After calling on public and private financial institutions to address the estimated 6.5 million housing backlog, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. led an inspection of a government housing project in Marikina City.
The five-hectare housing project is implemented under his administration’s flagship program billed as the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino: Zero ISF (Informal Settler Family) 2028 Program.
The Bagong Sibol housing project is expected to benefit 10,000 minimum wage earners and city government employees.
Its construction formally started on October 7.
The government’s housing program aims to address the housing backlog in the country pegged at more than 6.5 million units.
The President has tasked the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to build one million housing units every year for the next six years, with P36 billion annual interest support from the national government.
According to the DHSUD, around 1.7 million jobs would be generated annually through the housing program. It is also poised to trigger economic activities in 80 allied industries like cement, steel, and paint.
The agency added that the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino: Zero ISF 2028 Program covers seven locations across the country and has signed 14 memoranda of agreement with various local government units for the construction of housing units.
The Bagong Sibol housing project in Marikina City is the second housing project to break ground in the National Capital Region.
The first DHSUD project was launched on September 22 with the signing of a memorandum of agreement followed by the same day groundbreaking at the Harmony Hills Terraces in Quezon City.