Who cares for the homeless?

“An investment in housing is an investment in family stability, children’s success, and the economic health of our entire state.”

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont once stated this to underscore the importance of investing in his state’s shelter program.

So when Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar bared last month the government’s ambitious plan to build at least one million housing units annually for the next six years, Lamont’s statement could have been in his mind.

“Housing greatly improves the quality of life for our people and also plays an important role in safeguarding the health of our citizens during the pandemic, especially for vulnerable households living in highly dense communities,” Acuzar told the Senate during last month’s hearing on the proposed 2023 budget of the DHSUD.

With a housing backlog of 6.5 million, the government’s plan is a bit of good news.

But is it doable? It depends on funding support.

If the success of this lofty objective is gauged by the DHSUD’S proposed 2023 budget, then the government’s housing program is bound to fail.

The DHSUD had sought r95 billion budget for 2023, but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) allocated only r3.95 billion. This is about four percent of what was sought for and almost half of its current budget of r7.61 billion.

The r3.95-billion budget is broken down as follows: DHSUD, r1.043 billion; Human Settlements Adjudication Commission, r409 million; National Housing Authority (NHA), r2 billion; and Social Housing Finance Corporation, r500 million.

No budget was allocated to the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation.

With this measly budget, will the DHSUD be able to deliver the one million housing units annually?

Just imagine.

In 2018, the Housing and Urban Development Council, the forerunner of the DHSUD, passed two resolutions—setting the price ceiling of socialized housing in subdivisions and condominiums.

For socialized subdivision projects, price ceiling for single-detached housing, duplex and single-attached housing and row houses ranges from ₱ 480,000 to ₱580,000.

For socialized condominium projects, it ranges from ₱600,000 to ₱750,000, depending on the size and location.

For the National Capital Region, and selected highly urbanized cities and municipalities, the ceiling is ₱700,000 to ₱750,000.

We can’t second-guess the DBM’S objective in allocating a measly budget for the DHSUD despite the shelter agency’s huge responsibility of undertaking the state’s mandate of providing a housing program for the underprivileged and the homeless.

With the projected cost of socialized housing, it is unlikely that the DHSUD can deliver one million housing units, at least for 2023. So unless something is done with the budget, Acuzar fears the housing backlog may balloon to 10.9 million by 2028.

Not only this. The NHA, with only ₱2 billion budget in 2023, faces the prospects of lawsuits if it fails to pay the ₱36 billion it owes in its shelter projects next year. NHA general manager Joeben Tai had told the Senate committee during the budget hearing that the ₱36 billion was obligated three to five years ago.