Marcos gov’t falls short of housing goals – BusinessWorld Online
THE GOVERNMENT has completed only 1,900 housing units under President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s flagship program, Housing Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said on Monday — well short of the 6 million homes pledged in 2022.
“As of today, around 1,900 units have been completed and turned over under the 4PH (Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino) program,” he told congressmen during a House of Representatives budget hearing in Filipino. “Our 4PH target will only be 300,000 until 2028 from the 6 million.”
“This is a realistic number, and honestly, it’s not easy to achieve. If we don’t strengthen the program, we won’t even hit the 300,000 target. So to answer you: this is all we can manage, just 300,000,” he added.
Mr. Aliling said building 6 million housing units in six years is “very challenging.” Even with ample funding, it’s not achievable in the absence of capacity. “Our developers, contractors and other stakeholders can’t support 6 million units in six years. That target is just not realistic.”
Budget constraints have slowed the rollout of the government’s low-cost housing drive, while developers have flagged limited capacity and weak market assurance as major hurdles, Housing Undersecretary Henry L. Yap told the same hearing. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
