THE QUEZON City government on Tuesday broke ground for its housing project for teachers.

The project, to be implemented in partnership with the National Housing Authority, will benefit 444 public school teachers.

Vice President Sara Duterte and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, together with former President-now-Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, led the groundbreaking rites.

A total of 300 units shall be offered exclusively to residents who will qualify based on their socioeconomic status, while 144 units will be for public school teachers and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education.

The units can be availed via financing through PAG-IBIG or the Government Service Insurance System.

“QCitizen Homes Republic Residences” will have eight 5-story and one 12-story buildings.

The Vice President, who undertook the partnership with Belmonte through a memorandum of understanding, thanked city for finding ways to resolve settlement problems.

“Una po ang pagpapasalamat ko sa local government of Quezon City sa kanilang imbitasyon sa akin para dumalo sa groundbreaking ng ating pabahay para sa mga Pilipino at ang beneficiaries ay ang ating mga qualified na guro ng Department of Education,” Duterte said.

“Ang isyu ng kawalan ng pabahay ay hindi lang po nakasentro sa mga highly-urbanized na mga lugar sa Metro Manila katulad ng Quezon City o Davao City sa Mindanao,” she added.

The former Davao City mayor shared that housing was also their major challenge.

She recalled that during her term as mayor, she was able to put up a residential facility called Biyaya ng Pagbabago for the Dabawenyos.

“We have partnered with NHA, San Miguel Foundation, and a private non-profit organization called Pilipinong May Puso Foundation in the establishment of two relocation sites for our urban informal settlers,” she said.