MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has issued an executive order declaring his housing project Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) as his administration’s flagship program, and instructed government agencies to submit a detailed inventory of suitable lands for this.

Executive Order No. 34, signed on July 17 but was only released publicly today, sought to support the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development’s (DHSUD) program as housing needs reached 6.8 million in 2022.

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Marcos said government agencies, departments, instrumentalities, and government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) must “conduct an inventory of the lands that they own and administer, and submit the complete list” to the housing department within 60 days since the EO was issued.

“The inventory of lands shall include government-owned idle lands or lands that have not been used for the purpose for which they have been originally reserved or set aside for at least 10 years, and on which no improvements have been made by the owner as certified by the concerned LGU,” the President said in the EO.

The housing department, for its part, must determine what lands are suitable for the housing projects from national and local government lands.

This includes new townships and estates development, Marcos said, and this must be coordinated with the national government agencies and localities.

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DHSUD, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) must recommend to Marcos the “issuance of Proclamations declaring said public lands as alienable and disposable, and reserving the same for housing and human settlement purposes, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations,” the order read.

Marcos also instructed the Land Registration Authority (LRA), under the justice department, to assist agencies on the inventories through the provision of a list of titles and its corresponding true copies registered under the agencies.

LRA, he said, has the power to cancel the titles of the identified land and reissue the titles under the name of the housing department.

“All national government agencies and instrumentalities, including GOCCs, are hereby directed, and all LGUs are hereby enjoined, to submit regular reports to the DHSUD on the status of the implementation of the Program and their compliance with this Order,” he said.

“The DHSUD shall provide a summarized report to the President through the Office of the Executive Secretary,” he added.

The EO will take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette.

The housing department said it aimed to build 1 million housing units annually until the end of Marcos’ term in 2028 to address the country’s housing backlog. In April, the President said his administration is currently building 1.2 million housing units.

Malacañang said in November that 16,000 hectares of idle land might be used for the program.

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