By Shannia Cabuello

Bulatlat.com

MANILA — The urban poor communities gathered for the “Hukuman ng Maralita” (Court of the Poor) led by Kadamay on November 14, 2025 in front of the National Housing Authority (NHA), and found Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as well as the National Housing Authority (NHA), and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) ‘guilty of systemic corruption resulting in homelessness of millions of Filipinos.’

“While millions remain homeless, the corruption of housing funds continues. Government officials benefit from each hollow block, while the poor are being thrown away in floods, death zones, and hunger,” lamented Kadamay Secretary General Mimi Doringo in a statement.

The group argues that the problem is not caused by lack of funds, but the continuous failure in achieving construction targets, contractor abuse, and politicians’ conflicts of interest. 

The protesters further emphasized how the housing projects, programs, and relocation sites did not solve the homelessness, but only covered the stealing of billions of funds that could have provided affordable homes for the urban poor. 

Funded yet uninhabitable housing projects

Despite having a total budget of P65.43 billion ($1.11 billion) from 2015 to 2022 for housing projects, the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed that the NHA repeatedly fails to achieve its targets, leaving units vacant, projects delayed, and Filipinos homeless. 

The UN-Habitat projects that the 2022 housing backlog of 6.5 million could rise to 22 million by 2040. Before the end of Marcos Jr’s term, DHSUD admitted that it could rise to 10 million.  

Moreover, the NHA failed to meet its 2011 to 2019 target of providing homes for half of the homeless families, with only 59 percent of units being occupied. Kadamay described the relocation sites left vacant as deteriorating and uninhabitable. The NHA is also falling short of its 2025 goal of addressing the housing needs of 23 percent of the marginalized sectors.

The protest also cited the Commission on Audit (COA) reports, pointing out that wasted funds with zero accountability has become a pattern since 2020. 

In 2022, there were 50 delayed projects ranging from 16 to 1,867 days and amounted to P7.754 billion ($131 million). Advanced payments totalling P645.285 million ($10.93 million) for 117 projects have still not been recovered as some contractors involved can no longer be traced or have expired performance securities. 

Corruption thriving in conflicts of interests

Kadamay condemned how politicians exploit their position for personal gains, naming Jose Acuzar of New San Jose Builders (NSJB), Joeben Tai of Grand Taipan Land Development Inc., and Jose Ramon Aliling of Jose Aliling Construction Management Group who all hold or have held top positions in DHSUD or related housing bodies. 

The group cited the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) story which exposed the P20 million ($338,898) donation of a well-known NHA contractor NSJB to Senator Joel Villanueva’s 2022 campaign. 

The group also cited the Yolanda Housing Project. Contractors JC Tayag Builders Inc. used substandard materials, spending only P60 billion ($1.02 billion) from the P75.7 billion ($1.28 billion) allocated funds for the project. The housing units remain unsafe and unliveable. Nearly a decade after the Typhoon Yolanda, 31,000 families are still left without homes.

A decade-long suffering: Yolanda survivors still deprived of essential services

Kadamay maintained that the government officials became businessmen instead of public servants as they profit from the poverty and displacement of the poor. “The Marcos administration, together with its housing agencies, has turned the right to shelter into a business empire for the rich,” Doringo said.

Left homeless

The families shared the same struggle of being relocated either by encouragement or force. According to Estrelieta Bagasbas of Kadamay San Roque, the government offers money just for them to relocate. She also added that there have been simultaneous fires, which she said were intentional, near their area, compelling families to leave. 

“They are telling us to go, but they offer no proper place to relocate at. This is not a conversation about money. What we want is to have stable homes safe from flooding and calamities,” she said, asserting that they have been waiting for housing programs by their local government unit (LGU). 

Bagasbas also criticized the government for easily arresting the poor that only demand their rights while those responsible for the anomalous flood control funds are still free. “President Marcos Jr. and the housing agencies should be held accountable because the programs are not evident. If so, they are so far away and not free. There is no free housing. They turn it into business,” she lamented. 

A transport worker Ely Villena amplified how the relocation sites have substandard construction, far from livelihood and schools, without electricity and water. “We have no choice but to return to the cities, only to learn that the lots of our previous homes are being sold,” Villena added, saying that they are now forced to rent a place to stay.. 

According to Kadamay, relocation sites in Camarin Residences and Kasiglahan Village also lack proper flooring, paint, and electrical safety, passing on the burden of repairing the unit – which costs from P5,000 ($84.72) up to P10,000 ($169.45) — to residents. These are also located in danger zones which can be easily destroyed by floods and earthquakes. Electricity is also unaffordable, and the water systems are usually contaminated. 

Villena also shared the struggles of jeepney drivers who cannot meet the income requirement of most housing programs. “Those who had no choice but to join cooperatives are now deep in debt. All of the NHA programs are only for those who are capable of paying. We pay taxes yet we receive no services from the government,” he stated as they also suffer from high prices of goods.

“What will happen to those whose houses were demolished? To those who only collect scraps in the Smokey Mountain? Some of them live only in carts and under the bridges,” Villena asked, amplifying that programs should be actually accessible to the poor. 

The Hukuman ng Maralita said Marcos, the NHA and DHSUD have betrayed millions of Filipinos who strive to survive without secure and decent homes. After the NHA protest, the groups went to Mendiola for the National Day of Action Against Corruption, aiming to amplify their demands for accountability. (RVO)