DHSUD to finish 12,000 housing units by yearend

THE DEPARTMENT of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is set to finish over 12,000 housing units under the state’s flagship socialized housing program, a congressman said on Tuesday, a far cry from the one million units annually promised by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in his first year in office.

The Human Settlements department is expected to complete 12,731 socialized housing units out of about 198,000 units currently being constructed, Navotas Rep. Tobias Renald “Toby” M. Tiangco said as he sponsored department’s budget before the House of Representatives.

“The target for housing units, under the 4PH (Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program), is 198,111 units. However, only 12,731 units are expected to be delivered,” he said during the House plenary deliberation on the agency’s proposed national budget for next year.

In 2022, Mr. Marcos vowed to build one million housing units per year until the end of his term to settle the government’s 6.5 million socialized housing backlog.

The Human Settlements department in April said before a House panel that it is looking at finishing around 80,000 housing units before yearend. “We’re projecting to finish at least 80,000 housing units, if we’re not being conservative,” DHSUD Director Frank Lloyd C. Gonzaga told congressmen in Filipino.

The government finds it difficult to accomplish building one million housing units annually due to construction delays and a lack of a budget, Mr. Tiangco said, resulting in the agency recalibrating its housing target.

“The housing backlog is six million units… but only 3,236,100 units will be completed by 2028,” he added.

It would cost about P4.07-trillion to accomplish the housing backlog, which would be funded in tranches through sovereign guarantee, according to Mr. Tiangco.

“For 2024, the sovereign guarantee required is P108 billion; for 2025, the required guarantee is P783 billion; in 2026, it’s P1.468-trillion,” he said. “For 2027, the requirement is P1.212-trillion, and for 2028, it’s P507 billion.”

Mr. Marcos in August approved the use of a sovereign guarantee as a funding mechanism for the government’s flagship socialized housing program due to slow private financing.

The National Housing Authority (NHA) and Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) would use the sovereign guarantee as developmental loans to fund the construction of public housing infrastructure, Mr. Tiangco said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio