The people’s organizations our institute has been working with for various advocacies—from reforming government’s housing policies and programs to opposing the killings and senseless violence in the anti-illegal drug war—are throwing their support behind Vice President Leni Robredo. Even before she announced her decision to seek the country’s highest post,…
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Guiding his readers on how to find hope amid the deep crisis the world has been facing because of the pandemic, Pope Francis, in his book “Let Us Dream,” gives a vision of what needs to change beyond the individual: “God asks us to dare to create something new. We…
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Despite getting only 5 percent of its proposed P77-billion budget for 2021, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), as Secretary Eduardo del Rosario wrote in his column in the Property section of this paper (1/30/21), is “more than ready to face the challenges of 2021 head on.”…
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Who asked for a white sand beach in Manila Bay? Definitely not the 15,000 or so families languishing in poverty, hunger, and joblessness in Baseco, the biggest coastal informal settlement in Manila. Of course, the truckloads of crushed dolomite boulders that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) allowed…
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Market 3, a densely populated community on a small block of land inside the Navotas Fish Port, is no stranger to tragedies, like the fire that swept through the homes of more than 700 families before the day broke on Oct. 18. When I visited the area to hand to…
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I recently obliged myself to respond to a request to support an online petition directed at the Office of the President and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It was a call to cancel the permit of a large mining company that has been extracting gold and copper from…
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As expected, none of the reelectionist senators who voted for the approval of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law included it in their list of accomplishments that they now boast about in their campaign ads. Who would want to be associated with a law that is partly…
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Former finance secretary Roberto de Ocampo devoted almost a third of his column, “Federalism’s unpleasant surprise” (6/23/18), to heap praises on President Duterte. Wondering why the President still commands ardent support as indicated by his high approval ratings, he said, “It would be snooty and condescending to dismiss this popularity…
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Hopes rose among the urban poor when President Duterte declared, during his first month in office, that his administration would not treat them like dogs by allowing the demolition of their houses. If relocation cannot be avoided, he said, he would be “very generous” and ensure the presence of job-creating…
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Housing for those who need it most
Launched as soon as Jose Rizalino “Jerry” Acuzar was appointed head of the three-year-old Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program undeniably created excitement, especially among ordinary Filipinos dreaming to have a home of their own. By tapping funds from the private…