress to allocate this budget to a housing program—because every Las Piñero family deserves a place they can truly call home, ‘Las Piñas, Our Home,’ as former city mayor Nene Aguilar aptly described,” said Santos, who also serves as Assistant Majority Floor Leader.
The in-city relocation project is a housing initiative of the NHA that provides low-cost housing units within or near urban centers for informal settler families (ISFs) and other qualified beneficiaries.
Unlike traditional relocation sites located far from cities, the program aims to keep residents close to their workplaces, schools, basic services, and support systems.
Santos pointed out that relocation sites outside urban areas often separate families from employment and educational opportunities, while in-city relocation helps maintain economic stability and access to essential services.
Drawing from his experience as a seven-term city councilor, Santos recalled that about 1,200 informal settler families from Las Piñas, Parañaque, and Bacoor were relocated beginning in 2008 after being affected by the construction of the LRT-1 Extension from Niog, Bacoor City to Metro Manila.
However, he noted that families relocated to a 51,226-square-meter site in Naic, Cavite eventually returned to Las Piñas due to the lack of a reliable supply of clean water and limited livelihood opportunities in the area.
Leaders of people’s organizations (POs) also expressed their opposition to repeating past relocations that displaced informal settlers to distant provinces, similar to what occurred during the construction of the Cavite Bridge along the Cavite–Las Piñas boundary in 2018.
