Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 757)
The purpose of Presidential Decree No. 757 is to create the National Housing Authority (NHA) to develop and implement a comprehensive and integrated national housing program, dissolving existing housing agencies and concentrating efforts to provide adequate housing for the Filipino people.
The People's Homesite and Housing Corporation (PHHC), the Presidential Assistant on Housing and Resettlement Agency (PAHRA), the Tondo Foreshore Development Authority (TFDA), the Central Institute for the Training and Relocation of Urban Squatters (CITRUS), the Presidential Committee for Housing and Urban Resettlement (PRECHUR), Sapang Palay Development Committee, the Inter-Agency Task Force for Relocation of Families in Barrio Nabacaan, Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, and other government housing and resettlement agencies were dissolved.
The main objectives are to provide and maintain adequate housing for the greatest number of people, undertake housing development and resettlement activities, and promote private sector participation in housing ventures through capital, land, expertise, financing, and facilities.
The NHA is authorized a capital of five hundred million pesos, fully subscribed by the Republic of the Philippines, with fifty million pesos appropriated upon approval and fifty million pesos annually for nine years thereafter.
The NHA has the power to exercise the right of eminent domain or acquire privately owned lands by purchase for housing development, resettlement, and related facilities.
The Board is composed of the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority, the Secretary of Finance, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Industry, the Executive Secretary, and the General Manager of the Authority.
The General Manager directs and supervises operations, prepares meeting agendas, executes policies approved by the Board, appoints personnel, represents the Authority in dealings, and exercises other powers delegated by the Board.
The National Housing Authority shall exist for fifty (50) years but may be extended.
The financial liabilities or obligations of the dissolved agencies shall be assumed by the National Government, and bonds or securities may be issued or direct appropriations authorized for payment as determined by the Commission on Audit.
Donations, grants, and bequests to the NHA are exempt from transfer taxes and are fully deductible from the donor or grantor's gross income for income tax purposes.
Qualified and necessary personnel may be transferred and absorbed by the NHA based on merit and fitness pursuant to a comprehensive merit system established by the Authority upon its organization.
Until the Board of Directors functions, officers and employees of abolished agencies continue exercising their duties until ordered otherwise by the Board, minimizing disruption of ongoing programs and projects.
The provisions of the Corporation Law apply to the NHA insofar as they are not inconsistent with this Decree.