President Marcos Jr. will place  the state’s idle lands under the name of the Republic of the Philippines so that these could be used for the government’s socialized housing program, Malacañang said Monday.

The President will sign an executive order to make it happen in line with the law creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), which mandates several government agencies to jointly identify idle state lands suitable for housing and rural development. 

The DHSUD has the power to take and administer government lands that have been idle for 10 years and use these for urban development.

They are an estimated 16,000 hectares of land that could be used for the program.  

The President believes that putting all these government assets under the Republic of the Philippines would give the administration flexibility in deciding which land assets would be used for housing. 

Cheloy Garafil, officer in charge of the Office of the Press Secretary, also said the President would meet with banks and financial institutions to help the DHSUD to reach its goal of building one million housing units per year or six million in six years.

Photo credit: Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development