SECRETARY Jose Ramon Aliling of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) on Tuesday lauded Congress for recognizing the urgent need for a bigger fund to address the country’s housing backlog.
Aliling said the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations ended on Monday three hours of deliberations on the agency’s proposed P5.5-billion budget for 2026.
The DHSUD chief, along with the executives from the Pag-IBIG Fund, Social Housing Finance Corp., the National Housing Authority, the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corp. and the Human Adjudication Commission, presented updated and realistic targets, including its zero-backlog program, and efforts to streamline and digitalize procedures.
Aliling said the panel members acknowledged the importance of the budget increase to support the Marcos administration’s Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program.
“There should be more funds being given to the housing department because it makes economic sense, one and that we are helping more people. I think may be, we can review the budget being allocated to DHSUD. And I have actually mentioned that may be, some of those project in the Department of Public Works and Highways can be transferred to housing industry because it doesn’t just make economic sense. It also makes a lot of sense,” Aliling said.
“That’s why we are not asking for additional funds. We want to respect the process. We went through the process. We tried to explain. Unfortunately, this is what the National Expenditure Program gave us. So we want to respect the decision of the Department of Budget and Management,” he said.
“Thank you very much for your trust and support. You can be sure that DHSUD will continue to strive and work to the best of our ability to give every Filipino family the opportunity to have a better, safer and more reliable home,” he added.
