MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to sign an executive order that will put all idle government lands under the name of the Republic of the Philippines to enable the executive department to use these lands for government housing.

The chief executive said he is set to meet with banks and financial institutions to assist the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) in realizing its goal of building 1 million housing units per year or 6 million by the end of his term.

The EO will implement Section 24 of Republic Act No. 11201, which mandates several government agencies to jointly identify idle state lands suitable for housing and rural development.

Under the issuance, an inventory will be conducted by the DHSUD, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Land Registration Authority (LRA) to identify these lands, estimated to be more than 16,000 hectares, to be used for socialized housing.

RA 11201 paved the way for the creation of the DHSUD and vested the housing agency with the power to take and administer government lands that have been idle for 10 years and use these for urban development.

Under RA 11201, the housing department is empowered to own and administer government-owned lands that have not been utilized for the purpose they have been originally reserved or acquired for at least 10 years and identified as suitable for urban development.

Marcos said the EO will not create new regulations but will just enforce the existing law.

The chief executive said putting all these government assets under the Republic of the Philippines will ensure flexibility in deciding which of these lands should be used for housing.

DSHUD Secretary Jose Acuzar earlier told the President that it had acquired the commitment of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to the government’s housing program. (PND)