The Department of Finance (DOF) said the government will strengthen the development of the housing and real estate sectors in the country through fiscal policy reforms.

Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said that measures aimed at strengthening the pillars of support for the growth of the local housing and real estate will continue under the Marcos administration.

The DOF will continue in pursuing enactment of the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform bill—the third package of the comprehensive tax reform program of the previous administration, he said.

According to Diokno, the reform will boost investor confidence in the real property sector as it seeks to adopt the internationally accepted valuation standards and professional real property valuation.

Once passed into law, the proposed measure will promote the development of a just, equitable, and efficient real property valuation system that will positively impact revenue generation and resource mobilization performance of local government units (LGUs).

“A key feature of the proposed reform is the establishment of a comprehensive and up-to-date electronic database to support local governments’ valuation functions,” Diokno said.

The finance chief explained that an electronically accessible database will allow for the study of trends and other analyses to support land use planning and development.

“We will continue to strengthen the pillars of support for the growth of housing and real estate in the Philippines. Fiscal policy, in particular, has an important role to play in developing these sectors,” Diokno said.

Furthermore, the DOF, through its attached agency Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), has continued to ramp up improvements to the bureaucratic efficiency of property-related tax collection in LGUs.

Diokno assured that the government is carefully monitoring the updating of real property tax base and rates in LGUs.

“llow me to assure you that the Marcos administration stands firm in its commitment to grow the housing and real property sector,” he said.

Last Oct. 25, Diokno urged LGUs to strengthen their revenue mobilization capacities through real property tax collections in order to support the country’s economic resurgence.

Diokno noted that real property tax offers a progressive source of revenue for LGUs, thus they need a credible real property valuation system to help improve government's revenue generation capacity.

Diokno also reiterated his call to LGUs for digitalization.

“In the new normal, we need to make sure that our fiscal position is stable enough to enhance our healthcare system, endure economic shocks, and continue to improve our public services through digitalization,” Diokno said.