By JONAS ALPASAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Is housing for all but a pipe dream?
An urban poor group said that social services such as housing for the country’s poor is possible if only the Philippine government will redirect its budget to fund such. This amid housing as one of the key issues being asked of presidential candidates.
“President Duterte has been spending more and more for state forces, pork barrel, and counterinsurgency. We ask: has this helped anyone? People could have benefited from these funds if they were instead provided to ordinary folks and the homeless,” said Mimi Doringo, Kadamay secretary general.
Adequate housing, per the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, is part of the recognized right to an adequate standard of living. Both of these the Philippine government is a signatory to. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights has even further defined the right to adequate housing as a right to live in a place where there is security, peace, and dignity.
Read: A year since lockdown, the poor struggles against homelessness
Read: #COVID19Quarantine | Urban poor group reminds gov’t 4.5M Filipinos don’t have a home
Under President Duterte, however, urban poor group Kadamay said the housing backlog has increased to 6.7 million.
This, Kadamay said, may be addressed by redirecting billions of funds that have gone to the likes of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), and discretionary funds and lump sum funds available to government agencies, which critics have long said are vulnerable to corruption.
As it stands, Kadamay noted the willingness of presidential candidates Manny Pacquiao and Vice President Leni Robredo to “improve the shelter system dramatically.” Another presidential candidate, Manila mayor Isko Moreno has also mentioned plans on providing housing for the country’s poor.
Read: Kasiglahan’s miserable state highlights disregard for the poor’s right decent housing
“We are challenging those who are running for president to heed the demands of the country’s poor. Do not assume. Instead, work towards undoing the many sins of the Duterte administration,” said Doringo.
The urban poor leader, on the other hand, said they would no longer be challenging presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the late dictator.
She said, “we have nothing to ask him. It would be better for him to just go straight to jail.” (RVO) 
