Four more government financial institutions (GFIs) have signed up in the national housing program of the Marcos administration, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) disclosed on Thursday, Dec. 22.
DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said he already signed an agreement with the top officials of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Land Bank of the Philippines after a groundbreaking ceremony of a township project in Palayan City in Nueva Ecija on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
“This is massive in terms of the financial side of the flagship housing program of our President—a huge boost for the roll out of the program and go full blast in the construction hopefully by next year,” Acuzar said.
“On behalf of the millions of Filipino families still dreaming of owning decent yet affordable homes, I thank our GFIs from the bottom of my heart for their support,” he added.
The Pag-IBIG Fund earlier committed P250 billion to help the DHSUD accomplished its goal of constructing one million housing units for the next six years to address the 6.5 million housing backlog. The Securities and Exchange Commission, on the other hand, paved the way for investment of private companies to the housing projects.
The DHSUD earlier said it needs P36 billion every year for the one million housing units,
Present during the signing of the Memoranda of Understanding were Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta, DBP President Emmanuel Herbosa, SSS President Michael Regino, GSIS President Jose Arnulfo Veloso and LBP President Cecilia Borromeo.
Under the MOU, the GFIs have pledged support to DHSUDs housing programs thru collaboration specifically on the funding strategies; allocation of financial, technical and operational resources for Pambansang Pabahay as part of their priority programs, and develop and or enhance existing housing programs.
Under the program, the DHSUD chief aims to address the two main problems in the housing industry –affordability and access to funds.