Job creation
THE job creation program of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is seen to advance the government’s eight-point socio-economic development agenda.
The agenda aims to bring down the poverty rate to 9 percent by the end of President Marcos’ administration at 12 noon on June 30, 2028, according to DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar.
Poverty rate is high in the Philippines due to high levels of population growth, income inequality, and recurrent shocks and exposure to risks, like economic crisis and natural disasters.
When President Marcos’ six-year “Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino: Zero ISF 2028” program goes full blast, it is expected to generate 1.7 million employment opportunities a year.
In other words, the national housing program of Marcos, the only son of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, aims to provide shelters for over six million families from 2022 to 2028.
“It is projected to have direct and indirect jobs in the sector, especially in areas where mid-rise and high-rise units will be built,” Acuzar said in a press statement last Sunday (October 16).
Reports said that in this impoverished but natural resources-rich Southeast Asian country, at least eight workers (carpenters) are needed to construct one dwelling unit.
We share the view of many that the mushrooming of shanty towns in various parts of the country, particularly in heavily-populated towns and cities, has helped spawn massive poverty.
Admittedly, grinding poverty, which remains as one of the major characteristics of the Asia-Pacific region, is an affront to development progress.
Thus, we cannot overemphasize the importance of exploring the economic pump-priming potentials of the country’s housing sector.
As a well-meaning Filipino, we urge all sectors of society, including commercial banks, to support DHSUD’s “Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino: Zero ISF 2028” program.
