Published February 16, 2018, 5:04 PM
By Ben Rosario

Transforming thousands of hectares of idle government land into socialized housing projects for the homeless will be one of the priority tasks of the proposed Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez revealed that the DHSUD is also expected to adopt the on-side, in-city and near-city resettlement program for informal settler families which was endorsed by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo (Albee) Benitez, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development.

“Marami namang mga lupa na pag-aari ng gobyerno na hindi naman talaga ginagamit ay panahon na para ito ay pakinabangan ng taong bayan,” Alvarez told a radio interview recently. (The government owns a lot of idle land, it is time for the people to benefit from it)

The creation of DHSUD was approved on Tuesday by the House of Representatives, leaving Senate the decision to finally pass the legislative proposal.

Voting 193-6 without abstention, congressmen approved on Tuesday House Bill 6775 that will create a new government department tasked with consolidating the functions of all housing and urban development agencies, particularly the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.

Benitez, who successfully defended the proposal on the floor, said HB 6775 tasks the DHSUD to be a single point of accountability for housing policies and projects, and allow for a unified direction and consolidated efforts to make decent housing affordable and accessible to every Filipino family.

“We are grateful for our colleagues who have supported this measure and for the President for also including this measure in his priority bills for the 17th Congress. We are very fortunate that the administration recognizes the importance of providing decent and affordable shelters to our fellow Filipinos,” said Benitez, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development.

Bills consolidated into HB 6775 include legislative proposals filed by Reps. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PDP-Laban, Pampanga); Winston Castelo (PDP-Laban, Quezon City); Jose Christopher Belmonte (LP, Quezon City); Cristal Bagatsing (PDP-Laban, Manila) and Michael Romero (1-Pacman Partylist).

According to Benitez, the current Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development Housing Act has apparently overlooked the enormous demands in the housing sector.

“Neither did Executive Order No. 9, that created a coordinating body for shelter agencies of the government, address the housing backlog that stood at three million in 1992,” the senior administration lawmaker said.

Benitez has aired the optimism that Senate will pass its counterpart measure with Senator JV Ejercito expected to lead the push for approval.

The bill added functions of the HLURB shall be transferred to the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) that will be created under this act.

It also said NHA; HGC; NHMFC; HDMF; Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC); and Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) are hereby attached to the housing department for policy and program coordination, monitoring and evaluation. All these agencies shall continue to function according to existing laws and their respective Charters.

The DHSUD will develop and implement urban renewal programs, own and administer government idle lands that are suitable for housing, identify lands that may be used for socialized housing sites, planning and establishment of government centers as well as new townships in urban centers.

“It is not just about putting a roof over the head, but about building homes and building communities”, Benitez stated.

He said the new department shall develop and adopt a national strategy to immediately address the provision of adequate and affordable housing for all Filipinos, and shall ensure alignment of all the policies, programs and projects of all its attached agencies to facilitate the achievement of this objective.

Earlier, the solon said housing needs of Filipinos could balloon to 6.8 million before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends in 2022.

He said there will be an estimated 774,441 housing needs in 2018; 788,773 in 2019; 803,405 in 2020; 818,363 in 2021 and 833,619 in 2022.