Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also the country’s housing czar, on Friday promised to reduce excessive government regulation in the processing of housing transactions.
"We will strive to reduce red tape in the processing of housing loans, registration, and issuance of land titles, and housing permits both at the national and local levels," Binay said during his speech at the Metro Manila Business Conference held at the Manila Hotel on Friday.
Binay, who assumed the post of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) head on July 20, said that his agency will hasten the issuance of land titles to intended qualified beneficiaries in all housing projects, including relocation sites.
The HUDCC will also increase its use of idle and underutilized government lands, and rationalize government financing and subsidy for housing and urban development, he added.
"It will be a priority of HUDCC under my stewardship to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing system of end-buyer financing, development financing, the guarantee system, the secondary mortgage market, the community mortgage program, and micro-housing program financing," he said.
To achieve these, Binay said his agency will seek the support of the local government units. "They are in the best position to provide inputs we need in ensuring that our housing programs truly address the housing needs of the locality," he explained.
The HUDCC will also encourage strong private sector support, aside from government help, in implementing localized housing projects for the poor, he said.
Binay said the Bureau of Internal Revenue will be asked to support the proposal to grant capital gains exemption credits to donors of houses in the housing projects of Gawad Kalinga, Habitat for Humanity, and other non-government organizations.
"This is the approach we took in Makati. I have always maintained that if it can be done in Makati, it can be done nationwide," said the HUDCC chief, who also served as mayor of Makati for four consecutive terms from 1986 to 1998, and for another three consecutive terms from 2001 to 2010.
In the interest of transparency, the vice president said HUDCC will also require the publication of all projects and loans granted by the key shelter agencies in their respective website.
As head of the HUDCC, Binay supervises the operations of the council’s key shelter agencies, namely: the National Housing Authority (NHA), the agency that builds houses for all sectors and manages government estates for resettlement of informal settlers;
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), which sets standards for housing projects and, as a judicial agency, handles disputes between subdivision property owners and developers;
the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), more popularly known as the Pag-IBIG fund, a trust fund that allows members to secure housing loans;
the Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC), which provides government guarantees for loans that bankroll housing projects;
the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC), which buys secondary mortgages; and
the Socialized Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC), a semi-private government entity that manages funds for socialized housing.The HUDCC was formed in 1986 by President Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, “to serve as the highest policy making body for housing and coordinate the activities of government housing agencies."
The HUDCC replaced the Ministry of Human Settlements, which was established during the Marcos administration.
As housing czar, Binay will also be the chairman of all the housing agencies, except for the HGC, which is chaired by the Finance Secretary. —JV
