Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Acuzar discussed the details of the Marcos administration’s plans for the housing industry on the first day of the 30th National Developers Convention held from October 5 to 6, at the Grand Hyatt Manila, Taguig City.
In his keynote speech, Housing Secretary Acuzar introduced the ‘Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program,’ a directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that aims to construct a projected one million houses per year in select areas in the country to address the 6.5 million housing backlogs and the two major bottlenecks of affordability and access to funds for housing.
The two-day convention, annually organized by the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA), in partnership with the DHSUD, gathered more than 300 housing sector stakeholders who will be key players in the new administration’s ambitious, affordable and inclusive national housing program.
“This will mean huge things for housing developers and new areas of synergy between the private sector, the national government, local government units, and local communities,” said SHDA President May Rodriguez, expressing full support for the program.
Through the housing program, partner LGUs may also provide flexible financing options alongside a preferential interest rate of only 1% to make the units affordable to low-income beneficiaries.
Bringing new generation housing luminaries to the fold
Aside from Secretary Acuzar, second-generation property developers delivered their resource speeches to inspire the audience to modernize the way they do their businesses.
The roster of the young and dynamic affordable housing leaders who served as the event’s resource speakers includes Jacinto Ng, Group Executive Officer of the Joy Nostalg Group; Jose Franco B. Soberano, COO of Cebu Landmasters Inc.; Julius Guevarra, Corporate Planning Head of DM Wenceslao and Associate Inc.; Ricardo Lagdameo, President of Damosa Land; Jose Marco Antonio, President and CEO of Century Properties Group Inc; and Gabriel D. Laurel, Strategy Head for the Property Company of Friends (Pro-friends).
Soberano, Ng, and Guevarra have all been pivotal in their respective companies’ explosive growth. In the plenary session “From Good to Great: Insights from Real Estate Developers that Made the Leap,” they relayed these growth stories and the factors that allowed them to break through to their current level of success.
Meanwhile, in “Building the Urban Center of the Future,” Lagdameo, Antonio, and Laurel discussed their visions for inclusive, sustainable urban centers and shared the qualities of the urban centers that each of them built.
The six real estate leaders, who are all new movers and shakers in today’s Philippine property market, shared their best practices, success stories, and fresh perspectives as private sector developers. They also shared their experience in working hand in hand with the government, bringing in vital insights on the mode of intervention, planning and implementation, and innovations for sustainable housing communities, among others.
Later on, SHDA will hold the seventh Housing Expo from October 7 to 9 at the Megatrade Hall 1, Megamall B, Mandaluyong City, to feature an extensive selection of property offerings, construction supplies, and housing and financial services for home buyers and owners.