Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Government to alleviate the substandard living conditions of the masses. To this end, the Government shall provide, wherever practicable, tenement buildings for the poor and the homeless at nominal rental rates, consistently with the policy of avoiding concentration of population in densely inhabited areas.

The phrase "poor and homeless" shall include any family head whose gross income together with that of the spouse shall not exceed one thousand eight hundred pesos annually, and shall also include any family head whose gross annual income together with that of the spouse exceeds such amount provided the excess shall not be more than the number of immediate dependents times one hundred twenty pesos.

SEC 2. The Department of Public Works and Communications is hereby authorized to plan, design and call for public bidding for the construction of the tenement buildings: Provided, That at least seventy-five per cent of the construction materials to be used in the multi-storey buildings must be of Philippine origin or locally produced or manufactured materials as far as practicable. Each apartment in such tenement buildings shall contain complete separate sanitary facilities and shall be so designed and constructed as to provide privacy and security to the family and adequate playground space for children as may be appropriate for the number of tenants therein; and the ground floor of such tenement buildings shall be built to be rented as stores to citizens of the Philippines,

SEC. 3. After the completion of the tenement buildings, the Department of Public Works and Communications shall turn them over for purposes of maintenance, repair, improvement, expansion and administration to the People's HomeSite and Housing Corporation which shall, in all cases, allocate by lottery the rooms of the tenement buildings.

SEC. 4. A special committee is hereby created, composed of the Auditor General, as chairman, and the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, the Chairman of the People's Homesite and Housing Corporation, the Director of the National Planning Commission and the Social Welfare Administrator, as members, for the purpose of determining the proper sites, and the most equitable and minimum rental which prospective lessees should pay.

The special committee is authorized to promulgate, subject to the approval of the President of the Philippines, such guiding principles or sets of rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act in the determination of the prospective lessees of these tenements. One of the guiding factors shall be the elimination of slums from our cities and towns and priority should be given to slum dwellers whenever this would facilitate the elimination of said slums.

SEC. 5. All accruals derived from rentals, consistent with Section four hereof, shall constitute a revolving fund to be used exclusively for purposes of maintenance, repair, improvement, expansion, and administration incident to billing and collection, janitorial, security and other similar expenditures in the operation of the tenement building projects after their completion.

SEC. 6. For carrying out the provisions of this Act, the amount of fifteen million pesos is hereby appropriated, out of the General Funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and from, the proceeds of the reparations from Japan: Provided, That the priority for cash reparations for war veterans, widows and orphans provided for in the Reparations Act, as amended, shall be respected and not more than five per cent of the total reparations can be used for this purpose.

SEC. 7. This Act shall prevail over any Act or provisions thereof inconsistent herewith.

SEC. 8. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. Approved, June 16, 1962.