‘No membership fee required for Pambansang Pabahay’

MANILA, Philippines — No membership or registration fees should be collected from people wanting to be beneficiaries of the government’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said over the weekend.

The agency made the statement following reports that some individuals  are using the national housing program to collect payments.

“We have been receiving reports that there were individuals collecting membership fees in order for those interested in the Pambansang Pabahay to have their names listed as beneficiaries,” DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said in Filipino.

“We are not collecting any fee and it’s the local government units (LGUs) that handle the identification and registration of qualified beneficiaries,” Acuzar said.

He advised the public to coordinate with their respective LGUs. Once the identification process is completed, housing projects under the Pambansang Pabahay would be turned over by the DHSUD to concerned LGUs.

Acuzar said interested beneficiaries do not need to be members of housing associations in order to be part of the Pambansang Pabahay program.

He advised interested parties to become members of the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund, which he said has various financial schemes that can assist members in availing themselves of the Pambansang Pabahay units.

“I would also like to emphasize that we are not soliciting any donations from the private sector or government officials for the program. For such information, please directly report this to any of our offices nationwide,” Acuzar said.

Aside from the DHSUD, Acuzar said the public could learn about details of the program from the National Housing Authority, Social Housing Finance Corp. and National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., which are shelter agencies of the DHSUD.

He said the program is open not just to informal settler families, but also to the less privileged working force, especially those employed in urban areas but do not have their own houses.

“This is highlighted by the program’s thrust to build in-city resettlements where workplaces and trade hubs as well as educational and health institutions are located. Additionally, the program promotes township development to ensure sustainability and economic activities within the housing site,” Acuzar said.

The Pambansang Pabahay is the flagship mass housing project of the Marcos administration. It aims to construct one million housing units annually from 2023 to 2028, to address the country’s housing need estimated at more than 6.5 million units.