“A whole-of-government approach is best.”
After assuming office on June 20, 2022, President Marcos Jr., announced that among his key priorities would be providing decent housing to families who cannot afford to have homes of their own. His administration’s mass housing program, Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program or 4PH, wants to build one million housing units every year for a total of six million units by the end of its term in 2028.
The 4PH initiative is a laudable one as it seeks to address the serious housing shortage in the country. We now have a housing backlog of 6.5 million units, a number that could swell to 22 million units by 2040 if the problem is not properly addressed. Some 70 million Filipinos also live in substandard housing, and this is projected to grow to 113 million people by 2030.
The housing shortage in the Philippines is partly due to the rapidly growing population. Our population currently stands at around 114 million, and is estimated to reach 119 million by 2026.
It should also be viewed in the context of high poverty incidence in the country, which stands at roughly one-fourth of the total population. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the government projected poverty rates to be brought down from 22 percent to 16 percent of the total population. The Marcos Jr. administration wants to bring that down to single-digit level by 2028.
For poor and low-income families, not to mention those already living on the streets due to extreme poverty, owning a decent yet affordable home appears unattainable, unless they can get help from the government.
That’s why the government’s housing program is now being implemented by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) as the central housing authority. Now headed by Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, the DSHUD consolidated the duties and functions of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).
The DHSUD’s strategy to meet the housing shortage is to tap greater private sector participation. By getting private partners, particularly contractors and developers, the agency can shift to high gear the nationwide roll-out of the housing program.
But Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III recently asked the DHSUD to conduct further study on 4PH.
The veteran lawmaker urged President Marcos, Jr. to directly intervene and review the program: “This is my personal message to the Office of the President. There is room for improvement in the housing budget. After all, the President emphasized that the DHSUD’s 4PH program is his flagship initiative…There is something out of tune.”
What the lawmaker sees as something amiss in the 4PH program is its focus on condominium-type housing, which he says is not suitable for all beneficiaries, particularly those living in the rural areas. The big gap in the program’s design, Pimentel pointed out, is that “it is not aimed at benefiting the homeless poor who live on the streets.”
Pimentel said the program may not be effectively addressing the housing needs of ordinary Filipinos, and that a review is necessary to ensure optimum and judicious use of resources.
The original target of the housing program was 6 million housing units at the start of President Marcos’ term, but this has been reduced to 3.2 million units or condominium-type housing to be constructed over the six-year term. About 40 projects, mostly composed of high-rise condominium-type buildings, are currently in various stages of development and construction throughout the country. The proposed budget of the DHSUD for 2025 is P6.363 billion.
In July 2023, the DHSUD announced that over 100,000 housing units would be available this year. “We think we can deliver more than a hundred thousand actual houses next year because we are still constructing them.” The projected number, however, is a mere 10 percent of the government’s yearly target of one million units. We’re already close to year-end 2024 and if only 100,000 units can be delivered by DHSUD this year, that would be a big disappointment to those eager to move to affordable homes.
The 4PH program should really adopt a whole-of-government approach with the DHSUD encouraging close collaboration not only with the private sector but also with other government agencies. Apart from providing low-cost housing to poor and disadvantaged families, the government should see to it that they obtain easy access to transportation, livelihood/job opportunities, education and health facilities, among others.
(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
