(BusinessWorld) THE SENATE urban planning, housing, and resettlement panel has approved the bill granting rental subsidy to informal settlers affected by the coronavirus pandemic and other calamities.

Senator Francis N. Tolentino, chair of the panel, said in a statement on Thursday the committee approved the separate bills filed by Senators Leila M. de Lima, Ramon B. Revilla, Jr., and Christopher Lawrence T. Go as well as the counterpart House Bill No. 8736 or the Rental Housing Subsidy Program Act.

The House measure was approved last March and was transmitted to the Senate in April.

The committee will form a technical working group to consolidate the measures, he said.

Mr. Tolentino said the subsidy program should go beyond the pandemic as rental and other monthly fees are constant challenges for informal settlers in the capital region Metro Manila and other urban areas.

He also noted that institutionalizing the rental subsidy program “will support short-term housing relief efforts and affordable housing programs for low-income families.”

The proposed law aims to provide a monthly housing subsidy to informal settler families whose scheduled relocation were delayed because of calamities.

The subsidy will be in effect until the affected families are transferred to a formal housing settlement or after five years, whichever comes first.