The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is highlighting the need for well-coordinated planning among government, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders toward sustainable and inclusive Filipino communities under the administration's Bagong Pilipinas.

This, as DHSUD launched on Tuesday the PLANADO (Plan & Do) Program — an initiative to streamline and digitalize land use and urban planning and development processes toward enhanced building smart, green, resilient, and inclusive human settlements.

DHSUD Undersecretary Henry Yap, representing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, led the opening ceremony which highlighted the significance of supporting and assisting local government units and various "urban actors" in planning to improve cities and communities.

“At the Department, apart from building and implementing shelter programs, we see ourselves as facilitators in the planning process. We help different stakeholders, from government agencies to local communities, to coordinate our actions towards the common goal of creating a well-planned community,” Undersecretary Yap said in his message.

The PLANADO Program intends to focus on two major outputs — to achieve zero backlog on Comprehensive Land Use Plans and Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plans by 2028 and promote urban development for the next generation (UrbaNext 2040).

To accomplish these, PLANADO will employ tools and strategies to integrate and automate land use and urban data, plans and processes. It will also institutionalize a recognition and awards program to incentivize notable initiatives and projects on land use and urban development, and establish a network of planning professionals and practitioners for the development of smart sustainable human settlements.

Spearheaded by DHSUD’s Environmental, Land Use and Urban Planning and Development Bureau under the leadership of Director Mylene Rivera, the three-day event also serves as a venue for knowledge exchange among industry stakeholders.

For her part, Rivera explained the relevance of PLANADO to government initiatives on human settlements and urban development, touting the program as “a comprehensive approach toward expediting the development of responsive and user-friendly land use plans that are aligned with regional, national and sectoral development plans as reflected in the PDP 2023-2028.”

She also emphasized that PLANADO intends to promote urban transformation in line with Ambisyon Natin 2040, and the President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s flagship Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program.

Held in Cebu City, the event is being participated in by officials from various partner agencies, civic society, and private sector.

Among those present were Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama; DHSUD Assistant Secretary Daryll Bryan Villanueva; NEDA Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos; PIA Director General and Undersecretary Jose Torres; PIA Assistant Director General and Assistant Secretary Allan Vincent Lorenzo; UN Habitat Country Programme Manager Christopher Rollo; GIZ advisors Niel Suñer and Agnes Pantastico; national and regional representatives from DA, DENR, DILG, DOE, DOST, DOT, and DOTr; DHSUD regional directors and select service directors; local government representatives; and the academe, among others.

“l encourage all of us to remain involved and cooperate. With our collective efforts, we have the ability to further improve our communities toward Bagong Pilipinas,” Yap concluded.