President Feridinand Marcos Jr. told the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) on Tuesday to sustain the country's housing thrust to address the country’s shelter gap.
During the sectoral meeting in Malacañan, Marcos explained that his administration's housing initiative would have a beneficial effect on the national economy.
"Even the effect on the economy is going to be terrific if we accomplish this. It will have a really positive effect on the economy," Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino.
"That’s why it’s necessary. We have to do this. We have to find a way to do this. We have to be a little creative. This is not typically done," Marcos added.
At the meeting, the DHSUD made several requests regarding the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program. These included issuing a funding guarantee to boost the confidence of government financial institutions in supporting the program and to attract private banks and institutions.
DHSUD also requested that the 4PH Bill be certified as urgent and prioritized in the President’s upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) next month, as well as ensuring budget allocation for support facilities such as basketball courts and parks.
"Let’s generate those numbers and see what really in terms of real-world cost is going to be --- what is the condition really of the market, how easy or how hard is it going to be to turn --- for our guarantee to turn these things around," Marcos said.
"Everybody has to work together on this so that you can agree on the numbers. So, we have working numbers that we have confidence in. It shouldn't be just arbitrary that we just grab the number out of the air. It has to be based on the historical experience in the housing industry," Marcos added.