President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will sign an executive order (EO) that will reserve all idle government lands for national housing projects.
Malacañang said the EO will implement Section 24 of Republic Act No. 11201, which mandates several government agencies to jointly identify idle state lands suitable for housing and rural development.
The Palace further said that Marcos is set to meet with banks and financial institutions to assist the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) in realizing its goal of building one million housing units per year or six million by the end of his term.
Marcos said the EO will "not create new regulations but will just enforce the existing law."
The President said putting all these government assets under the Republic of the Philippines will ensure flexibility in deciding which of these lands should be used for housing.
Under the issuance, an inventory will be conducted by the DHSUD, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Land Registration Authority (LRA) to identify the lands, estimated to be more than 16,000 hectares, to be used for socialized housing.
RA 11201 authorizes the housing department to own and administer government-owned lands that have not been utilized for the purpose they have been originally reserved or acquired for at least 10 years and identified as suitable for urban development.
The DSHUD, according to Secretary Jose Acuzar, has acquired the commitment of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to the government's housing program.