CONSTRUCTION firm R-II Builders Inc. said it has secured a P400-million loan agreement with the Development Bank of the Philippines for a 53-hectare mass housing project in Cavite.

Company chair Reghis M. Romero II said in a statement that the project dubbed Pamayanang Maliksi comprises 6,642 duplex and row house units.

Romero said Pamayanang Maliksi would benefit at least a tenth of some 60,000 workers in Cavite’s export processing zone and other residents who are members of the government-administered housing fund Pag-Ibig.

“Pamayanang Maliksi will be a fully integrated community divided into five clusters, each with its own clubhouse-type village center, transport system and livelihood center,” he said.

Romero added that the community would have a commercial area, market, day-care centers, elementary and secondary schools, parks and playgrounds, waste material recovery facility, a main village center as well as 15-meter wide primary roads, 10-m wide secondary roads and 6.5-m wide tertiary roads.

Also, Romero explained that the monthly amortization in Pamayanang Maliksi was set at P1,798 for a single-room row house unit and P2,128 for a two-room duplex unit.

“These rates are lower than the cost of bed space in this city, which runs from P2,000 to P2,500 a month,” he said.

Further, the units in Pamayanang Maliksi could be extended vertically, with a row house unit having a floor area of 20.3 square meters and a lot area of 32 sq. m., while a duplex unit has a floor area of 22.55 sq. m. and a lot area of 48 sq. m.

“The project is also seen to generate thousands of jobs for the Cavite residents, attract investments into the province and further invigorate the provincial economy,” Romero said.

He said the project, in which the provincial government owns the land, was designed for the upliftment of families currently living in deplorable housing conditions, making it qualified for a financial facility under the Development of Poor Urban Community Sector project of the Asian Development Bank.

R-II Builders is also known for the use of asset-backed securities to raise funds for urban poor housing development, particularly the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation project.