One of President Marcos' projects is a project to build housing for the poor.
The gap between the rich and the poor in the Philippines is widely known, and this is symbolized by the existence of areas called squatters. Squatters are people who have illegally occupied and settled on land that is not theirs, and are often found in the urban areas of Manila and Cebu, where some areas have become slums.
On the other hand, Filipinos with money live in subdivisions and high-rise condominiums that are surrounded by walls and guarded by guards.
Many of the squatter's houses are barracks with poor sanitation. The people living there have a difficult life and cannot afford to provide their children with a decent education. This creates a cycle of poverty.
Providing quality housing for these people is President Marcos' housing construction project, which aims to build 6 million low-income housing units throughout the Philippines during his tenure.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Cebu City South Coast Urban Development Project was held on February 27 in the presence of President Marcos.
The groundbreaking ceremony marked the beginning of the project, which will consist of 10 20-story residential buildings on 25 hectares of land, and will create a community of 8,000 residents when completed.
Including this first phase of construction, the project will eventually cover an area of 60 hectares with a total of 30,000 housing units.
In his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony, President Marcos said that he hoped the community would not only build housing, but also flourish as a "human settlement" where new communities would grow and thrive, and he gave the following orders to the people who would live there: "We will not just build houses, but we will build a human settlement.
'Take care of your home and keep it clean and tidy.'
These words must be painful for Filipinos, who are not good at operating and maintaining things and systems even after they have been created.
However, for Mayor Rama, who wants Cebu City to be like Singapore, these words from President Marcos may have been the best encouragement he could have received.
