A lawmaker is urging the national government to fully support President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s flagship Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program and lower the monthly amortization for the underprivileged Filipinos.

ACT Partylist Representative France Castro — during the plenary deliberations on the Fiscal Year 2024 budget of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development on Thursday — stressed her stance on making public housing accessible and affordable, especially for the underprivileged.

She added that an increase in government subsidy to augment beneficiary amortization for housing units is key to achieve this.

In response, DHSUD, through its budget sponsor Ako Bicol Partylist Raul Angelo Bongalon, agreed on the manifestation, saying that the goal of the 4PH Program is to address affordability of decent housing for the Filipino people.

Bongalon then pleaded for the full support of the Congress to augment the housing and urban development sector's budget with an additional P13.86 billion.

"The country's ability to address the housing problem and attain its goal is limited by the budget allocated for the housing agencies… Business as usual will not address this housing requirement," Bongalon said.

The DHSUD has initially proposed P116 billion for the fiscal year 2024 but the National Expenditure Program only reflected P5.4 billion for the entire sector.

"The Department is once again seeking our support in giving them the appropriate budget. The additional budget will ensure that DHSUD will be able to carry out its mandate of providing decent and affordable shelter to all," Bongalon said.