Good Evening!

            First of all, allow me to thank OSHDP for the recognition that they bestowed on me and the other awardees tonight.  For us in government, such awards are really much appreciated as they not only affirm that what we are doing is right, but continue to inspire us to do better and to do more.

            Secondly, I would like to congratulate OSHDP as it marks 20 years of service and nation-building.  The advocacies that OSHDP has been promoting and the houses and communities that your members have done for the past two decades have all contributed in achieving the dream of every Filipino family – to have a safe, secure and decent home.  

            I understand that these advocacies as well as other proposals and plans of OSHDP are part of the topics covered by your two-day Convention.  I am very optimistic with the output that this Convention will produce.

            During my term as General Manager of the National Housing Authority (NHA), I saw how dedicated, creative and hard-working our partners from OSHDP and the private sector are. I saw first-hand how the stalwarts of OSHDP pushed relentlessly for advocacies that would benefit socialized housing producers and beneficiaries alike.

            It was not uncommon for the NHA and the OSHDP to be on the same boat, so to speak, as we shared, more or less, the same clientele.  Issues such as incentives, tax exemptions and housing standards are examples of such – thereby allowing us to work closely with each other.

            I am also aware that the OSHDP and HUDCC share an enduring partnership – with the two having pursued joint efforts on policy advocacies and reforms, such as the housing sector position on the proposed National Land Use Act, price ceiling adjustments for socialized and economic housing, and the formulation of the National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy, to name a few.

            I was also informed that the OSHDP is a ‘regular’ of the HUDCC’s Housing Policy Working Committee where all policy issues and Council Agenda items are discussed by the respective technical staff of the members of the HUDC Council.

            And more recently, your organization is actively participating in the National Housing and Urban Development Summit.

            Allow me to take this opportunity to say that we appreciate the OSHDP’s contribution to the sector. 

            It is heartening to note that a lot has been done for the sector, but we all know that while we still see Filipinos sleeping in the streets, while informal settlements still exist in urban areas, and while we still know of families sharing homes due to lack of means to have their own homes, our job is not yet done.

            To those who have been with the housing sector for a considerable amount of time, the problems we continue to encounter are not new - rapid urbanization, prohibitive cost of development, land and titling issues, low affordability, among others.  Issues that could not fully be resolved in ten months, which is all I have as Chairman of HUDCC.

            [At this point, the Chairman may wish to cite his plans for the housing sector until the end of the administration, which was asked during the Open Forum this morning.  The Chairman may wish to cite the following, among others:

• Fast-tracking the process for expanding socialized housing definition to include vertical development (explore this through an executive issuance) and coming up with a new price ceiling (this was one of the issues/ proposals raised by OSHDP);
• Matching foreclosed assets, especially lots, of the shelter agencies, which can be improved or developed in partnership with private developers;
• Replicate housing projects for low salaried employees, using the local government/employers-developers-Pag-IBIG model, such as Hanjin housing project for its employees.]

            I know that there is no easy or simple solution to our complex problems.  A hundred and one ways may be proposed to solve the problem at hand.  To my mind, however, the very foundation of the solutions/strategies we shall be crafting is none other than the partnership and cooperation we, in government, and you, in the private sector, have. 

            We have to engage more the private sector into housing development, and more so, in the development of socialized housing where demand is the greatest.

            We, however, have to put our partnership to overdrive because it seems that our efforts are still nothing compared to the problems at hand. 

            In the very short time that is left in this Administration’s term – my goal is to finish the programs and projects we have started.  And to enhance the policies that will further encourage private sector participation in housing development. And I expect no less than the OSHDP to be by our side as we continue to do our work of improving the lives of the Filipino people.

            But tonight, let us all celebrate that we have people and organizations, like OSHDP, who have worked hard and continue to commit themselves to the fulfilment of the dream of every Filipino to have their own homes.

            Maraming Salamat po at magandang gabi sa inyong lahat.