Nationwide info drive for Maharlika Fund needed

the next order of business so the MIF can win broad and deep support from the public that needs to know it will be an alternative revenue stream to let the Marcos government spend much, much bigger on infrastructure and other priority programs—without resorting to additional borrowings,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said.

One of the principal authors of RA 11954, Villafuerte said “the President’s economic team led by Finance Secretary Ben (Benjamin Diokno) should work in tandem with the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and other traditional media and socmed agencies of the government to bump up public awareness—and hopefully appreciation—of this new law.

“This is urgent as the results of public opinion polls showing that although there has been significant support from

Filipinos familiar with the MIF, a majority of our people are actually clueless about this Fund, much less know that it will greatly benefit our people,” Villafuerte said.

Moreover, he said, the people need to know that tapping the MIF for additional foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows is a sure way to sustain the country’s postpandemic economic rebound and create more jobs.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

“There has to have public consultations. Feasibility studies should include ability-to-pay data. And this must be highlighted in disclosures. Not reduced to a fine print, nor hidden,” Recto said.

The same “sensitivity to consumers” should cover information technology projects, which Recto described as a “boom industry in the bureaucracy.” Maricel V. Cruz

Duterte pushes education reforms for jobs, skills

REP. Paolo Duterte of Davao City on Thursday pushed for the enactment of education reforms that would effectively address the jobs-skills mismatch in the country and bolster enterprise-based education.

Duterte made the appeals as he underscored the need for Congress to do its part in making Filipino graduates “employment-ready.”

These measures, along with his recently filed bill that seeks to establish early learning programs for indigent prekindergarten children, will help lessen the effects of the pandemic-induced education crisis in the country, Duterte said.

Duterte noted that the business sector has already sounded the alarm over the crisis situation in the education sector, which was made worse by the pandemic and the youth’s growing obsession over social media. Maricel V. Cruz

DHSUD chief: Initial list of idle lands for housing ready

DEPARTMENT of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jerry Acuzar said the DHSUD has an initial list of possible “idle lands” for public housing projects.

Acuzar made the statement a day after an order from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mandating that the DHSUD publicly disclose this list.

The Housing chief, in a radio interview, further said that his office has conducted an initial inventory of suitable lands, but did not disclose additional details.

He said: “Our list isn’t final yet so I can’t divulge more details. We have to go over and finalize our list first.”

The official further stated that rules and regulations on President Marcos’ order, which declared his Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) initiative as his administration’s flagship program, were still being crafted.

“There has to be coordination with the agencies so that we wouldn’t run into any problems. We have to respect these agencies because they are the true owners of the land. We are only requesting their lands to be used for public housing,” Acuzar, quoted by reports, said. Asked what the DHSUD would do if the identified idle lands had informal settlers, Acuzar said these residents will also benefit from public housing without having to leave their settlements.

“That’s good because we wouldn’t have negotiate anything. We would make sure that that if the squatters live on government land, we will set aside this land for them and build houses for them there,” the official said.

Under the 4PH program, the housing department aims to build a million housing units annually under Marcos steps down from office in 2028 in an effort to address the Philippines’ housing backlog.