DHSUD chief pushes synergy in housing 

Close coordination among housing stakeholders plays a crucial role in ensuring a vibrant housing and urban development sector.

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario emphasized this during DHSUD’s anniversary press conference on Tuesday.

According to the housing czar, promoting synergy with the key shelter agencies and the private sector helped the housing industry post record-breaking accomplishments under the Duterte administration.

He also cited the importance of having a Department overseeing housing-related operations in government.

“With the creation of DHSUD, we can now see that there is a regular department spearheading the National Shelter Program, under which we have three major components – regulation, finance and production. So now, we have one department that will look after these three major shelter programs that need to be complementary. We cannot undertake housing regulations that would be contrary to the objectives of finance and production activities,” Secretary Del Rosario stressed.

“Likewise, our regulatory powers provide direct impact to the private sector. So the private and public sectors must have a strong partnership through the regulatory powers of the Department. Because at the end of the day, we need synergy, we need efforts that would be complementary, supporting each other,” he noted.

The DHSUD chief called on the KSAs to continuously make complementary efforts in optimizing the housing sector’s programs and provide greater reach to those in need of assistance.

“Everything must fall into place and must fit, so at the end of the day we will achieve our objective of building housing units and creating housing communities that would be acceptable, livable, yet affordable for the beneficiaries. The advantage of having a housing department is that now, everything is more integrated and we can have more or less a united front in addressing our concerns related to housing,” Secretary Del Rosario added.

Also gracing the press conference were DHSUD Undersecretary Marylin Pintor, Pag-Ibig Fund Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Hilario Aguilar, National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation Vice-President for Securitization Maria Luisa Favila, National Housing Authority Asst. General Manager Victor Balba, Social Housing Finance Corporation Vice-President for Corporate Planning and Communications Group Florencio Carandang Jr and Human Settlements Adjudication Commission Commissioner Fidel Exconde Jr.

According to Balba, DHSUD expands the housing sector’s representation in the national government. “We now have a voice in the Cabinet, unlike before sa HUDCC (Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council). We are given the opportunity to thresh out our concerns and these are given immediate action by the President,” Balba stressed.

Meanwhile, Pag-IBIG’s Aguilar stated that DHSUD’s creation resulted in a more strategized approach among KSAs in addressing housing-related issues.

“The advantage of having a department overseeing the key shelter agencies is that resources are maximized. Before DHSUD, there is a tendency for KSAs to conduct programs on their own. What is happening now, since we now have a department coordinating all of these, our resources are maximized, the stakeholders are given their ‘go-to’ agencies, at the same time we prioritize programs according to the calculations of the department itself, walang nasasayang na programa, may kanya-kanyang responsibilidad,” Aguilar noted.

As for SHFC’s Carandang, DHSUD had been pivotal in implementing its main task – which is to offer loans to informal settler families. “Bilang maliit (na ahensiya) at pinagsisilbihan ang mga informal settler families, we are now assured that our agenda is in the national agenda, in the national plan, kasi mayroon kaming Secretary, mayroon kaming department,” Carandang said.

Also on Tuesday, Secretary Del Rosario officially rolled out the Land Use and Zoning Information System (LUZIS) in a ceremony held at the Central Office boardroom.

Spearheaded by the Department’s Environmental, Land Use and Urban Planning Development Bureau, LUZIS is a web-based mapping system that provides information on land use plan formulation and implementation in the country. It aims to enhance the operational geo-IT system of the department that will enable data archiving, monitoring and modelling.

In his message, the housing czar described LUZIS’ launch as another monumental step towards a transparent, efficient, and data-driven DHSUD.

“As we focus on providing access to decent, affordable, resilient, and sustainable housing communities to all Filipinos, let us bear in mind the significance of data in effective planning, as part of our pledge to pursue excellence in governance,” Secretary Del Rosario said.

“Let us embody our vision to become a strong institution and catalyst for the provision of inclusive human settlements by using data through LUZIS. Let us join hands as we strive for an effective and efficient public service,” he added.