The Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) is confident that 1.1 million homes would have been built for Filipinos within the term of the Duterte administration.
In a Pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) briefing, DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said this target could even be exceeded given that as of March 2021, the department has been able to assist 928,000 Filipinos to have their own homes.
Del Rosario said the figures represent 82 percent of the target. With housing construction continuing even after March 2021, he said more homes will be included in the list which could allow the DHSUD to exceed the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) target of 1.1 million houses by 2022.
“Definitely, we will be able to accomplish a minimum of 100 percent or exceed the target for housing during this administration. If we meet the target, it would mean the economic situation of the public will be alleviated also,” Del Rosario said.
Del Rosario said overall, the DHSUD considered shelter or housing as a right. But also recognize that not all Filipinos would like to be homeowners.
He noted that a recent survey showed that 81 percent of Filipinos would like to have a house of their own while 19 percent would prefer to rent.
“We consider home ownership as an option but it is a right of every Filipino family. And it is our responsibility in the housing sector to ensure that this is met. The low-income families or the poorest of the poor will be capacitated so that they will have a decent and affordable housing (unit),” Del Rosario said.
Del Rosario pointed out that housing construction is an important ingredient in the country’s recovery from the pandemic. He noted that building homes would not only meet the needs of Filipinos but also to boost economic activity.
Housing construction, he said, is a pump primer of the economy. Del Rosario added housing construction has 80 allied sectors and “hundreds of thousands of the workforce” involved in building homes.
The sector’s link to several industries as well as employing workers are crucial in the country’s recovery from the pandemic.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the construction sector as a whole contracted 27.2 percent in the first quarter of 2021.
This was an improvement from the contraction of 36 percent in the last quarter of 2020 and 31.2 percent in the January to March period last year.
In terms of employment, PSA data also showed that the construction sector employed 4.4 million as of May 2021, slightly lower than the 4.9 million employed in March 2021.