DHSUD hears urban poor’s housing concerns

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development recently held a dialogue with leaders of an urban poor group to address their concerns and hear their proposals on how the DHSUD can improve its in-city housing projects.

Members of the Partido Lakas ng Masa-Urban Poor Communities attended the dialogue.

In a statement, the DHSUD said the consultative dialogue, led by Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, was in line with President Marcos’ directive to make the government’s housing initiatives, especially the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program more inclusive to informal settler families or ISFs in urban areas.

“The dialogue highlighted the need for stronger collaboration between the government and people’s organizations,” the DHSUD said.

The agency said among those agreed upon during the dialogue was to hold regular consultations with urban poor groups for every housing project.

Acuzar vowed to find ways to make housing projects more accessible and affordable to ISFs.

He also reaffirmed the DHSUD’s commitment to sustained consultations, describing these as essential to creating fair and responsive housing strategies.