Housing czar Jose Rizalino Acuzar has assured the public that the House of Representatives intends to bankroll the Marcos administration’s campaign to wipe out the country’s 6.5 million housing backlog.

Secretary Acuzar, who heads the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development, revealed that Speaker Martin Romualdez guaranteed his support for the government’s “Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino program” or 4PH.

Acuzar guested in this week’s Straight Talk, Daily Tribune’s digital show, where he laid down the government’s socialized housing program being implemented by DHSUD.

“Speaker Romualdez is very supportive of providing interest subsidies. He said he will even file a bill to make 4PH sustainable,” he said.

The House gets the first crack at combing through the projects under the Executive Department’s National Expenditures Program, thus it is considered to hold the “power of the purse.”

“We are also in constant communication with the Department of Budget and Management for them to release the budget, so that next year, we will have the allocation for the interest subsidy,” he said.

Last April, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that a total of 30,000 units would be built in six sites in Bulacan, namely in San Jose Del Monte City and the municipalities of San Rafael and Pulilan.

A total of 1,890 residential vertical housing units to be named Aria Estate Housing Development will be built on a 4.5-hectare land at Heroesville in Barangay Gaya-Gaya, city of San Jose Del Monte.

The project will be comprised of nine residential towers and eight-story buildings with commercial areas on the ground floor.

Acuzar said all edifices and houses that will be built will be resilient against earthquakes and other natural calamities.

He said local government units will play a role in ensuring the units constructed are of high quality in terms of materials used and workmanship.

“They (the LGU) are the ones who will make sure that all buildings are strong. The DHSUD cannot check all those construction permits. From there, these LGUs can check if the construction of the buildings is sub-standard or not,” Acuzar said.

He also urged the private sector to help the government realize the dream to provide decent homes to underprivileged families.

On bringing back war-torn Marawi City to its feet, Acuzar said reconstruction works there are nearly done.

He said all sectors of the government were tapped in rebuilding Marawi.

“Roads will be handled by the Department of Public Works and Highways, schools are for the Department of Education, and the resident’s health problems, they’re for the Department of Health to handle it. It’s a multi-agency approach,” he added.

All concerns about issues on salaries of the Task Force Bangon Marawi had been addressed and resolved, he averred.

This March, Task Force Bangon Marawi officer-in-charge and DHSUD assistant secretary Melissa Aradanas said many projects have been achieved and are now enjoyed by the residents.