DHSUD reiterates call for P36 billion funding for housing

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has reiterated its call to lawmakers for a P36-billion interest subsidy funding to jumpstart the construction of one million housing units under the first year of the Marcos administration’s Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino program.

During the recent Senate hearing on the DHSUD’s proposed budget for 2023, Human Settlements Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar stressed the need for the amount in order to implement the new administration’s Zero ISF (Informal Settler Family) 2028 Program.

Aimed at building one million housing units every year until 2028, the program is expected to have a “significant contribution” to the Marcos administration’s eight-point economic agenda specifically on job creation, said Acuzar.

The program is aimed at addressing the country’s housing backlog projected to be around 6.5 million units by the end of 2022 and expected to increase to 10.9 million by the end of 2028.

The DHSUD had earlier projected that 1.7 million jobs would be generated when the national housing program goes full blast with its construction. The DHSUD said this is based on the conservative estimate that about eight workers are needed to construct a housing unit within a certain time span.

Acuzar told senators that the mass housing program could also “trigger economic activities” in 80 allied industries of the housing sector once the construction of housing units goes full blast.

Among the top 10 out of 80 industries that could benefit from the full implementation of the housing program, Acuzar said, include steel and metal manufacturing, cement, veneer and plywood, refined petroleum producers, sawmills and wood and wholesale/retail businesses.

“The housing and real estate industry is a vital economic pump-primer due to more than 80 allied industries attached to the housing sector,” Acuzar said.

“Once tapped, the potentials of these industries can contribute to the economic growth of our country,” he added.

Earlier, Acuzar appealed to member of the House of Representatives to allocate P36 billion to fund the interest subsidy for the first one million housing units to be constructed next.

With P36 billion interest support, the housing recipients will only have to pay the principal and one percent of the interest while the remaining interest will be shouldered by the government.

So far, the DHSUD has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBM) and has also secured the commitment of the Land Bank of the Philippines and some commercial banks for the financing aspect of the program. – Paolo Romero