Press Release
April 30, 2009

Passage of Rent Control Law on second reading
Senate's gift to workers on Labor Day - Zubiri

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday lauded the Senate's action to approve on second reading the Rent Control Act of 2009 during its plenary sessions on Wednesday.

The new Rent Control Law or the proposed Senate Bill No. 3163, which Zubiri co-sponsored with Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, will extend the effectivity of the expired Rent Control Act of 2005 by three more years to promote affordable rental housing, as well as give protection to over 1.5 million families and countless individuals renting rooms and bed spaces.

Zubiri, who had been pushing for the Rent Control law since 1998 when he first assumed a seat at the House of Representatives, said the Senate wants to finish deliberations on the measure as soon as possible as a gift to the Filipinos, especially on the occasion of Labor Day on May 1.

"It's a gift that we're giving the Filipino people for Labor Day. The Senate gives this because we believe that not all benefits are wage benefits. This is considered non-wage benefit especially with the fact that many or million and over families are renting within Metro Manila and other urbanize cities and rural areas that will help the workers that are renting their units," the Majority Leader said.

He said the measure "will help those renting to at least cope up with the higher cost of living because their conditions will be protected by this measure."

"I'm very proud of this measure because it continues to help those in need especially those who are renting," he also said.

The senator earlier cited figures from the National Statistical Coordinating Board showing that of the 15,278,808 households in the country, only two thirds or 10,866,001 live in houses they own or in the units in which they pay monthly amortization, while over two million live free of charge with the owner's consent and 631,451 families are renting.

In his sponsorship speech last week, Zubiri stressed "it is imperative that we take steps to protect the interest of our fellow citizens who are forced by circumstances to rent, by once again supporting the Rent Control Act."

The Senate version of the proposed Rent Control Act of 2009 maintains the salient provisions of the original Rent Control Law, which includes the rent increases of covered units at 10 percent annually, as long as the unit is occupied by the same lessee. The proposed limit on rent increase will be effective until December 31, 2011.

Other provisions that were retained under the proposed Rent Control Act of 2009 include the following: a lessor could not demand more than one month advance and two months deposit; a lessor or his successor-in-interest is prohibited from ejecting a lessee on the ground that the leased premises has been sold or mortgaged to a third person, regardless of whether the lease or mortgage is registered or not.

It also proposes that the grounds for Judicial Ejectment would still be limited to the grounds provided in the previous law.

The proposed bill likewise recommends that the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) continue to regulate or deregulate the rent within a period of three years after the lapse of the effectivity of the limitation on rent hike or after the December 31, 2011.

News Latest News Feed