Congress to set aside P10B for housing program in 2025

SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday said Congress will earmark P10 billion in next year’s national budget to subsidize the government’s socialized housing project.

“So initially ang kalkula natin as an initial for (subsidies is) at least P10 billion. Mukhang makukuha din natin yan (So, initially, our estimate is at least P10 billion initially in subsidies. It seems we’re getting that amount),” Romualdez told reporters after inspecting the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) housing project in San Mateo, Rizal.

Romualdez made the commitment in response to the request of Housing Secretary Jerry Acuzar for the government to subsidize the interest payments for housing loans taken out by minimum wage earners for housing units under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

The 4PH housing project so far has 20 location sites nationwide. The San Mateo site is expected to cover 4,000 families, with each housing unit measuring between 24 to 27 square meters.

The Speaker said the Build, Better More (BBM) program in the socialized housing sector has improved significantly since it now has amenities like swimming pools, basketball courts, and clubhouses.

“Masaya ako dahil hindi lang pala tirahan ng pamilyang Pilipino ang itinayo natin dito. May basketball court, swimming pool, clubhouse at iba pang amenities na dati’y makikita lang sa mga subdivision at condominium (I’m happy because we didn’t just build houses for Filipino families here. There’s a basketball court, swimming pool and other commodities that can only be seen in subdivisions and condominiums),” Romualdez said.

The Speaker said there are 170,000 housing units being built in Metro Manila alone and distributed among 55 locations.

This is on top of the thousands of housing units being undertaken in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, which Acuzar said includes the 20 ongoing projects currently in “various stages of construction and development.”

Romualdez said the national government remains on track with their original target of building one million housing units every year until 2028 to fill the housing gap, or the 6.5 million backlog in housing units.

The Speaker assured the public that