CREBA Position Paper and
Draft Bill for the creation of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development
CREBA believes that the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD) is not only imperative, but long overdue. The Chamber has long been an advocate of the DHUD Bill and has unfailingly submitted its proposals to both Houses of Congress over the years.
Our position has remained consistent for the past 2 decades: that the DHUD need not be structured with the usual full complement of bureaus and service divisions.
This is because the administrative and operational structure is already in place – comprised of the existing housing agencies and GOCCs. There is thus no compelling need to disturb this existing infrastructure.
What is of utmost importance is to cloth the policy-making and overseeing body with powers sufficient to ensure:
- That the existing housing agencies, local governments and the private sector operate in a concerted and holistic fashion; and
- That the housing and urban development effort is accorded the priority it deserves at the highest rungs of government.
Thus, it should suffice to elevate the status of the present Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) into a Department, maintain its present complement of offices and personnel, attach thereto the existing housing agencies and GOCCS, and confer upon this Department adequate administrative and supervisory powers over the KSA’s and their respective governing boards.
Perhaps the most radical, albeit necessary, measure we would now like to introduce, in view of our actual and recent experiences, is the granting of veto powers upon the Housing Secretary over all actions taken by the governing boards of the KSA’s with respect to investments, allocation and disposition of funds, issuance of credit instruments, and such matters as may bear directly or indirectly on policies, programs, rules and regulations adopted by the Department.
Various controversies have hounded HUDCC and the KSA’s.
To name a few, we do not wish to repeat the anomaly where HGC went into very questionable guarantees, only to be assumed by government when the proponents failed to pay them back.
The same thing happened when the HGC Board authorized the loan of Php12 Billion knowing fully well that it is not in any position to pay this amount back.
Parallel to this was when the Pag-IBIG Fund granted alleged anomalous loans to Globe Asiatique in amounts ranging from Php5-10 Billion.
In all of these incidents, the past heads of HUDCC have failed to explain and justify the abuses which have threatened the very core of the housing and real estate sector in the Philippines.
The DHUD Bill should, therefore, grant the Housing Secretary full authority over the KSA’s, and in the process, provide the mechanism for responsibility and accountability for his actions.
Enclosed:
CREBA-proposed draft Bill creating a Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD)
- CREBA proposed DHUD Bill House of Representatives Draft
- CREBA proposed DHUD Bill Senate Draft
