6.5 million housing backlog only a 'misconception': DHSUD exec

From a 6.5 million housing backlog in 2022, the housing needs dropped to 2.2 million, but not because the gap was closed, but because the initial figures were only a “misconception”, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said Tuesday.

During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement, panel chair Chiz Escudero pressed the DHSHUD on how it came up with the lesser figure, considering that the agency failed to meet its target to build one million units per year since 2022 to resolve the 6.5 million backlog in 2028, before President Marcos Jr. ends his term.

DHSUD Senior Undersecretary Henry Yap, however, said that the 6.5 million was “not actually the backlog,” but was the “housing need from 2016 to 2022,” covering the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte. 

As of December 2022, the housing backlog is pegged at 2.2 million, while the housing needs are projected at 3.7 million until 2028. 

Yap defines the backlog as households that are likely to occupy unacceptable housing units, or double-up units, meaning more than one family or household occupies the same unit. This includes children who still live with their parents despite having their own families. 

Whereas housing needs represent the backlog on top of newly formed households likely to occupy acceptable units, and account for inventory losses. 

Yap added that the current 2.2 million housing backlog was prepared by the National Economic and Development Authority – Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute and approved by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Escudero, however, did not buy Yap’s alibi, asserting that the DHSUD only changed the definition, resulting in the recalibrated figure of 2.2 million, to make “the books look good.”

“I’d rather have a definition that encompasses everything; I’d rather capture the worst case scenario, and for it not to be true. Rather than fooling ourselves into thinking that our backlog is that small, which is not true, just so that we can say we accomplished something during our term,” Escudero pointed out.

The one million housing units per year was the DHSUD’s initial target under the watch of then Housing czar Jose Rizalino Acuzar. Supposedly, around 4 million housing units have already been resolved.

However, modifications were made to the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) program after Jose Ramon Aliling took over as DHSHUD chief in May last year. 

Under Aliling, DHSUD’s target was reduced to 1.13 million until the end of the Marcos administration. Of the total, about 477,000 had already been accomplished, including the first two years of the Marcos administration, according to Yap. 

DHSUD’s 4PH is a flagship program of Marcos, with an aim to build one million housing units each year until the end of his term in 2028 to fill the 6.5-million housing backlog.

During a budget deliberation in the House of Representatives in 2024, the DHSUD said it was challenging to meet the target of 1 million housing units annually due to construction delays and a lack of budget, prompting the agency to recalibrate its initial target.