Marcos asks private banks to help resolve housing backlog 

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on government financial institutions and private banks to work together in crafting a system that would fund his administration’s housing program, according to a report by CNN Philippines.

The Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) on Thursday said that Marcos “noted the indispensable support of the private banking sector” during a meeting on Wednesday with other officials tackling the country’s housing backlog.

According to the OPS, the backlog is estimated to reach 6.5 million units by the end of Marcos’ term in 2028.

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Acuzar earlier said that to address this gap, they aim to build one million houses yearly under the current administration, which will require an annual budget of P36 billion.

To pull off this ambitious program, the OPS noted that Marcos wants the creation of a financing system “to find the country's cash flow that will support the endeavor.”

The chief executive also proposed incentivizing private entities that will help in this effort.

“I think we can, there should be sufficient incentives… [an] arrangement for the private banks to come in,” Marcos said, as quoted in the OPS press release.

Apart from the President and Acuzar, the meeting was attended by the heads of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Treasury, Pag-IBIG, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine National Bank and Land Bank of the Philippines.

The OPS added that representatives from BDO, Metrobank, Union Bank, Ayala Corporation, and China Bank have expressed their support for the housing program, saying they will help in developing the financing system.