Here is a more concrete way of solving the country’s ballooning housing backlog: Convert at least 5,821.57 hectares of land in the National Capital Region (NCR)—currently either sitting idle or occupied by informal settlers—into socialized-housing sites via the public-private partnership (PPP) route.

And the big developers, such as Ayala Land and SM, are ready to participate, said Rep. Alfredo B. Benitez of Negros Occidental, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development.


He said of this 5,821.57-hectare total land area, 1,234.85 hectares are government-owned and currently being
occupied by informal-settler families (ISFs); 2,185 hectares are idle public land and ready for housing programs, and the remaining 2,401.72 hectares are privately owned but also occupied by ISFs.

According to Benitez, these properties could be used as lands and sites for government socialized-housing programs.

“Majority of that [land] will be offered for freedom, or will be unlocked for partnership for development, and with that, we expect the participation of several property developers. But for one condition—they [property developers] should follow the government plan, which seeks to provide affordable and decent housing for Filipinos,” he said.

The legislator added that affordable housing provides a more cost-effective solution to address homelessness in the Philippines.

“The issue of affordability affects majority of our population. Both the informal and formal sectors are unable to afford the available housing units and loans provided by the government,” he added.

The lawmaker also said the government will talk to the owners of the private land. “We will now go on negotiated arrangement [with private land owners]. The government can initiate land sharing or buy it out, or have an agreement to be able to free that land and create decent housing.”

With these available lands, Benitez said they will propose the construction of medium rise, or 4- to 5-story buildings, with estimated 100,000 to 150,000 units,” Benitez added.

He said the proposal is not just for ISFs, but also for low- and middle-income earners, as they can have decent shelter under the government’s socialized-housing programs, which aim to provide long-term housing rental and rent-to-own schemes for homeless Filipinos.

“The government will do that [PPP], but they [property developers] need to replan Metro Manila through the creation of better housing units. Currently, we didn’t do anything to replan it properly, that’s why there are traffic and floods in Metro Manila,” Benitez said.

He added that the land-development arms of SM and Ayala have already expressed interest in the project.

“Everybody was given a chance to take a look at what the plan is, and some property developers have already proposed their participation. Their proposals will be reviewed by the NHA [National Housing Authority]. But, of course, it will remain a proposal until after the May 9 election…we will have to wait for the next administration to be able to decide on what kind of arrangement the private sector will participate in,” Benitez added.

The PPP proposal was part of the culmination program of the National Housing and Urban Development Summit held on Monday at the San Juan Arena.

During the culmination activity, Benitez—together with Senate Committee on Urban Planning and Shelter and Resettlement Chairman Sen. JV Ejercito—also pushed for the adoption of the in-city housing policy complemented by the transfer of government agencies to the provinces.

The summit seeks to solve the 5.5 million housing backlogs and 584,425 ISFs in NCR.

“For the past many decades the housing backlog has been increasing for just only one reason—affordability. People cannot afford to own a house and lot or a housing unit because they cannot afford it. If you will make a quality and affordable housing units that everybody can afford, everybody can have his or her own house,” Benitez said.

“The housing challenge in the Philippines has been largely attributed to the increasing housing backlog, bloating number of informal-settler families in the urban centers and the lack of availability of affordable housing unit for majority of the Filipinos from the low- to middle-income segments,” he added.