MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) has thrown its full support to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) in its ongoing efforts to implement the Balanced Housing Development Program (BHDP) which involving private realty developers.
PCUP Chairman Michelle Anne Gonzales said on Sunday that the agency has passed a resolution in the wake of an opinion issued by the Department of Justice and the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) which showed that the incentivized compliance scheme resulted in the under-computation and under-collection of mandatory compliance obligations contrary to the minimum participation rates required by law.
The DOJ directed the re-computation and collection of deficiencies that deprived the government of substantial resources intended for socialized housing production.
“The PCUP strongly endorsed the position of the DHSUD in strictly enforcing the BHDP and supporting the reassessment, re-computation, and recovery of deficiencies arising from the incentivized compliance mechanism,” Gonzales said.
With the four PCUP commissioners - lawyer Emmanuel Gison, lawyer Bret Monsanto, Reynaldo Galupo, and Remedios Chan – expressing their support, Gonzales said it would only indicate the agency’s unified stand in upholding balanced housing compliance and protecting the interests of urban poor communities.
“The commission expresses its full support for the DHSUD’s ongoing efforts to correct prior implementation issues and to strictly enforce the law as intended,” the PCUP chief said.
The PCUP officials acknowledged that some private developers may have complied in good faith based on existing administrative issuances.
Thus, the commission recommended that enforcement and collection measures be implemented fairly and reasonably, including possible phased payment arrangements or other equitable compliance mechanisms consistent with law, Galupo told The Manila Times.
In the same resolution, Galupo said PCUP has also recommended that a substantial portion of escrow fund collections be earmarked for a dedicated socialized housing reserve for families displaced by court-ordered evictions and demolitions, especially those lacking adequate relocation assistance.
According to DHSUD, the initiative is projected to generate P30-billion in collections, which could enable the construction of around 30,000 socialized housing units.
“Every peso properly collected under BHDP translates into additional housing opportunities and greater security for vulnerable Filipino families,” the top PCUP official said.
