During this health crisis, the home has become the haven and refuge for everyone against the deadly COVID-19 virus. To say that everyone appreciates the home more than before is an understatement. The home is where everything is being done. It’s become the children’s playground and school at the same time, the aspiring entrepreneurs/online sellers’ marketplace or warehouse, and the makeshift or half-way offices for people on work-from-home set up, among many others.
Today’s homes are no longer just the roof over one’s head. With the uncertainty, it has definitely become the place where one feels the most affection, care, and love from and for the family around him. That’s why even at this time, more and more Filipinos are dreaming, planning, and investing their hard-earned money to buy or invest in properties they intend to make their homes.
Many Filipinos go abroad and work for the ultimate dream of having their own homes after years of toiling in foreign lands. Unfortunately, for some, owning a place to call his own would still remain a dream, for now, even if the government said it is on track for the current target housing units.
Gov’t on track
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) on July 14, 2021 said it was confident in achieving the current administration’s housing projects of 1.1 million units.
DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said during the first leg of Pamana ng Pagbabago 2021, a pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2021 series, that they have achieved 82 percent of the Philippine Development Plan housing target for 2017 to 2022 as of March 31.
The DHSUD said it “has constructed or assisted 928,000 Filipino families to have a house of their own.”
With less than a year to go before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, Del Rosario said the DHSUD will be able to accomplish the project 100% or even exceed the target of housing during this administration.
“If we meet that target, it would mean that the economic situation of the general public will be alleviated, also because housing construction is a pump primer in the economy,” he said.
The official added that housing construction involves the services of 80 allied sectors, which triggers economic activities.
Meanwhile, Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) Chairperson Rolando Bautista stated in his report that 928,953 families have been given affordable housing since 2016.
Bautista, who is also the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), said the government has also distributed 168,741 land hectares to 118,715 agrarian beneficiaries, totaling 300,000 residential and agricultural free patents.
Struggle of owning a home
Many Filipinos, particularly those belonging to the lower-middle-income families, overseas workers included, still continue to struggle with owning a home acquired from a mass housing project. Many would still prefer renting given their limited income.
Based on a rental study conducted by the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute (PSRTI), middle-income families accounted for the bulk or 889,033 families of the 1.5 million who are renting homes nationwide in 2012.
The study stated that the rental level of P1,000 to P1,999 a month included the most number of households at 497,807 families while 122,034 families paying around P2,000 to P3,999 for rent are usually female-headed households.
The study also revealed that middle-income households are looking for investments that would allow them to maximize their hard-earned pesos. This means they are looking for homes that are affordable and near their place of work. They also preferred worthwhile investments that can accommodate their families comfortably.
HUDCC’s flagship program, Balai Filipino Housing Program (Building Adequate Livable Affordable and Inclusive Filipino Communities), showed that the ceiling for socialized housing programs remains steep for millions of Filipino households.
In Memorandum Circular 2, series of 2018, issued on September 2018, then HUDCC Secretary General Falconi V. Millar said the ceiling for socialized housing is P700,000 for a 22-square-meter (sqm) property, while P750,000 is the ceiling for a 24-sqm property in the National Capital Region and other areas such as San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan; Cainta and Antipolo City in Rizal; San Pedro City in Laguna; and Carmona, Imus and Bacoor in Cavite.
The Balai Housing Program is the Duterte administration’s 10-year national housing program strategy to close the country’s shelter gap. The program aims to improve government efforts in addressing Filipinos’ housing needs, with the private sector playing a significant and pivotal role.
However, based on the 2015 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), the average income in the Philippines is P267,000 per household per year. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimated that there were a total of 22.73 million households in 2015.
AmBisyon 2040
To meet the country’s housing targets, the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) focused on providing access to affordable, adequate, safe, and secure shelter in well-planned communities in the hope of addressing income inequality and meeting its goal through “AmBisyon 2040.” The goal of AmBisyon 2040if for every Filipino to own a single detached house by 2040.
The government also intends to decrease the proportion of urban population living in informal settlements from 7.53 percent in 2016 to 5.53 percent by 2022.
Additionally, the government wants to improve the proportion of socialized housing targets towards housing needs; improve the proportion of low-cost housing targets met to housing needs, and deliver socialized and low-cost housing units.
The PDP aims to increase the proportion of socialized housing by 16.53 percent and low-cost housing, 5.5 percent by 2022 from the 2016 baselines of 8.6 percent and 5.27 percent, respectively.
In terms of delivering socialized housing units, the PDP aims to increase delivered socialized housing to 1.086 million by 2022 from 82,612 in 2016. For low-cost housing, the target is 361,398 units by 2022 from 50,626 in 2016.
Meanwhile, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said these targets may be hampered by suitable land for socialized and low-cost housing and the availability of basic services/utilities (i.e., water and power supply) are provided on time.
Further, Neda said an adequate budget for housing may also fall short and issues may arise in land titling, land conversion, and compliance to land development/housing construction documentary requirements.
Despite all these constraints and challenges, every Filipino – the middle class, even the low income and the poor — deserve to own a home. It is part of “AmBisyon 2040.” It is everyone’s hope that this dream of owning a piece of the land of their birth will become a reality.
Article and Photo originally posted by Business Mirror last August 25, 2021 and written by Leony Garcia.
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