MASS housing forms part of the legacy left behind by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s dad – the late strongman and namesake Ferdinand Sr. It is from that legacy that the young Marcos (in his first State of the Nation Address) embarked on a promise to aggressively work on building more housing units for the poor Filipino families.
Taking cue from the President’s directive to close the gap of 6.5 million housing backlogs, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Sec. Jose Rizalino Acuzar hinted at building a million homes per annum over the next six years.
Well, that’s possible with an agency that has a P 157-billion fund coming from the savings of the agencies under the DHSUD – plus the US$ 1-billion housing grant from the United States. Interestingly, Acuzar may or may not be aware of the existence of such an amount.
At the closing ceremony of the National Housing Month, he said that they are bent on securing a P1.2-trillion fund by any means – and that includes applying for a loan.
The truth for that matter is that there is no need for a loan if only Acuzar would be able to distribute the idle housing units that the National Housing Authority (NHA) built over the last six years.
By doing so, the government can raise a significant amount from the monthly amortization of the beneficiaries. But not after Acuzar gets to simplify the stiff requirements for one to qualify for a housing loan. It is only then that the NHA (an agency under DHSUD) can start generating money to sustain a significant part of whatever has to be done.
The DHSUD, which was created through Republic Act No. 11201 and enacted in 2019, may also want to consider running after the previous NHA officials whose priority was to enrich themselves over the very purpose for which they were appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Except for the issue of conflict of interest, Acuzar (whose family owns one of the biggest property development corporations in the country, the New San Jose Builders) should be able to pool the trick as required by no less than the very person who appointed him to DHSUD.
For one, Acuzar is no stranger to socialized housing. In fact, the company he established in the early 80s has been involved in several housing deals with the government, including socialized housing projects with the NHA – the Katarungan Village carved out of the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa for employees of the Department of Justice, and the resettlement housing for people affected by Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption, to name a few.
He also owns the heritage project Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in town of Bagac (Bataan).
The undertaking of a million homes a year will be through the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, which Acuzar says “is for all Filipino wage earners because the housing price fits their monthly income.”
Does the DHSUD have the money for this grand plan? The answer – yes. And as it is, there’s no need to secure a loan which will further bloat our US$13 trillion national debt. Low-income Filipino families who have long yearned for a house of their own can only hope that Acuzar would be able to make use of what is under his very nose.
