OP-ED | Shining a spotlight on the significance of shelter | Manila Bulletin

Considering these data, it now becomes a tall order for the present administration to address the homelessness crisis, a perennial source of headache even for past presidents and former housing officials. The Marcos administration, through Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, unveiled its long-term housing program recently called “Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Filipino: Zero ISF 2028” in time for the observance of National Shelter Month this October.

Aside from the program, Acuzar also unveiled this year’s theme “Abot-Kayang Pabahay Tungo sa Panatag na Buhay,” which underscores the DHSUD’s objective of “providing affordable and decent shelters to uplift the lives of Filipinos, particularly the informal settler families and those in the low-income bracket.”  To make its mission clear, the DHSUD aims to build one million housing units every year — or a total of six million housing units within the six years of the current administration.

“This year’s celebration encapsulates the goal of the DHSUD to provide affordable yet decent and sustainable shelters that will give Filipino families a sense of security,” Acuzar said. With a foundation plan set in place and programs set to go, there is no room for error in the quest to convert informal settlers into legitimate homeowners.

Now, it is a fact that for Filipino families, owning one’s home is the ultimate goal, a reason to work harder, even to risk one’s security and comfort to work abroad.  Ask any working Filipino today and a majority will answer that they are sweating blood and tears just to put up a decent home for their family.  We hope the government, through the DHSUD, will give these hardworking Filipinos a helping hand, not more hard times and paperworks ahead.