Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte is backing the move by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to tie-up not only with local government units (LGUs) but with private contractors and developers as well in building 6 million affordable shelters, as a way to hit the Marcos administration’s target to construct a million homes yearly to close the socialized housing backlog.
“Innovative partnerships with LGUs and also with private developers and contractors to meet the government-targeted one million homes yearly on the Marcos watch will enable the DHSUD to build 6 million affordable homes—and thereby close the housing backlog—by the time the President leaves office in 2028,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte likewise supported the President’s call for the Pag-IBIG Fund to work closely with the DHSUD in meeting his target to close the housing backlog by 2028.
“The national government certainly cannot hope to close the housing backlog under the Marcos presidency without the full support not only of LGUs but of private developers and contractors as well,” Villafuerte, who had served as three-term Camarines Sur governor, said.
The country’s housing backlog is projected at 6 to 6.5 million homes.
Villafuerte also backed the President’s plan to build socialized housing projects on more vacant government lots, as part of his Administration’s pursuit of increased collaboration with LGUs and the private sector on closing the housing gap, under the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) program.
President Marcos had vowed to launch similar mass housing projects in the years ahead and to work continuously in finding idle government lands suitable for mass shelter projects for homeless Filipinos.
In a separate housing event last April 19, the President voiced optimism that his government could exceed its annual target of 1 million housing units with the provision of at least 1.2 million housing units under the flagship 4PH program.
The President said he was confident this could be achieved, considering the track record of Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar.
“Malaki kumpyansa ko kasi nung na sa private sector siya nagagawa niya talaga eh. Alam niyang gawin eh. So I think we just wait for the actual structures to start coming up. ‘Yan, puntahan din natin ‘yan pagka nangyari na,” he said.
For the President, one indicator of the increasing number of shelter availment is the rise in the number of new Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or the Pag-IBIG Fund) members and increased interest from the people in buying new homes.
Villafuerte likewise supported the President’s call for the Pag-IBIG Fund to work closely with the DHSUD in meeting his target to close the housing backlog by 2028.
As an “industry leader in home mortgage financing,” the Pag-IBIG Fund should help the DHSUD “find effective strategies to ease our housing situation, by leveraging on your industry experience, expertise and acumen,” said the President in a separate Pag-IBIG Fund event.
Villafuerte pointed out that the Pag-IBIG Fund has ample resources to assist the DHSUD in implementing the 4PH program, considering that it has total assets of P827 billion.
In keeping with the President’s objective, Villafuerte said Secretary Acuzar is correct in forging more partnership agreements with the private sector to guarantee the success of Mr. Marcos’ 4PH program.
“Secretary Jerry (Acuzar) is spot on in pointing out the difficulty of closing the housing gap under the 4PH without the active participation of private developers and contractors,” Villafuerte said.
He noted that Acuzar has been meeting with the various groups of real estate developers in order to promote the joint venture agreement (JVA) and public-private partnership (PPP) under the 4PH.
Acuzar himself has said that he had been meeting with the officers and members of, among others, the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA), Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP), National Real Estate Association Inc. (NREA) and Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (CREBA).
Villafuerte agreed with Acuzar that private builders and contractors are “absolute multipliers” in the government drive to construct affordable and decent housing units for homeless Filipinos.
As the implementing agency of the 4PH, the DHSUD has been pushing partnerships with LGUs that have secured loans from government financial institutions (GFIs), with LGUs that have forged JVAs or PPPs with private developers, and with private builders via turnkey projects.
In a statement released during Holy Week, Acuzar said the 4PH program is focused on developing low, mid to high-rise projects near the sources of livelihood of target beneficiaries in areas that are mostly found in Metro Manila and other urban centers.
Villafuerte said the 4PH low-cost housing complex will provide homes to more than 10,000 families or over 50,000 people, and will generate an estimated P6 billion- to P8 billion-worth of local economic activity and create thousands of jobs.
“The DHSUD, in partnership with LGUs, envisions to transform informal settlements and blighted areas into better residential developments with reasonable open spaces. In aid of this, we must clean and rehabilitate waterways and esteros into parks and walkways, and promote onsite or near-site in-city housing,” Acuzar said.
Camarines Sur itself is building a trailblazing high-rise project in Naga City in tandem with DHSUD under the President’s 4PH program.
President Marcos attended last March’s groundbreaking ceremony for this high-rise mass housing project with 10,000 units combined in Camarines Sur, which is the first such housing project that the Administration has undertaken in partnership with an LGU under the 4PH.
Villafuerte said the groundbreaking ceremony for the 12 residential towers each rising 25 floors high in Naga City highlighted Mr. Marcos’ day-long visit to Camarines Sur last March 16.
The former governor noted that the 4PH housing project, once completed, will boast the tallest structure in Bicol at 25 storeys, or higher than the current tallest building in the region that is 20 storeys high.
Under this pioneering initiative, 5 residential towers with a total of 10,000 units will rise on a six-hectare land on Panganiban Drive in Naga City.
Four commercial buildings will also be built around the residential towers to let the would-be residents have access to basic facilities like schools, medical facilities and markets, said Villafuerte.
“This is the first province na nag ground break ng ganitong programa and according sa DHSUD, this launching will be the biggest to date with over 3,000 people witnessing this occasion, kaya Mr. President ulit maraming, maraming salamat po sa inyo,” said Villafuerte during the groundbreaking ceremony.
Villafuerte said the 4PH low-cost housing complex will provide homes to more than 10,000 families or over 50,000 people, and will generate an estimated P6 billion- to P8 billion-worth of local economic activity and create thousands of jobs.
He cited the speed in which the 4PH project has materialized, with the March 16 groundbreaking happening just weeks after the signing of the MOA between the DHSUD and the Camarines Sur LGU.
“Pagkatapos po ng pirmahan a few weeks ago, nag ground-breaking na po tayo ngayon at kahapon nag uusap po kami ni Secretary Jerry na gusto namin bago mag 2nd SONA may nakatayo na po na ilang floors, kahit isa or dalawang floors lang para maipakita niyo po,” he said.
Villafuerte said that, given the DHSUD plan to build 6 million homes and the President’s P9-trillion infrastructure program, he had told Azucar that the government would be needing hundreds of thousands of skilled laborers such as carpenters, plumbers, painters and welders for these projects.
“Kaya Mr. President, our goal in support of your infra program is for Camarines Sur to train skilled workers in partnership with the national government,” he said. “Kami na po dito sa Camarines Sur ang mag te-train ng libo-libong tao to supply the skill labor requirements of Metro Manila and even Luzon to help realize your ‘Build Better More’ infrastructure program.”
As of this month, the DHSUD has separately signed four MOAs and 123 Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with LGUs across the country.
In his remarks at the 4PH groundbreaking rites, Villafuerte pointed out that: “There are 81 provinces in our country … pero pinili po ng mahal na Pangulo bisitahin po ang ating probinsya ngayong araw. Ito po ang pinaka unang probinsya na mag pipirma ng Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) under the pabahay program of our President.”
In his speech, Villafuerte stressed that the presidential activities in the province are “the latest proof that, true to your (President Marcos) promise during the 2022 presidential campaign and in your first SONA (State of the Nation Address) last July, you have started to deliver on your commitment to pursue national unity and improve the lives of our people.”
Villafuerte said the President’s decision “to visit and give priority to the province of one of the presidential contenders in last year’s balloting is solid proof of his desire to achieve national healing and unity on his watch. Ilang dekada na po tayo nag aaway-away, political discord, political divisiveness that have hurt our country’s growth and development. Tama na po ‘yan, magkaisa na po tayo …”
