Towards Sensible Land & Housing Development Standards
Prior to the Martial Law regime, local government units (LGUs) exercised the power to regulate land and housing development activities. Lacking central coordination and planning, rules and standards varied from one locality to another, thus creating a developmental nightmare. CREBA thus advocated regulatory centralization. In response, then President Ferdinand Marcos created the National Housing Authority […]
CREBA vs. DAR
Perhaps no other governmental act has been as detrimental to housing and other non-agricultural activities as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). So much so that the rancor attending the ensuing long-standing battle for land access was unprecedented in the history of CREBA. In 1987, then President Corazon Aquino promulgated three major issuances that led […]
Social Housing One-Stop Processing Center (SHOPC)
In 1992, Congress enacted Republic Act No. 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA). Section 18 of the law imposed a 20% social housing quota on developers undertaking subdivision projects. At the same time, Section 20 provided incentives to said developers, including the creation of one-stop offices for the processing, approval […]
CREBA vs. Creditable Withholding Tax
The Creditable Withholding Tax (CWT) on sales of real property was first imposed in December 1989 by then Commissioner of Internal Revenue Jose Ong under BIR Revenue Regulation No. 12-89, as part of his Tax Reform Program. Wasting no time, the Chamber mounted a strong public protest spearheaded by then CREBA president Charlie Gorayeb and […]
Towards Sensible Fiscal & Monetary Interventions
Over the years, CREBA mounted strong opposition to the imposition of onerous land taxes, which would have made housing completely unaffordable by the low- and middle-income groups. These taxes included the Creditable Withholding Tax (CWT), the Land Conversion Tax, and the VAT. Congress subsequently shelved the proposed land conversion tax; the CWT was rationalized to […]
