In spite of the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development recorded a banner 2020—its first year of full operation.
Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, the first DHSUD head, on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the performance of the department, which started operating on Feb. 14, 2019, when President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11201 that created it.
“Despite some birth pains and COVID-19, the department managed to pursue its mandate of providing decent and affordable housing for the underprivileged, especially the informal settler families,” Del Rosario said.
“At the DHSUD, we don’t just build houses, we develop resilient and sustainable communities guided by our principle that shelter is a right, home ownership is an option and it is our responsibility in the housing sector to capacitate and provide opportunities to all Filipinos to realize their dream of owning a house of their own.”
The DHSUD had already started laying the foundations for the future of the housing sector with the review and amendments of housing policies, guidelines and procedures, he said. Rio N. Araja
The department is now finalizing the National Housing and Urban Development Sector Plan, a 20-year roadmap aimed at synchronizing and focusing all efforts to sustain vibrancy in the housing industry.
Headed by Del Rosario, the National Human Settlements Board or the so-called housing super body was also activated last October, with the
Departments of Finance, Interior and Local Government, Budget and Management and the National Economic Development Authority onboard.
From January to Dec. 19, the DHSUD, through its four key shelter agencies, produced and financed a total of 113,412 housing units throughout the Philippines.
More than just producing and financing housing units, the DHSUD took pro-active measures to assist the general public, particularly the underprivileged, to cope with the adverse effects of the extended community quarantines sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Del Rosario ordered a three-month moratorium on monthly amortizations on housing and other loan payments from its KSAs in compliance with the Bayanihan 1 Act.
The housing department imposed another 60-day moratorium under Bayanihan 2. Both measures benefitted some 5.5 million people, most of whom were Pag-IBIG Fund members.
Del Rosario also found ways to help private developers cope with the pandemic with the expansion of Pag-IBIG Fund’s Housing Construction Finance Loan facility from P2 billion to P10 billion.
He led the clamor for the resumption of construction work in the real estate sector in June, which instantly resulted in more than 55,000 workers returning to work, “hence providing their much-needed livelihood and the construction of more than 400,000 housing units.