SEN. Bong Go vowed to look into the housing budget for proper urban planning and development and to help poor families avail affordable homes. The senator on Sunday reiterated the need to prioritize adequate funding for housing programs benefiting the country’s most vulnerable sectors. Go said that poor families are often the hardest hit whenever typhoons and floods strike. He said many urban poor households live in unsafe and flood-prone areas, making them particularly exposed to disasters. “Most of them live along the creek. That’s why there must be enough budget for urban poor housing,” Go said in a statement in Filipino. “We will look into how much had been allotted for them (urban poor dwellers) during the budget deliberations.” The vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement said that providing safe and affordable housing was “essential to breaking the cycle of vulnerability faced by millions of Filipinos.” He said that the government should ensure that sufficient resources are allocated for long-term shelter solutions that protect lives and preserve human dignity. Go filed Senate Bill (SB) 415 or the Rental Housing Subsidy Program which seeks to provide rental assistance to informal settlers and displaced families to help them transition into the formal housing market. He also filed SB 685, or the National Housing Development Production and Financing Program, seeking to establish a long-term framework for housing development and financing, ensuring the sustainability and continuity of the country’s housing initiatives. He also filed SB 671, or the National Housing for Filipinos Program, which aims at institutionalizing the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program to ensure that it remains a core pillar of the government’s efforts to provide decent housing for all Filipinos.