The UPEHCO Approach


 

The UPEHCO Housing Approach:  
Housing for the Individual, Community for the Collective

As a response to the challenge of coming up with a working strategy to provide decent and affordable housing to the ordinary Filipino family, the UP Employees Housing Cooperative (UPEHCO) was organized in March 1990 by a group of academics and cooperative advocates in the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines. This initiative was the first ever in the UP community.Pamayanang UPEHCO, Brgy. Salawag, Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines

UPEHCO’s housing strategy utilizes both conventional and non-conventional housing technologies available in the country without compromising quality and affordability. Its vision-mission is to build ecological and sustainable housing cooperative communities where each resident has a voice in managing the whole community and where the beneficiaries’ creativity and talents could be used for community-building.

Being a self-designing organization, UPEHCO encourages members’ participation in the various stages of housing development - site selection, rawland acquisition, land development, house construction, and day-to-day community living. A Technical Support Group (TSG), an integral part of the organization, composed of engineers, architects, lawyers, community organizers, and cooperative practitioners, is on top of all technical matters of all project sites.

(1) Land Development

The first project site of UPEHCO is situated in the rolling hills of Barangay San Luis, Antipolo, Rizal, about 45 minutes drive from the UP Diliman campus. The development of the 81,868 square meters rawland property commenced on 15 November 1993 and was completed (at 99.26 percent accomplishment) on 30 June 1995. Being rugged in terrain, some portions of the property particularly those adjacent to a live creek required slope protection works like grouted stone ripraps. The development of the property conformed with the basic requirements of PD 957 in so far as lot sizes, roadways and open spaces are concerned.

Before any earthmoving activities were undertaken, the whole property was subjected to various technical surveys namely topographic, hydrogeological, and geological studies. Soil testing and approval were undertaken by the Department of Agriculture as one of the requirements in the issuance of an Environmental Compliance Clearance by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Earlier, the UPEHCO-Antipolo project was also issued an agrarian reform exemption certificate by the Department of Agrarian Reform. All pertinent and required certifications, clearances, and permits were secured prior to construction.

Excavation, cleaning, grubbing and other earth moving works covered a total quantity of 81,868 sqm, the whole area of the property. Materials used for earthworks included course grained fill materials like stone fragments, sand, and gravel mix laboratory approved. Materials used for road development included borrow and base course materials, bituminous concrete surfaces, mineral fillers, and hydrated lime. All materials used conformed to the standard specifications of the Department of Public Works and Highways of the Philippine government. Construction method included the following: site grading, excavation, trenching, backfilling, compaction, and dewatering. Construction was implemented by finishing subgrade understructure and pavements, spreading of topsoil, protection of surface of newly yielded arm, and staking and batter boards. Conisdering the expected heavy rainfall during rainy season in the area, the installation of open concrete lined ditch may prove impractical so that underground reinforced concrete pipes were installed for drainage.

As regards water facilities, the UPEHCO hired the management services of Aquadyne, Inc. in the construction of two boreholes for two deepwells which was undertaken by Hydrodrillers, Inc. The two boreholes measured 149 and 167 meters deep, cutting through adobe-like structures way below ground surface. Based on tests conducted, the projected daily yield is enough to satisfy the water reqiurements of all 320 beneficiaries and their families.

To implement the project, equipment used were Mitsubishi and Komatsu dumptrucks, Komatsu and Caterpillar graders, Caterpillar pavers, Mitsubishi water trucks, and Komatsu payloaders.

Recognizing the technical know-how limitation of the cooperative, the Jose S. Aliling, Inc., a local-based construction management group with extensive experience in horizontal and vertical technical management, was contracted by the UPEHCO to provide project management for the land development phase of the project. For horizontal construction, the UPEHCO chose through closed bidding and per recommendation by the J. Aliling, Inc., the Concrete Aggregates Corporation (CAC), a local contractor belonging to the top ten contractors in the country, with a batching plant of their own, and fleet of equipment, not to mention their pool of well-experienced engineers. The CAC has an extensive experience in both private and government horizontal construction projects.

