The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is accelerating its digital transformation program as part of the administration’s broader effort to curb corruption and improve efficiency in housing and land-use regulation.

In a roundtable at DAILY TRIBUNE’s offices in Makati on 10 December, DHSUD Secretary Jose Ramon P. Aliling said the agency’s anti-corruption drive has been “quiet but effective,” stressing that internal reforms often cause temporary slowdowns as legacy processes are cleaned up and reorganized.

“When a system is being cleaned up, it slows down,” Aliling said, noting that strengthening transparency and accountability across the department has been his priority since assuming office earlier this year.

To counter perceptions that restructuring leads to bureaucratic delays, Aliling rolled out the Zero Backlog Program on his first day in office.

No slowdown

“From day one, while cleaning up the system, I launched the Zero Backlog Program so they cannot accuse me of slowing things down. In fact, things have become faster. This is in compliance with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” Aliling said.

The program targets long-pending cases filed with DHSUD dating back to 2020. As of September 2025, the department has resolved all 3,100 cases. Aliling said the next challenge is ensuring the sustainability of these gains through full digitalization by 2028, or at the end of President Marcos’ term.

Key processes — including land-use planning, data management, and applications for housing programs — are being migrated to digital platforms. DHSUD has introduced online tools that allow LGUs to prepare and update land-use plans, launched portals for information access and application submissions, and begun piloting secure electronic document systems.

The transition is designed to replace slow, paper-driven workflows and establish clear audit trails across the agency.

Aliling said that, with the digitalization still underway, he has taken on the oversight of operations to ensure that no additional backlogs are created.

“While full digitalization has yet to be realized, I manually monitor all pending cases day-to-day,” he said. “I know what cases are still ongoing in Region 1, 2, etc.”

Aliling noted that corruption imposes a heavy economic burden on Filipinos.

“For every P1 trillion stolen, one million houses are lost,” he said, adding that the department’s transparency initiatives are central to restoring public trust and ensuring that housing funds are efficiently used.