MANILA – The government’s housing sector remains on track on its target in building safe houses and secure resilient communities under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said Thursday.
Del Rosario said the housing department was tasked to build at least 1.2 million quality shelters as the country’s total housing need under PDP is at 6.5 million units from 2017-2022.
“Ang Philippine Development Plan nagbigay ng kanilang anunsiyo na ang Department of Housing ay kailangan maka-account ng 1.2 million na pabahay hanggang 2022. So, with that 1.2 million target, iyon ang naging misyon ng Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development para ma-accomplish din hanggang sa isang taon, 2022 (The Philippine Development Plan announced the Department of Housing will need to account for about 1.2 million houses until 2022. So, with that 1.2 million target, our mission is to accomplish it until the next year of 2022),” del Rosario said at a virtual press briefing.
To date, the government’s accomplishment is at 1.07 million which is equivalent to 84 percent of the total target of 1.2 million housing units, he said.
“So we are on track sa ating misyon na makapagpagawa ng 1.2 based on our PDP target (So we are on track on our mission to build about 1.2 [million] based on our); but of course considering the 6.5 million housing need nationwide, medyo mababa ito (this is quite lower) because that is only 20 percent of the total requirement,” del Rosario said.
He said the government recognizes the need of many informal settler families (ISFs) residing in danger zones to be relocated into safer places and to more resilient communities.
“With that direction, housing is capital intensive – kailangan natin ng pondo (we need funds). We have been saying that we need at least [PHP]50 billion a year para makapagpagawa tayo ng—at mai-transfer natin iyong mga informal settler families to safer grounds at mai-relocate sila (to build houses and transfer the ISFs to safer grounds and relocate them),” he added.
Del Rosario said it is challenging for them to fulfill their task of providing decent and safer houses to ISFs due to budget constraints.
“Unfortunately, 2017 hanggang 2021 ang budget po ng (from 2017 to 2021, the budget allocated to) Department of Human Settlements is averaging about [PHP]4 to 5 billion only. So we are only getting 10 percent of what we need. So doon ang nagkakaroon tayo ng challenge paano natin ma-address iyong ating pangangailangan (So that’s the challenging part of addressing our needs) when we are saying we need 50 billion and we are only given 4 or 5 billion every year,” he said.
The housing czar earlier recommended the resettlement of families residing in danger zones and other flood-prone areas to reduce casualties during calamities. (PNA)
Source: Philippines News Agency
