Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III on Sunday called on Malacañang to review the Marcos administration’s flagship 4PH housing program, calling the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development’s (DHSUD) project as “out of tune.”
In a statement, Pimentel also urged the DHSUD to conduct further studies to implement 4PH, or the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino housing program, which is supposed to provide affordable housing for low-income Filipino families.
“This is my personal message to the Office of the President: I noticed that there is room for improvement in the housing budget. There’s still time for the President to intervene and review it,” he said.
Complementary program
Pimentel said the 4PH program, which stands for “4Ps for Housing,” was supposedly meant to complement the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the government’s social amelioration program.
According to Pimentel, the President needs to intervene as the 4PH is being touted as his flagship initiative.
“There is something out of tune. There is something off-key in that program,” said Pimentel, pointing to the DHSUD’s supposed focus on building condominium-type housing for poor families.
During the budget deliberations on the DHSUD’s proposed P6.363-billion funding for 2025, Sen. Cynthia Villar criticized the DHSUD’s housing project, saying this will benefit the middle class and not poor families.