CREBA hails new age for housing

The Philippine real estate and housing industry celebrated a unifying giant leap toward a new age as the Bicameral Conference Committee work to reconcile conflicting provisions of proposed bills from the Senate and House of Representatives and finally adopted the bill creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

According to national chairman, Charlie Gorayeb, the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations, Inc. (CREBA) has long pressed the government for a fullfledged department that will enable it to address the perennial and ever-increasing housing backlog, which was estimated by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) to have reached a minimum of 6.57 million units as of 2017.

CREBA has always believed that only a full-fledged department can consolidate government efforts to attain our national housing goals with a Housing Secretary clothed with ample powers, functions and corresponding administrative accountabilities, implementing a clear and sustainable housing vision.

The October 10 Bicameral conference, attended by the Senate contingent led by Sen. JV Ejercito, and the House contingent led by Rep. Albee Benitez, counterpart chairman of the Committee on Housing, HUDCC chairman Eduardo del Rosario, heads of the various key shelter agencies and private industry leaders, among others, was a reunion of sorts for generations of stakeholders in the property sector.

“The jubilation should come as no surprise as the bill has been pending in Congress for more than two decades. After all, the Constitution itself underscores the importance of housing and urban development as a basic human need and a barometer of the quality of people’s lives,” Gorayeb stated.

CREBA national president Noel Toti Cariňo said that housing and urban development is not just about the creation of residential structures and communities. He said it involves planning, finance, regulation, resource allocation, administration, production and many other activities to ensure a highly-beneficial, cost-efficient, growthoriented and sustainable national housing program.

“A full-fledged department will provide the national housing program the keen attention and priority it deserves at the highest levels of government,” Gorayeb and Cariňo stated.

If passed into law, the DHSUD will reconstitute the present Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) as the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC). The bicameral version likewise redefined the centralization of the processing and issuance of all housing-related permits by expanding its coverage under the Housing One-stop Processing Centers (HOPC) covering all housing packages.

The creation of the DHUD is part of CREBA’s five-point agenda for housing. With a vision of “A Home for Every Filipino,” it aims to help address the country’s growing housing backlog and turn the industry into a powerful growth engine for the national economy.

With the objective of raising housing production to the highest possible level to match the shortage and compounding annual demand, CREBA envisions that the proposed Act will provide a tremendous boost to the economy in terms of employment and income opportunities for millions, catalyzing business activities for at least 70 other industries, attracting investments and building new economic centers, and generating billions in government revenues from taxes.

“This is the farthest the bill has gone in the last 25 or so years. We, in CREBA, hope that the President will soon sign this DHSUD bill to help the life-long dream of millions of Filipino families to have a home of their own become a reality,” the two CREBA leaders said.