This writer’s experience in government service first started with housing. It was the early 1990s when earnest efforts were made in addressing the housing problem of the country. It was during those times that millions of housing units were needed and it was projected that millions more will have to be built in the near future if only to break even with the demand.
Government has recognized then that aside from national food security, shelter was second in the basic needs of Man. Previous attempts have been made to solve the perennial problem but it has not been effective. The thrust was to give low-cost housing to the working class. Thus, housing programs and financing were offered to middle income workers both from the government and private sectors.
Funds were mobilized in both the SSS and the GSIS institutions for these low cost housing programs. It was also supplemented by the PAGIBIG Fund so as to provide the least interest rates. The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) tried to bridge the gap as the Housing Loan Originator bank so that housing units can be built and financing availed from the SSS and GSIS that required the housing units first be built before releasing the needed loans to finance them.
But the problem persisted since only 12% of the population qualified for the requirements in availing of the housing programs then existent. The D and E classes of the population could hardly qualify since they were not formally employed and does not even have the capability to pay for the monthly amortizations.
The National Housing Authority (NHA) was given the mandate in providing housing for these unserved sectors of society that formed the bulk of those that needed housing. It is not only in the economic front that the programs will address but also in the social and cultural aspects of the entire body politick of the country. Housing has become not only a political mission but a mission for national survival.
But how come there are still millions that are in need of socialized housing programs? Almost 3 decades have passed and yet the problem increases? How coe the recent headlines have bannered the KADAMAY organization occupying 5,000 idle government housing units in Bulacan?
It is recorded that in the NHA that there are 53,000 unoccupied housing units nationwide and these are deteriorating because they are unoccupied and neglected. Even so, they are still not enough to address the situation that is rending the socio-economic and political fabric of the nation.
The government seems not serious enough in addressing the problem with regards to spending and allocation of funds in relation to GDP.
The government would have to make a dramatic departure from the past public spending record in housing. Data on public expenditures on housing over the years and there is an obvious fact. The spending levels on housing have been lower compared to other ASEAN countries. According to Asian Development Bank data, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, plus Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, figures show that over the 15-year period 2000-2014, public expenditures on housing averaged 0.75 percent of gross domestic product for the other countries, ranging from Bangladesh’s 0.25 percent to Singapore’s 1.6 percent. The Philippines, the smallest public housing spender in the bunch, spent only 0.12 percent of GDP, even less than half of Bangladesh’s proportionate allocation, and less than one-sixth of the group average.
This is the reason why we have an increasing amount of informal settlers.
Such investment in housing also redounds to downstream industries such as labor and housing materials supply enterprises.
The investment by government will thus have positive social and economic results.
