THE Philippines is currently facing a staggering housing shortage of 6.5 million units. In Quezon City alone, the demand for affordable housing exceeds 250,000 families. Despite securing P250 billion in funding through the Department of Housing Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to construct social housing for the urban poor, the situation continues to deteriorate. Years of funding for socialized housing by the National Housing Authority, LGUs and other agencies have failed to reduce the backlog, which continues to grow.
When I joined the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) in the late 1990s to develop Fort Bonifacio, now known as Bonifacio Global City, the housing backlog stood at 3 million units. A key component of our development program was the relocation of informal settlers, primarily military families who had temporarily built homes within the camp. BCDA constructed thousands of apartment units in Diego Silang Village and Centennial Village, as well as onsite townhouses along the C-5 road. These housing sites, minutes from BGC, offered medium-rise, subsidized apartments, with beneficiaries paying only construction costs as the land was free. Units ranged from P300,000 to P450,000 for 36 to 59 square meters; today, those same units are appraised at P3 million for a 59 sq m unit.
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