HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. has announced a major housing program to be undertaken by the present administration starting this year that seeks to build one million homes throughout the country.

Talking to newsmen at his residence here Sunday, de Venecia said the government is seeking possible funding of the program from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the governments of China and Korea.

Among the beneficiaries of the housing program are the 25,000 squatters affected by the construction of the Manila North Rail, and the 16,000 others to be affected by the construction of the Manila South Rail.

The Manila North Rail from Manila to Clark Air Base in Pampanga will be built by the Chinese government while the Manila South Rail from Manila to Calamba, Laguna will be constructed by the Korean government.

De Venecia named as also among the priority beneficiaries of the program the country’s soldiers and policemen and their respective families who still do not have homes of their own.

He told newsmen that he recently came from San Miguel Bulacan, home of Ranger Regiment, where he had a talk with their commanding general, Danilo Lim, on a plan to construct a housing project in their area with soldiers as beneficiaries.

“We are looking (in this program) both the civilian community and the military-police community,” the House leader said.

On his own, de Venecia conferred with Ilocos Police Regional Director Alfredo de Vera to finalize the construction of an initial 500 houses for policemen in his own fourth district of Pangasinan.

He said the 500 houses will be put up in two sites, one at the boundaries of Mangaldan, San Fabian and Dagupan City and the second at the boundary of San Jacinto and Manaoag towns.

Saying that the project will be put up from his own pork barrel allocations, de Venecia called on his fellow congressmen to follow suit by also allocating part of their pork barrels for housing projects for policemen and soldiers in their own areas.