MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved a proposal for the government to guarantee contractor's costs for housing units for at least 1.2 million Filipinos, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development said Wednesday.
The sovereign guarantee will cover the P1.65 trillion needed to complete the 1.2 million housing units that are already in the pipeline, Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar told Palace reporters.
"Ito pong guarantee na ito ay gagamitin sa construction para mapabilis kasi noong nakaraan noong ginamit namin ang private money, mabagal," Acuzar, who called it a potential "game changer" for public housing.
(We will use this to speed up construction because, in the past, when we used private money, progress was slow)
DHSUD has halved its initial target of 6 million housing units built by 2028, saying contruction has slowed down as developers wait for loans from private banks.
"I'm optimistic that this guarantee will make the difference in finally addressing homelessness in our country," he said.
The DHSUD said it is certain it could finish the 1.2 million housing units by 2028, but the sovereign guarantee may be expanded to P4 trillion should the agency be able to deliver an additional 3.2 million housing units in less than four years.
“That is the total requirement… [pero] ang sovereign guarantee, hindi ito buo binibigay (But we will not release this all at once),” Housing Undersecretary Garry De Guzman said.
“Parang stages po 'yan, depende sa uutangin (It will be in stages, depending on what will be borrowed)," he said.
BETTER FOR GOVERNMENT'
While economic managers have yet to approve the proposed numbers, Acuzar guaranteed that this scheme will be more profitable for the government as it eliminates costs incurred from doing business with contractors.
He said that the National Housing Authority will contract construction out once the government loans are approved.
“Sa ganoong sistema makakatipid tayo kasi ang developer’s profit mawawala,” he said.
(Under that system, we can save money because developers' profit has been cut out)
So far, housing projects are set to be built in eight Luzon provinces, four Visayan provinces and three provinces in Mindanao, he said.
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