Duterte signs into law bill establishing Human Settlements Department

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure that seeks to consolidate housing agencies into a new Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

Malacañang released on Tuesday a copy of the Republic Act No. 11201, which Duterte approved last Thursday, Feb. 14.

Under the law, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) would be merged into a new department.

The new department would act as the primary national government entity responsible for managing housing, human settlement, and urban development.

It would also be the sole and main planning and policy-making, regulatory, program coordination, and performance monitoring entity for all housing, human settlement, and urban development concerns, primarily focusing on the access and affordability of basic, decent shelters.

The law also abolishes HUDCC and reconstitutes the HLURB as the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC).

Meanwhile, the National Housing Authority, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation, Home Mutual Development Fund, and the Social Housing Finance Corporation would be attached agencies to the DHSUD.

The law also mandates the creation of the National Human Settlements Board (NHSB) to address the transfer of the function of the HLURB to the HSAC. /ee