Providing decent homes to Filipino families

The Ciudad de Strike housing project, part of SHFC’s Community Mortgage Program, will benefit 1,440 ISFs living along danger zones across Bacoor City in Cavite.

The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) continues to make great, meaningful strides as it enters its third year of serving the Filipino people.

Its anniversary coincides with Valentine’s Day as President Duterte signed on Feb. 14, 2019 Republic Act No. 11201, which created the DHSUD. He thus branded the department as a “gift of love” to majority of Filipino families who wished to have a house of their own.

Beacon of hope

This year’s theme, “Providing decent homes for Filipino families,” embodies the Department’s mission to serve as a beacon of hope for Filipinos aspiring to live in sustainable, resilient and yet affordable housing communities.

With its key shelter agencies and other partners, DHSUD has been adamant in crafting and delivering innovative policies and programs that revolutionize the housing and urban development sector.

The celebration of “DHSUD@3” will showcase the past year’s milestones and strategies as it embarks on a new year—three times ready to face the challenges as it strives to become catalysts of positive change in the management of housing, human settlements and urban development.

Model housing

The Department and its KSAs have been working meticulously in producing quality housing projects for rightful beneficiaries.

Secretary Del Rosario graced the ceremonial turnover of a housing unit in Marangal Village in Malabon City to a beneficiary in November last year.
(DHSUD-CDMRD)

In the past months, the DHSUD launched and turned over resettlement facilities with subdivision-like development and high-quality standard units. These include the three-story Marangal Village Homeowners Association Inc. High Density Housing (HDH) in Brgy. Longos, Malabon City, and the four-story Samahang Magkakapitbahay Na Nagkakaisa HOA Inc. HDH in Brgy. San Agustin, Novaliches, Quezon City.

DHSUD Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario described the Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC)-led resettlement facilities, which were turned over to 374 informal settler families in November last year, as “housing projects we can be proud of.”

The SMNN HOA Inc. high-density housing located in Novaliches, Quezon City, will soon be home to 92 informal settler families residing along the Tullahan River.

Dozens of other housing projects spearheaded by other KSAs are also ongoing and all of them boast of well paved roads, drainage systems and communal facilities such as multipurpose covered courts and daycare center.

Recently, Del Rosario broke ground for land development of new housing projects in Nueva Ecija and Laguna, indicating the government’s commitment to reach the grassroots in providing decent yet affordable homes.

Fruitful 2021

The DHSUD kept the ball rolling last year despite facing numerous challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and major natural calamities.

The approval of the 20-year National Housing and Urban Development Sector Plan institutionalizes its holistic and strategic approach to harmonize programs and policies among key players toward “sustainable housing and well-planned communities for all Filipinos.”

The DHSUD likewise adopted stringent measures to protect homebuyers and bolstered its campaign against real estate scammers; spearheaded the crafting of a Joint Memorandum Circular on the Federation and Confederation of Homeowners Associations (HOAs) to maximize the potentials of more than 25,000 registered HOAs; finalized 21 agreements with various local government units for projects that would benefit more than 6,000 families.

The DHSUD ended 2021 with the approval of three Department Orders that provided guidelines for the issuance of temporary licenses to sell to private developers; extended the period of completion of projects; and adopted the BALAI Filipino Public Rental Housing as an alternative secure housing tenure.

The BALAI Munti socialized housing project, located in Brgy. Putatan, Muntinlupa City, consists of 668 units and will benefit local government employees who are also Pag-IBIG members.

Impressive performances of KSAs

The KSAs—namely the Pag-IBIG Fund, National Housing Authority (NHA), SHFC, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC) and the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC)—also showed exceptional performances last year, ensuring the continued delivery of housing and urban development-related services despite the challenges.

The Pag-IBIG Fund disbursed P97.28-billion worth of housing loans to 94,533 members and doled out P44.3 billion short-term loans to over two million members last year. Membership savings, meanwhile, surged by 32 percent to P63.7 billion last year and MP2 savings ballooned to P25.95 billion—the highest since 2012.

The NHA completed 44,986 housing units catering mostly to ISFs and victims of natural calamities and conflict-hit areas nationwide. It also kicked off construction for 36,679 more shelter facilities across the country in 2021.

Secretary Del Rosario, along with Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia, spearheaded the groundbreaking of the 1Bataan Village in Orion, Bataan, last year.—DHSUD-CDMRD

SHFC, meanwhile, released P1.94-billion worth of loans based on 41 projects, including through its Community Mortgage Program (CMP), that benefitted 9,539 ISFs across the country.

For 2021, the NHMFC facilitated P1.09-billion worth of housing loan takeouts for the construction of 1,087 units nationwide under its housing programs, including the notable BALAI Berde, designed to increase capital allocations for green projects that contribute to environmental sustainability and resiliency.

Finally, the HSAC meted out 1,049 decisions on housing-related cases and resolved 150 HOA disputes. It likewise posted a 94 percent accomplishment rate with regards to decisions elevated to and affirmed in the Court of Appeals.

Setting direction

This year, DHSUD will definitely not rest on its laurels in fulfilling its mandate.

The Department is bent on achieving its key directives–completing priority housing projects; ramping up housing production and finance in line with the Philippine Development Plan and Sustainable Development Goals; formulating policies and guidelines to streamline housing permits and processes; promoting effective land use among LGUs; and developing internal systems and processes to strengthen institutional capacities.

Secretary Del Rosario graced the groundbreaking and MOA-signing ceremonies for a Community Support Facility and Evacuation Center in the Municipality of Rizal in Laguna last Feb. 4.
—DHSUD-CDMRD

Part of DHSUD’s mandate is to guide and manage future developments together with LGUs and other stakeholders. With its regional offices, the Department vows to continue cementing stronger partnerships with LGUs nationwide, especially in revising their respective Comprehensive Land Use Plans, Local Shelter Plans and Zoning Ordinances.

To effectively do this, DHSUD will strengthen its institutional capacities and streamline its internal systems and processes to better serve its clientele.

Jam-packed

The upcoming three-day anniversary celebration will feature simple yet meaningful activities, still following the IATF-prescribed health protocols. The program will open on Feb. 14 with no less than the housing czar himself and the heads of DHSUD KSAs. The DHSUD Hymn will also be launched as a highlight of the event.

On Feb. 15, Secretary Del Rosario and the KSA heads will open the exhibit titled “Serbisyong pabahay, sagot namin ka-BALAI” featuring human settlements and urban development frontline services of the Department, its attached agencies and partner-developers. This will be followed by a press conference to answer queries from media partners and elaborate on the thrusts and direction of the housing sector this year.

A special episode “Kapihan sa DHSUD: Housing Matters” forum will be held on Feb. 16 with the Subdivision and Housing Developers’ Association Inc. to discuss the significance of private-public partnerships in the housing sector. An employees’ night will follow to honor notable civil servants in the Department, including those who departed.

Various activities organized by the DHSUD’s regional offices and partner-developers are also slated during the event’s duration.

After three years, DHSUD has indeed overcome birth pains and is now getting ready for the next stage. Though there remain a few stumbling blocks, the Department is more than willing to take on the challenge. With a committed workforce, the sky is the limit when it comes to delivering shelter-related services to the public.

Happy 3rd anniversary, Team DHSUD!