Press Release
November 19, 2020

Opening Statement for the Period of Interpellation for the Budgets of Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and key the Shelter Agencies:
NHA, SHFC, Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) and PAGIBIG

The DHSUD was created by Law in February 2019 and it is now still in the process of organizing its offices and staff with the support of the Department of Budget and Management.

DHSUD consolidates the policy making, planning, regulatory and inter-agency coordination functions of HUDCC and HLURB. Attached to DHSUD for purposes of policy and program coordination is the HSAC or the Human Settlements Adjudication Council.

The total proposed budget for DHSUD and of its attached agencies is P5.448 Billion pesos, which is smaller compared to its budget for fiscal year 2020 of P7.38 Billion.

The proposed budget of P5.448 billion is broken down as follows:

DHSUD - P415 Million

NHA - P2.0 Billion

NHMFC - P1.0 Billion

SHFC - P369 Million

HSAC. - P191 Million

The budget for regular personnel for DHSUD and HSAC are of course for the account of the DBM. The other attached agencies do not draw from the GAA for the cost of their personnel

PAGIBIG does not have proposed budget allocations for 2021.

The DHSUD proposed a sizable budget to the DBM, but it was given less than five percent of its proposal.

The very limited budgets of DHSUD affects the implementation of the following mandates:

It will at best be able to implement only 40 percent of its targetted housing production for people who will be resettled from where the reside along Regions 3 and 4A coastal areas and tributaries of Manila Bay.

It will not achieve the full operationalization of its Central Office and 16 Regional Offices;

It will be unable to establish its one-stop shops and processing centers

It will be unable to go full steam ahead in terms of its policy formulation and evaluation mandates;

It will be unable to pursue many of its mandates in support of direct and indirect production and financing of housing to reduce 6 million plus backlog in housing stock;

The past few weeks have made us think about housing, because of the homes destroyed by the typhoons. The main source of immediate assistance for the construction of houses, especially for families who must be resettled from danger zones is the NDRRMC budget. In the interim it is the DSWD and the NHA that provides temporary housing facilities and also housing cash assistance for families whose homes have been damaged. The NHA is able to immediately draw on its Corporate Operating Budgets for this function when NDRRMC budgets are not yet available.

Different agencies outsource their housing construction and finance needs to the shelter agencies, primarily to the NHA.

Thus, the resettlement requirements of DoTR and DPWH are largely implemented by the NHA. The post-disaster resettlement in the Yolanda corridor and resettlement for those living in Metro Manila waterways are projects that the NHA and SHFC continue to implement using budgets provided to the agencies from previous years. The NDRRMC also provides funds for key shelter agencies for the work of Task Force Bangon Marawi.

Leveraging its land assets the NHA also has planned and ongoing PPP partnerships with the private sector.

PAGIBIG and NHMFC support both the private sector and the public shelter agencies by buying up housing mortgages so that fresh cash becomes available for new rounds of lending.

We are ready for the interpellation by our colleagues, Mr President.

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