Urban poor advocates back opinion against ‘incentivized’ housing rules

An organization representing 205,000 urban poor families on Sunday expressed support for a Department of Justice (DoJ) opinion that flagged legal flaws in current socialized housing compliance rules.

The Urban Poor Action Committee (UPAC) sent a letter to Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling, backing DoJ Opinion No. 4, Series of 2026. The DoJ recently identified “legal infirmities” in a 2021 DHSUD order that governed how developers comply with balanced housing requirements.

To recall, the controversy centers on Department Order No. 2021-004, which the DoJ found effectively reduced the required percentage of developer participation in socialized housing.

Under Republic Act 7279, as amended by RA 10884, developers are generally required to develop an area for socialized housing equivalent to at least 15 percent of the main subdivision project or 5 percent of a main condominium project.

“We fully support upholding the allocated 15 percent or 5 percent of the total project cost, as we believe that this will result in the delivery of more socialized housing units,” UPAC stated in the letter.

The group argued that maintaining these mandatory allocations ensures sufficient resources for the “people-centric” Enhanced Community Mortgage Program (ECMP). They noted that the generated funds should be allocated to actual sites based on the “people’s plan” of the affected communities.

The letter was signed by UPAC executive director Alicia Murphy, KOSMAT president Jeorgie Tonelete, Community Organizers Multiversity executive director Lucila Malibiran, and ULAP confederation president Madeline Suarez.

UPAC officials said the marginalized sector has long suffered from housing insecurity due to “stagnant allocation of funds for project development” and stressed that the DoJ opinion reinforces the original intent of the law to provide adequate shelter for underprivileged and homeless families.