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Vice President Noli “Kabayan” de Castro vows to transform housing finance in the country into a more robust system that will serve as the backbone for sustainable housing—and he wants to do it in three years’ time.

The Vice President, who concurrently chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), made this statement at the recent National Developers Convention jointly hosted by HUDCC and the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, Inc. (SHDA) in Davao City.

De Castro pointed out that addressing the country’s housing backlog “is not as simple as supplying one million units per year.”

“My resolve is to make sure that, under my term, my agencies will do the right thing—and the right thing only. We have a sound housing framework and I want to see it working properly and efficiently. I am bent on removing institutional and structural distortions,” he said.

Before the audience composed mostly of private developers, De Castro gave clear marching orders to the key shelter agencies (KSAs).

He ordered the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation to ensure the implementation of an operational secondary market.

For the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), which now handles the Community Mortgage Program, De Castro wants less dependence on government subsidy.

“I also want SHFC to shape up and clean up. I want a rational appraisal system in place,” he added.

De Castro also ordered the Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC) to fast-track the disposition of its non-performing assets to back-up its maturing obligations and beef up its guaranty capacity.

He directed the National Housing Authority (NHA) to pursue serious plans on all its prime assets to earn revenues on its properties, and to improve its collection efficiency.

“We should have a revolving fund and be less dependent on national government support,” he said.

For the Pag-IBIG Fund, his order is to provide the much-needed liquidity in the market to ensure that housing finance, including securitization and guaranty, runs efficiently.

He also wants the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) “to keep up with the changing times as far as standards and regulations are concerned.”

“I am giving the KSAs a year to show dramatic results on the directions I have set,” he said.

He also announced that the HUDCC Council has approved a circular accepting private developers’ participation in the development of resettlement sites as an alternative compliance to the government’s balanced housing requirement.

“Under the HLURB guidelines on compliance to the 20 percent balance housing, a developer may participate in the resettlement projects through financing, design, planning, development, upgrading of sites and/or housing units. The provision of basic services, community facilities and livelihood programs may also be included,” he said.

In line with the convention, De Castro earlier opened the Davao leg of the Housing Fair 2006 to kick off the celebration of National Shelter Month. The highlight of the Fair is the sale of over 60,000 foreclosed housing units from the shelter agencies and government financial institutions to government employees at low interest rates and longer repayment periods.

The Housing Fair will also be held simultaneously at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati and the Ayala Center in Cebu City on October 27 to 28.