MANILA-Some 937 employees of the San Fernando City government in Pampanga were awarded housing units, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said Wednesday.

DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario and Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) president Ricardo Arnolfo Cabling on Tuesday led the ceremonial turnover of housing units to the beneficiaries.

The housing project is a one-story rowhouse with a loft, built under the SHFC's Turnkey Community Mortgage Program -- which was inaugurated two years ago.

In a statement, del Rosario said he is delighted with the designs of the housing units.

The housing czar added the project signifies the government's commitment to provide every Filipino, especially the underprivileged citizens, access to decent sustainable, and more affordable housing units.

Del Rosario said DHSUD will also provide a grant for the construction of a perimeter fence around the settlement site "to ensure the security of the residents."

It will also put up a multi-purpose covered court and a daycare center so that people will no longer have to travel outside the communities.

"This is a model community. Yan ang tinatawag nating township -- para andito na lahat, mami-minimize mga movement ng mga tao. Ang aalis lang yung mga empleyado na nakatira dito para pumasok sa mga opisina (That's what we call a township where everything is here, the people's movements will be minimize. Only employees can go out to go to office)," del Rosario said.

He added the project will serve as a model for other socialized housing projects that will be pushed further by the DHSUD and SHFC in San Fernando.

"Yan po ang programa ng Duterte administration, with regards to housing. Gusto natin na ang mga housing projects, housing units, ay disente, livable at pwedeng mong ipagmalaki (That's the program of Duterte administration with regards to housing. We want our housing projects, each unit will be decent, livable and you can be proud of)," del Rosario said.

San Fernando Mayor Edwin Santiago said the project is a huge help for those low-income civil servants who wish to have their own houses.

With this, Cabling vowed they will continue working with the government, through DHSUD and the local governments to pursue the same projects that will benefit low-income earners nationwide.

SHFC's Turnkey Community Mortgage Program is aimed at improving the living conditions of underprivileged Filipino families -- by providing an affordable financing scheme -- wherein they can borrow as a community to buy land they would like to occupy or relocate to, and they will only pay at a lower amortization rate.

More than 8,000 informal settler families availed of the government's loan assistance amounting to PHP1.6 billion last year, with more than 350,000 family-beneficiaries benefitted from the Community Mortgage Program since 1988. (PNA)