The House Committee on Housing and Urban Development has vowed to work together with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and other government agencies to address the 6.7 million housing backlog in the country.
The House committee vice chairperson, Rep. Florida Robes of San Jose Del Monte City, gave the assurance during a housing summit Wednesday at the San Jose Del Monte Convention Center in Bulacan.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco attended the summit along with Housing Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario, National Housing Authority General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr., and House Committee on Housing and Urban Development Francisco Benitez.
The Benitez committee earlier adopted a resolution declaring a housing crisis in the Philippines.
Robes, who headed the Technical Working Group on the housing crisis resolution, said she had been tasked to ensure its implementation through coordination with the DHSUD and the NHA.
“This is an ambitious goal I know because it is not easy especially now that we have the pandemic, but we have housing officials who are passionate about their work and are very much willing to work together to fulfill their mandate of providing decent and affordable housing to all underserved Filipino families,” she said.
In a substitute resolution to HR 1458, the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development declared a housing crisis and listed at least 18 proposals to address the housing crisis.
Benitez said his committee will do its share to help the DHSUD perform its duties and has given Robes the task to follow up on the proposed 18 measures listed in the resolution to make sure that the housing backlog is addressed.
Velasco, during the event, said the House of Representatives is committed to help address the housing backlog, which is why the Lower House passed the on-site, in-city or near-city housing bill under HB 8248.
The bill institutionalizes on-site, in-city or near-city resettlement programs that uphold the urban poor’s right to the city under a people’s plan.
“We will build houses in the context of community. Rest assured that Congress will be President Duterte’s ally in fulfilling his promise to provide an affordable and inclusive housing program for every Filipino,” said Velasco.
Robes said her committee will move to increase the budget for socialized housing to at least P50 billion starting next year and increase it every year thereafter to enable the government to jumpstart solving the issue.
She pointed out that the government historically allocates limited funding for housing, with spending on housing averaging to only 0.74 percent of the national budget from 2010 to 2021.
As a result, from July 2016 to June 2020, the government and the private sector constructed only 777,879 housing units.
Robes said many of the housing backlogs may be addressed at the local government level through the help of the private sector.
“A lot of it is through political will which is the reason why we listed at least 18 proposals to maximize our efforts to solve the backlog,” she said.
One such proposal under the approved HR is streamlining the application for socialized housing and mandating the DHSUD to undertake an inventory of idle government lands and fast-track their development and disposition for socialized housing in partnership with the private sector.
The resolution also urges the DHSUD to develop a shelter and urban development system to address the common reasons for unoccupied housing units.
Robes said solving the housing problem in the country is a tall order, but she is confident that with the present leadership at the DHSUD and NHA and under the guidance of President Rodrigo Duterte, they will get the job done.