Marcos gov’t falls short of housing goals

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