National BLISS Program for Communities in Landed Estates

February 27, 1982

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1204

WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 27 has emancipated tenants from the bondage of the soil by transferring to them ownership to the land they till, still they continue to be squatters in communities they have developed to be their homes within landed estates;

WHEREAS, these residential areas of tenants/farmers and other bonafide occupants over time, have been developed to become communities under specific political units or barangays;

WHEREAS, these communities are located on prime land although virtually slums or otherwise blighted areas without the basic community amenities particularly with respect to environmental sanitation and hygiene;

WHEREAS, the owners of such landed estates; in view of the prime location and the increasing value of these residential areas are inclined to evict the families thereat or transfer them elsewhere in the landed estates;

WHEREAS, the contemplated eviction of these resident families is unjust and degenerates to a confrontation between the owners and the said tenant families, a situation which is not only counter-productive but also conducive to bloodshed;

WHEREAS, it is the announced policy of government that no Filipino shall be a squatter on land where he has stayed for many years;

WHEREAS, Letters of Instructions Nos. 555 and 557 as amended by Letter of Instructions No. 686 launched a nationwide Slum Improvement and Resettlement Program which mandates the National Housing Authority, local governments and other concerned agencies to improve or otherwise upgrade existing slums and other blighted communities into acceptable human settlements;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, do hereby order and direct that a National BLISS Program for Communities in Landed Estates be instituted and implemented nationwide as herein described:

1. The National BLISS Program for Communities in Landed Estates shall have the following objectives:

a. Protect the interest of resident families over their respective homelots and afford them the opportunity to own such homelots.

b. Resolve the land tenure problem in such landed estates leading to the ownership of occupant families of their respective homelots.

c. Implement the Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran in these estates as the vehicle for community development.

d. Upgrade the communities in landed estates to acceptable human settlements in the context of the Slum Improvement and Resettlement Program Under LOIs 555, 557 and 686.

e. Develop sites and services projects in nearby areas to allow for resettlement when necessary.

f. Develop self-reliant communities through community participation in program planning and implementation and self-help.

2. Henceforth, owners of landed estates are prohibited from evicting occupant families from their homelots in residential areas of their estates without the concurrence of such occupant families and the clearance of the National Housing Authority.

3. All local governments shall identify, census and prioritize such communities within their jurisdiction falling under the category of tenants/farmers in the landed estate. Local governments shall evolve their respective five-year program which shall be submitted to the National Housing Authority for compilation.

4. Based on a comprehensive criteria it shall evolve, the National Housing Authority under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Settlements shall formulate a rolling five-year National Bliss Program for Communities in Landed Estates with corresponding regional and provincial prioritization as the basis for its yearly implementation. This Five-Year Program shall be incorporated in the Five-Year National Human Settlements Program.

5. The Ministry of Human Settlements shall be the lead agency in the above program and shall assist and supervise the local governments in planning and implementation of their respective program of upgrading the communities within their respective jurisdiction. aisa dc

6. Local Governments in implementing their respective program shall utilize local planning and development staff which may be presently existing or may be organized for the purposes of such program. Local governments shall cause the execution of the upgrading of communities within their jurisdiction and the development of sites and services projects and implement such other program components as the Livelihood Program, Community Relations and Information and Social Services Program in accordance with the concepts of Slum Improvements and resettlement as provided under LOIs 555, 557, and 686 and with such other rules and regulations of the National Housing Authority pertaining to this Program.

7. The National Housing Authority shall extend funding and technical assistance to the local governments in the planning and implementation of their respective programs.

8. The National Housing Authority shall acquire the land under this Program if privately-owned through negotiation or expropriation pursuant to PD 1533 and shall render the same free and alienable for the purposes of this Program. If such area is owned by a public entity or is a property foreclosed by the government financial institution, and if the current use of the land is not according to the optimal use as determined by the Human Settlements Regulatory Commission, then the National Housing Authority shall likewise acquire the land at its appraised value for land improvements as determined by the Provincial Assessor, if owned by a public entity, or at its foreclosed principal amount, without accrued interests, if owned through foreclosure by a government financial institution.

9. Financial assistance extended by the National Housing Authority to the local governments at appropriate interest rate, shall be repayable over twenty-five years in equal quarterly installments by the local government from collections from the residents in the area, and from other sources. This financial assistance shall be approved by the Ministry of Finance, and upon approval shall be guaranteed under Presidential Decree No. 752. In case of default by more than two (2) quarters, the appropriate amount may be deducted from the internal revenue allotments of the local government in amount necessary to cover the periodic amortization. cd

10. The land and the use of improvements thereon shall be made available to the bonafide residents of the area under long-term lease for twenty-five years, with an option to purchase after not more than five years of continued and uninterrupted occupancy provided that if such option is exercised, all subsidies and grants as determined by the project plan approved by the National Housing Authority shall be recovered in full from the buyer at appropriate interest rate to be determined by the local government and the National Housing Authority.

11. Proceeds from the lease or from the sale shall be collected from the residents either directly or through appropriate financial intermediaries by the local government. Amounts so collected shall be remitted by the local governments to the National Housing Authority in proportion to the latter's financial exposure in the project and whatever balance after such remittance shall be retained by the local government to cover its own expenses in the project.

12. The National Housing Authority shall determine the additional financial requirements of this Program which shall be incorporated in its yearly corporate program and subsequently, in the national appropriations of the government. To provide a long-term source of funds for the Program, the National Housing Authority may float housing bonds upon being authorized by the President as authorized under Presidential Decree No. 757. These amounts shall be in addition to those authorized under Letter of Instruction No. 509.

13. All government agencies specifically mentioned under Letter of Instruction No. 555 dated June 11, 1977 as amended by Letter of Instruction No. 686 are hereby directed to assist in the implementation of the "National Bliss Program for communities in Landed Estates" in the same manner and extent as directed in the said Letters of Instructions.

14. All pertinent provisions of Letters of Instructions Nos. 555, 557 and 686 instituting and implementing a nationwide Slum Improvement and Resettlement Program (SIR) shall be applicable whenever feasible in the implementation of the National Bliss Program for Communities in Landed Estates.

15. The Ministry of Human Settlements shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Letter of Instructions.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 27th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Two. aisa dc