FINDING ANSWERS
Former Senator Atty. Joey D. Lina
The intent to build a million homes a year under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program is certainly laudable amid the enormous housing shortage at present.
As I’ve said previously, the success of the socialized housing program would definitely be a solid and extremely significant legacy of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
But there’s no doubt the program spearheaded by Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Jose Rizalino “Jerry” Acuzar is highly ambitious, considering that the highest average number of homes built under previous administrations reached only 200,000 per year.
Yet Sec. Acuzar is undeterred by the tremendous challenges ahead. And he has the right attitude to attain the lofty goal. “Five times the average, I also commit to work five times harder to achieve this,” he said, adding that “we expect to go full blast within the year.”
With his reputation as “housing czar” preceding him, having been in the business of building and developing residential and commercial properties when he was in the private sector leading the New San Jose Builders Inc., Sec. Acuzar certainly knows whereof he speaks.
While building six million homes until the Marcos Jr. administration steps down in 2028 can be daunting, I believe it can be doable if RA 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA), as amended by RA 10884 which redefines socialized housing by including residential condominium units in the types of housing projects for the poor, is fully implemented.
The landmark legislation called UDHA is often referred to as the Lina Law after I principally authored it in 1992 when I was senator. Unfortunately, while UDHA clearly provides the mechanism for affordable housing, no administration has ever taken the cudgels to implement socialized housing as a legacy program.
Three decades since UDHA’s passage but not fully implemented, cities have grown unaided by proper urban planning, congested squatter communities have proliferated, resulting in an enormous and highly problematic social housing shortage which currently stands at around 6.5 million units.
Urban blight has gotten so bad that at the 2012 UDHA national conference held at the Manila Hotel and organized by the Philippine Federation of Real Estate Service Professionals, Inc. (PFRESPI), a manifesto — signed by landowners, developers, real estate practitioners, and officials of financing institutions and national agencies concerned with housing — was issued. The manifesto was titled “Manila Declaration: Let us get LGUs to do their job properly and fully implement R.A. 7279.”
“Housing remains an elusive dream despite the initial euphoria (when UDHA became law in 1992). The poor had high hopes and many participated in the national registration in 1994 and other sectors expected professional squatters and syndicates to be neutralized and contained. However, new illegal structures continue to sprout with impunity, seemingly with the knowledge or tolerance of barangay officials and local government executives,” the manifesto read.
Then Senator Marcos was guest speaker and resource person at the 2012 UDHA conference, and he certainly knows the enormity and urgency of the severe housing problem. Thus, it’s no surprise that now, as President of the Republic who has the power to really get things moving, he has prioritized housing as a flagship program.
And things could get really moving. It is expected that an executive order tapping government idle lands for housing will soon come out. Such EO will mandate government agencies “to conduct inventory and identify state-owned idle lands, approximated at 16,000 hectares, that are suitable for socialized housing.”
LGUs are required to be also at the forefront of UDHA implementation, including inventory of all lands within their localities. After inventory, LGUs are supposed to “identify lands for socialized housing and resettlement areas for the immediate and future needs of the underprivileged and homeless in the urban areas, taking into consideration the degree of availability of basic services and facilities, their accessibility and proximity to job sites and other economic opportunities, and the actual number of registered beneficiaries.”
As to funding, LGUs could help a lot. Housing funds could be raised by LGUs thru real estate taxes. Many LGUs like Quezon City, for instance, have allocated certain proceeds from property taxes to be used for socialized housing.
Private sector participation in the housing program is also crucial. The program has gotten the support of the various groups of private developers and real estate associations, as well as the various government financial institutions.
Of course, as they say, the devil is in the details. Thus, threshing out all the requirements and the role of all stakeholders in making the housing program a success is vital. Equally vital, is the relentless determination to succeed. And Sec. Acuzar’s commitment to work five times harder says a lot to make the highly ambitious program doable.
Email: finding.lina@yahoo.com