(2) House Construction

After the beneficiaries have approved of the adoption of a non-conventional type of building technology - the Vazbuilt building system - by the Vazquez Building Systems Corporation, the construction of the first batch of 10 houses was started in the second half of 1996 after completing the construction of two model houses, one 48 sqm and the other 36 sqm. Because Vazbuilt uses non-conventional type of construction (pre-fabricated) materials and different system of construction (lego-like), it had to be accredited with the Accreditation of Innovative Technologies for Housing or AITECH of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), the policy-making goverment institution for housing and urban development.

The Vazbuilt home is a Filipino invention patented and registered with the Philippine Patent Office and also approved in the United States. It is made up of reinforced concrete (R.C.) components consisting of wall panels, columns and beams. The R.C. wall panel is about 5 cm thick solid concrete (2,500 to 3,000 psi) reinforced with standard 10 mm deformed bars in both ways. For roofing, the Vazbuilt home of UPEHCO utilizes tegula tiles manufactured by Vazquez Commodities Corporation. Glass and steel casement windows are installed in the model.

The structural design of the Vazbuilt house conformed with the salient provisions of the National Structural Code of the Philippines (NSCP). The housing model adopts light gauge steel sections for the roof framing components, and precast reinforced concrete sections for walls and columns. A 50 mm R.C. wall panel acts as diagonal bracing for precast R.C. columns. The model already includes the provision for support for loft area for future construction.

The construction of the UPEHCO Vazbuilt home in Antipolo begins in the setting up of columns and tie beams. Bars protruding from both ends are welded together. Wall panels are then slotted between the columns to render the house structurally sound, and typhoon, earthquake, termite and fire resistant. Installation of windows, trusses and tegula tiles come next. Concrete flooring is then implemented, bathroom and kitchen components installed, along with plumbing and electrical works.

The floor areas of the UPEHCO-Antipolo Vazbuilt homes are 34.76, 36, 48 and 72 sqm with built-in loft provision. The attic is convertible to an additional living space of about 75 percent of the floor area. Building the home may take 14 to 30 days depending on the model. The system requires minimal scaffoldings and there is no need for heavy equipment.

An initial 45 homes shall be constructed in Antipolo by the end of September this year. Homes of 30 sqm in floor area shall follow. The UPEHCO is also considering using GI sheets for roofing to further put down the cost of housing using the same building system.

For the house construction phase of the project, the Philippine Center for Housing Cooperativism provided project management.

(3) Project Financing

Financing for the project comes from the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), more popularly known as the Pag-IBIG Fund under its Group Land Acquisition and Development (GLAD) Program. The UPEHCO-Antipolo housing project is in fact the first GLAD project of HDMF in the National Capital Region (NCR). All 320 beneficiaries of Antipolo are contributing members of the Fund.

Under the GLAD program, financing comes in three phases corresponding to the three project phases - land acquisition, land development and house construction. A borrower-member may draw up to 30% of his loan entitlement (up to P230,000 for house and lot) for land acquisition and up to 20% for land development; or a total of fifty percent (50%) for land acquisition and/or land development; provided the total amount for land acquisition and land development does not exceed P150,000. The remaining 50% may be used for house construction. The aggregate loan amount granted to the Cooperative for land acquisition covered 75% of the total project cost. The land development loan covered about 70% of the total cost while the house construction loan represented about 65% of the total cost. Beneficiaries were required to raise equity if their loan due was not enough to cover the total cost.

Progress billings per accomplishment submitted by the contractors were the bases for HDMF loan releases.

(4) Other Projects

The UPEHCO to date has constructed about 200 houses in its second site - Pamayanang UPEHCO-Cavite - home to about 450 beneficiaries. The 6.2 hecrates property was acquired in rawland form in 1995. Like the Antipolo project, the UPEHCO-Cavite’s land development and house construction were contracted out to one of the biggest construction company in the country, the New San Jose Builders, Inc.

Meanwhile, pre-acquisition requirements are being met by UPEHCO and the landowner of a 5 hectares rawland property in Tigbauan, Iloilo, a province in the Visayas, which will benefit about 350 employees of the UP Iloilo and Miag-ao campuses.


By: Melisa R. Serrano, Secretary-General & Ramoncito G. dela Rama, General Manager

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