Senator Raffy Tulfo grilled officials of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) over its inaction on a large number of complaints of real estate buyers, including OFWs, who wish to refund their investments due to poorly constructed and mismanaged housing projects of some developers.

During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Housing and Resettlement on Tuesday, March 10, Tulfp confronted the slow resolution of housing, real estate development, and homeowners’ association disputes despite having Supreme Court rulings.

“Every time may SC rulings na, hindi niyo naiimplement. Matagal nang nagdesisyon ang korte [para sa refunds o disputes], mabagal kayong kumilos kaya yung iba pumupunta pa sa programa ko para lang ma-execute. Duwag kayo? Incompetent kayo? O sa magkanong kadahilanan? (Every time there are Supreme Court rulings, you don’t implement them. The court decided long ago [on refunds or disputes], yet you move so slowly that some people even go to my program just to have them executed. Are you cowards? Are you incompetent? Or is there some other reason?)” Tulfo emphasized.

In her defense, DHSUD Supervising Senior Usec. Sharon Faith Paquiz said that it is up to the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC), which is mainly responsible for resolving and determining such cases, to which Tulfo highly objected, saying it just serves as a lame excuse for the department’s inability to act on the problems.

Tulfo highlighted that if only DSHUD had done its job, complaints would have already been resolved, just like how his program “Raffy Tulfo in Action” swiftly acted on the concerns and grievances of several victimized buyers.

“Bakit pagdating sakin nabibigyan ko agad ng aksyon. I call directly the developer. Wala nang conciliation-conciliation. Bigay agad ang refund. Illegal sila eh! Kasi dun sa [HSAC], magpapatawag pa notice 1, notice 2. Pinapahaba niyo lang (Why is it that when the complaints come to me, I’m able to act on them immediately? I call the developer directly. There’s no more conciliation or anything like that. The refund is given right away. They’re illegal anyway! But there at the HSAC, they still issue Notice 1, Notice 2—you’re just dragging it out),” Tulfo said.

“If you want, tatambakan kita ng mga reklamo tungkol sa hindi pag-aksyon ng DHSUD. ‘Pag tinambak ko sayo baka ‘di mo mabasa lahat. I’ll give it to the Committee Chair. Ang hirap sayo palusot ka pa eh (If you want, I can dump a pile of complaints on you about DHSUD’s inaction. If I dump them all, you probably won’t even be able to read everything. I’ll just give them to the Committee Chair. What's difficult with you, is you’re still making excuses),” he added.

The senator also questioned how housing projects of "delinquent" developers continue to thrive and operate notoriously unchecked by the agency, which usually happens when the turnover period comes, no units are built, and if there are, there’s no water supply, electricity, and mostly have dilapidated floors, ceilings, and roofs.

“Palagi ‘yan. Nakapagbayad na sila, usually mga OFWs, pinagpawisan nila sa abroad. Nagbayad sila bago mag-abroad, hulog nang hulog. When the time comes dapat turnover na, walang unit, walang bahay, puro talahib. Kung meron man butas-butas, walang tubig, walang bubong (It’s always like that. They’ve already paid—usually OFWs who worked hard and sweated it out abroad. They started paying even before leaving for overseas work, making installment after installment. But when the time comes for the turnover, there’s no unit, no house—just overgrown grass. And if there is a structure, it’s full of holes, with no water and no roof),” he said.

At this point, Tulfo also exposed the lapses in DHSUD’s system that Paquiz personally admitted to the committee, where, until such time that a developer applies for a certificate of registration and license to sell, they have no jurisdiction over it, and no monitoring or investigation efforts are done.

DHSUD Usec. Marisol Anenias also admitted that they have no power or authority to compel or oblige delinquent developers to refund investments of victimized buyers, and that such authority lies with the sheriff of HSAC, who has the capacity to implement writs of execution.

With this, Tulfo urged Paquiz and Anenias to establish department initiatives to monitor and investigate developers even before certificates of registration and licenses to sell are issued, to ensure they have the capacity and commitment to implement projects and that no buyers are deceived.

In the end, Tulfo also urged DHSUD to immediately cancel the licenses and registrations of delinquent developers to compel them to issue refunds, and to establish a system that would swiftly resolve complaints from victimized buyers, particularly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), whose property investments represent their hard-earned money.