THE Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has appealed to Congress to include the P36-billion housing interest subsidy every year to boost the government’s housing production efforts.
The amount will allow the government to address the 6.5 million housing gap, DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar told a recent Senate Committee hearing.
Senator JV Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Resettlement, said that human settlements and urban development should be included in the master plan or blueprint of the country’s overall development plan, including infrastructure and basic services.
“Moving forward, we appeal for the support of the Congress on pushing for the Department’s budget proposal, specifically, the inclusion of a P36-billion housing interest subsidy every year which will serve as catalyst of housing production,” Acuzar said.
Acuzar said the Department’s priority programs would benefit informal settler families (ISFs) and those living along danger zones, and eventually address the growing housing gap in the country.
He stressed that the provision of decent and safe human settlements or townships to the underprivileged Filipinos throughout the country is among the priorities of the current administration.
“We crafted plans based on our assessment of the sector. As we can see now, there are two main bottlenecks that we must address to conquer the housing backlog in the country – first is access to funding and second, affordability. That is the direction of our strategies,” Acuzar said.
In a presentation, DHSUD Assistant Secretary Avelino Tolentino III stressed the Department intends to focus on two banner programs – (1) the development of 10 priority areas and (2) urban renewal project sites in major cities and ISF sites along esteros and waterfronts in major urban areas nationwide, in partnership with local governments and the private sector.
Initial site inspections conducted by DHSUD, its regional offices and key shelter agencies (KSA) in the last two weeks have identified potential areas for the development of sustainable settlements and townships.
The DHSUD is also looking at blighted areas, waterways and high-risk coastal communities currently occupied by ISFs for urban re-development for compact, mixed-use and efficient urban districts, hence promoting urban development.
“We are involving as many players who are capable of helping us achieve our ultimate goal to produce and finance quality houses for Filipinos. This is where our partner-developers will come in. We seek the support of our legislative branch to attract the participation of the private sector in government housing programs,” Acuzar emphasized.
The sectoral priority legislative agenda was also discussed during the meeting, including the renewal of the National Housing Authority
Charter; amendment of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation; and the strengthening of the Social Housing Finance Corporation—all DHSUD KSAs which implement government housing production and finance.
Earlier, constraints such as the lack of livelihood opportunities and administrative difficulties prevented the poor from owning a home, according to documents obtained by BusinessMirror.
In a technical report prepared by the previous administration, the DHSUD said it was only able to provide direct assistance to less than 20 percent of what is needed annually.
This, the agency said, is compounding the challenges faced by poor Filipinos in accessing affordable homes. The DHSUD added that while microfinance is available, these are often “uncollateralized, short-term” and carry high interest rates.
The report stated that between 2011 and 2015, the DHSUD through its Key Shelter Agencies (KSAs) provided direct housing assistance to 883,222 households.
This translates to a total of 196,271 households per year, less than 20 percent of the estimated average annual housing need which is pegged at 926,077 households.