There can be no more eloquent illustration of the deep socio-economic divide in this country than the P150,000 to P200,000 price tag of a low-income housing unit and the reported P50 million price of an ultra-luxury condo.
Two events in recent weeks have thrown into bold relief the deep divide between the estimated 10 percent of the Philippines population that owns the bulk of this country’s gross domestic product (GDP)—the A and B income classes – and the 90 percent that owns the rest of the GDP (the C, D and E income classes).
One of the events was the delivery by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of his 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA). The other event was the announcement by three of the nation’s biggest real estate developers – SM Development Corporation, Arthaland Corporation and Alveo Land Development Corporation – of the launching of their ultra-luxury condominium projects.
One of the promises made by Mr. Marcos in the course of the 2022 Presidential campaign was that his administration would close the estimated 6,000,000-unit housing gap by holding one million housing units every year until the end of his term. This promise was not fulfilled during the three years, and in this year’s SONA he had absolutely nothing to say about mass housing. Yet housing is one of the five basic requirements of a Filipino’s existence.
On the other side of the socio-economic divide, the three aforementioned real estate development corporation announced the launching of projects that would produce ultra-luxury condominium units for the super-rich. The real estate section of one newspaper has reported that the price of the ultra-luxury condos could go as high P50 million per unit.
There can be no more eloquent illustration of the deep socio-economic divide in this country than the P150,000-P200,000 price tag of a low-income housing unit and the reported P50 million price of an ultra-luxury condo. A quick computation shows that the P50 million paid for an ultra-luxury condominium unit in SMDC’s The Estate or Arthaland’s Eluria or Alveo Land’s Parkford Suites can finance the construction of around 50 low-income housing units.
What to do about this socio-economic disparity?
In a democratic society such as Philippine society, the only possible approach is governmental policy change, especially change in tax policy. The developer of ultra-luxury condominium projects cannot legally be stopped from undertaking such projects. If the demand for P50 million ultra-luxury condominium units is there—and the condominium units by the above-mentioned real estate developers have apparently been sold out —they will be constructed. And such, apparently, is the estate of the market that more ultra-luxury condominium projects are on the way.
While they are well within their legal rights in providing ultra-luxury shelter for the super-rich – and making enormous profits in the process – SMDC, Arthaland, Alveo Land and Alveo Land and similarly minded real estate developers, being competent and experienced in their field of business, should make a contribution to the solution of this country’s low-income housing problem, which becomes more acute every year with population growth. The best way to do this would be to establish subsidiaries that will concentrate on low-income housing projects. Alongside profit-making, there should be concern for the housing needs of those at the bottom of the national income ladders.
As for the government, the bad news has been indicated above. The public sector has been unable to deliver on candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise of one million mass-housing units per year. There is worse news. There is absolutely no indication that the government will be able to fulfill Mr. Marcos’s promise in the remaining years of his presidency.
The purpose behind placing all the housing-related government agencies in a single-institution —Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD)—was to give a massive push to the elimination of this country’s longstanding mass housing backlog. As things stand, there is no prospect of that happening anytime soon. In his most recent SONA President Marcos should have sent a strong message to the DHUD leadership about the government’s strong interest in morning quickly toward the elimination of this country’s worrisome housing backlog. But the Chief Executive failed to deliver that message.
And so the great socio-economic divide in the shelter sector is likely to remain – ultra-luxury condominium units for the super rich and inadequate housing for the millions of low-income Filipino. Hardly a formula for social and political stability.
(llagasjessa@yahoo.com)
