WE awaited with some interest President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s appointment of the head of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD). The original executive agency of the Philippine government dealing with the subject of human settlements and urbanization was headed by no less than his mother, the former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

When President Corazon Aquino assumed power after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, her government abolished the Ministry of Human Settlements and Urban Development for no apparent serious reason than its being associated with Mrs. Marcos. Detractors of President Aquino criticized her move as a sign of her 'sheer vindictiveness.' President Aquino's decision would be proved a mistake when in 2018, the DHSUD was created by law.