THE PRESIDENT has ordered government agencies to identify “suitable land” to host housing projects to be built under a flagship program known as Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH).
In Executive Order (EO) No. 34, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. declared the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development’s (DHSUD) 4PH a “flagship program” of the government, noting that the housing backlog hit 6.8 million units in 2022.
The order was signed for the President by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin on July 17 and released on July 19.
The President ordered government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and local government units (LGUs) to “conduct an inventory of the land that they own and administer” and submit the list to the housing department within 60 days of the EO’s issuance.
The housing department, for its part, should identify what national and local government lands are suitable for housing projects such as housing and human settlements, including townships and estates development.
“The inventory of land shall include government-owned idle land or land that has not been used for the purpose for which they have been originally reserved or set aside for at least 10 years, and on which no improvements have been made by the owner as certified by the concerned LGU,” according to the order.
It said the DHSUD, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, should recommend to the President sites subject to proclamations “declaring said public land as alienable and disposable, and reserving the same for housing and human settlement purposes, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations.”
Under the order, the Land Registration Authority (LRA), an arm of the Department of Justice, is tasked to assist agencies conducting inventories by providing a list of titles and the corresponding true copies.
The LRA has the power to cancel the titles of such land and reissue the titles under the name of the DSHUD.
The DSHUD “shall initiate the expropriation of lands when necessary,” according to the order.
“All National Government agencies and instrumentalities, including GOCCs, are hereby directed, and all LGUs are hereby enjoined, to submit regular reports to the DHSUD on the status of the implementation of the Program and their compliance with this Order,” according to the EO.
It said the DHSUD is to provide a summary report on the land identified to the President through the Office of the Executive Secretary.
The EO took effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette.
The DSHUD has a target of building a million housing units per year until the end of Mr. Marcos’ six-year term in 2028.
Earlier this month, DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino L. Acuzar said the government could distribute only 100,000 housing units next year, citing delays in the bidding process and the struggle to identify idle land.
He also said construction work is taking more time as vertical housing units are more difficult to build than row houses. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza