A total of 1,542,538 families living in rented houses face the bleak prospect of being burdened by higher lease payment if the Rent Control Law will not be extended after it expired last Dec. 3l.

This was revealed by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday who batted for the extension by three more years of the law that limits to l0 percent the annual increase in the rent for apartments and other dwelling units.

Para?aque City Rep. Ed Zialcita earlier said there is no more need to extend the law, claiming that the families concerned have the option of acquiring low-cost housing units that have become available through government incentives under the socialized shelter program.

But Zubiri, outgoing chairman of the committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement, said the impact of the global financial meltdown on the Philippines has made it an imperative to extend the Rent Control Law.

?We can see the adverse effects of the global financial crisis?business firms are either closing shop or scaling down operations, workers are being retrenched, wage hike is frozen. Family breadwinners find it difficult to pay the monthly house rent,? he said.

For those who are planning to buy or have bought housing units through loans, Zubiri said more and more families could ill afford to pay the monthly amortization.

In fact, he said Congress had to enact last year a law declaring amnesty or debt condonation for delinquent housing loan buyers to save 300,000 families from eviction.

According to Zubiri, there were only 1.1 million families who were renting houses in l98l when the Rent Control Law was first approved by Congress compared to 1.5 million families at present based on data from the National Statistics Office.

?We don?t want to increase the number of homeless, of which we have documented 631,451 families. If we can?t provide dwellings by way of socialized housing units or low rent, our fellow Filipinos will grab any opportunity to have a roof over their heads. Many are already cramped in houses with relatives who are also renting or worse, setting up shacks in slum areas,? he said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said he could not say for sure whether there will be sufficient number of senators who will favor the extension of the Rent Control Law.

?I can?t take a positin yet,? Enrile said on radio. ?But it is also unfair for the apartment owners whose rental rate dated back to the time of Adam. If the banks are adjusting the interest rate on the loans for real estate, those who have invested in housing should have a chance to gain a reasonable return on their investments.?

The proposal to impose a moratorium on the housing rental hike maybe prejudicial to the interest of housing developers and owners, Zubiri said.

Based on Zubiri?s proposal, the lessees can be evicted from the housing units if they fail to pay the rent for three consecutive months.

The Rent Control Law was first extended for three years in l984 and for a similar period in l987. It was extended for five more years in 200l and extended anew for three years in 2006.

Zubiri said he was assured by Senator Rodolfo Biazon, the new chairman of the committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement that a new extension bill will be reported out for floor debates by early February. Fel V. Maragay