DILG Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. at the recent CREBA general membership meeting and election
Interior and local government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos Jr. urged housing and real estate industry players not just to build homes, but to build resilient structures with necessary facilities for proper sewage management, water and sanitation, drainage, and wastewater treatment.
Speaking before the recent general membership meeting of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba) led by its national president Noel Toti M. Cariño, Abalos said these facilities are essential in fulfilling the country’s commitment to sustainable development goals (SDG).
Sewage system requirement
Abalos cited DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2019-62, which enjoins local government units to grant incentives to residential, commercial and industrial establishments that have wastewater management facilities or systems.
The circular also makes it mandatory for LGUs to ensure that all residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and government establishments have proper sewage treatment and septage management system.
DILG interventions for housing
Abalos said that in ensuring the LGUs’ support to housing development, the DILG has been intensifying its interventions, such as enhancing LGU capabilities and supporting digitalization of LGU regulation and services.
Some 71 percent of all cities and municipalities have Comprehensive Development Plans in effect, some 43 percent have updated Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUP), while 52 percent have CLUPS due for updating, Abalos reported. To monitor compliance with the legal requirements, LGUs are required to submit quarterly reports and are subject to random on-site validation visits.
Creba welcomed Abalos’ announcement that in addition to the guidelines in the processing of construction-related permits under the inter-agency Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2021-01, new policies in the processing of building permits have been prescribed. These include requirements of documents generated by the LGU itself, such as Tax Declaration, Tax Receipt, Locational or Zoning Clearance will no longer be submitted by the applicant, but instead will form part of backroom processes; required clearances from NGAs will be submitted 30 days after the issuance of Building Permits. Failure to submit these clearances may suspend the Building Permit and delay the approval or release of the Certificate of Occupancy; and barangay clearance will be applied and issued at the city and municipal level.
Devolution
Abalos also said that in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to analyze the full devolution initiative, the department has already identified the core functions and services that should be devolved to LGUs and those that should be “unbundled” or performed by national government agencies.