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Recto on NHA’s mandate: Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto stresses that the mandate of the National Housing Authority (NHA) is to prioritize informal settlers as beneficiaries of its socialized housing projects. “I think the mandate of the NHA should be (to provide socialized housing) for informal settlers. Those who are not salaried, that’s how it should work,” Recto said during the Finance Subcommittee H virtual hearing Wednesday, October 21, 2020, on the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and its attached agencies. The senator also emphasized the need for the NHA to partner with the private sector to address the problem of housing, noting the need to raise P9 trillion to address the backlog. “Considering what we are doing today, (the housing program) is totally unsustainable and we will never be able to solve the problem of housing. I think we should adopt a more privately-led housing system to be able to provide more affordable homes with better quality,” he said. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)