A critical assessment of the socialized housing program under the Arroyo administration.

Abstract

Homelessness has been a pertinent problem of many Filipinos. This is manifested by the growing number of slum communities and people living along the streets in urban areas. Above anyone else, it is indeed the national government’s role to provide decent shelter for its citizens especially for the underprivileged ones.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the performance of the housing sector under the Arroyo Administration with the special focus on different socialized housing programs implemented during her presidency. It also examined the active participation of the private sector in delivering housing projects to the people.

In order to provide an adequate study, data gathered involves secondary data from the government agencies specifically the Housing and Urban Development Council and National Housing Authority. Data were analyzed and were supporter by interviews with key-resource persons both from the government and beneficiaries’ side to be able present a balanced view of the problem.

In the end of the research, major findings were summarized and recommendations were formulated. The housing programs implemented under the Arroyo Administration were inefficient due to less government participation and increased involvement of the private sector in providing houses to the homeless Filipinos. Moreover, the Philippine’s Housing Sector is driven by profit because of the large participation of the private sector/developer in the housing construction. This made the housing projects unsuccessful and failed in providing adequate housing for the poor, underprivileged Filipinos.