Concrete Dreams, Hollow Deeds: Marcos’ Housing Hope Entombed

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — April 4, 2025

Trapped in a Slum’s Desperate Embrace

THE stench of sewage fills Maria Santos’ tiny plywood shack, clinging to her clothes, her skin, her hopes. Outside, Manila’s skyscrapers shimmer in the distance—monuments to a prosperity she’ll never touch. Three years ago, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to build a million homes a year. Maria believed him. Today, she’s still waiting, her home teetering over a polluted creek, her children dreaming of a future that never seems to arrive. “They promised us a house,” she whispers, “but all I see are papers and excuses.”

The Grand Oath vs. Harsh Truth: A Dream Collapsing Like Faulty Foundations

When Marcos Jr. took office in 2022, he didn’t just promise houses—he pledged a revolution: 1 million low-cost units annually, totaling 6 million by 2028, to obliterate a housing backlog festering for decades. It was a vow soaked in political ambition, a bid to outshine his predecessors and carve a legacy beyond his father’s shadow.

Administration	Years	Total Units Built	Annual Average	Source
Marcos Sr. (1965-1986)	21	~500,000	~23,810	Historical estimates
Aquino (2010-2016)	6	~1,200,000	~200,000	NHA Reports
Duterte (2016-2022)	6	~1,500,000	~250,000	Balai Program Data
Marcos Jr. (2022-2025)	3	259,365	86,455	PCO Briefing, April 2025

Was this goal ever more than a mirage? History shouts no. Duterte’s Balai program averaged 250,000 units yearly—respectable, but nowhere near a million. Indonesia’s One Million Houses saga proves what’s possible: fueled by $1.2 billion yearly and private muscle, it hit 800,000 units by 2019. The Philippines, shackled by a stingy budget—P4.07 trillion needed for 3.2 million units by 2028, per BusinessWorld—and a bureaucracy choking on its own red tape, never stood a chance.

Chokeholds of Failure: The System Sabotaging Itself

The collapse isn’t a riddle—it’s a scandal of predictability. Undersecretary Claire Castro’s litany of alibis—loan delays, land wars, contractor droughts—sounds like a bureaucracy’s death rattle. Here’s the ugly truth:

Cash-Starved Chaos: A measly 12,000 units limped to completion by December 2024, per BusinessWorld, as loans drown in paperwork. Contractors shun paltry rates, leaving 436 proposals moldering in limbo while funds gather dust. Indonesia dangled tax breaks and ROI promises—why can’t Manila?
Paperwork Purgatory: Land grabs are a blood sport—titles clash, permits crawl, and DHSUD juggles 90 projects with 82 stuck in “preproduction.” Urban planner Dr. Anna Reyes nails it: “This system’s built to choke progress, not cradle it.”
High-Rise Horrors: Vertical housing, pitched as a space-saver, has imploded. Longer timelines, cheap materials, and a labor drought—flagged in Philstar.com’s January 2025 exposé—turn towers into ticking hazards. “We’re stacking disasters, not homes,” warns engineer Jose Lim, pointing to shaky concrete in 4PH sites.

Transparency’s a ghost here. These pitfalls—land feuds, contractor woes—predate Marcos Jr., yet he swung for the stars. Are delays hyped to dodge blame? The slashed target—6 million to 3.2 million by 2028, per Vera Files—reeks of damage control, not foresight. Meanwhile, Maria faces eviction, her slum razed for ghost projects.

Reckoning Denied: When Cheerleading Can’t Raise Roofs

Marcos’s pep talk—“We will try very, very hard”—slams into Castro’s grim scorecard. This isn’t a shortfall; it’s a canyon. The 259,365 units built mock the 6.5 million backlog DHSUD admits. Halving the goal to 3.2 million by 2028 guts credibility further. “It’s a con,” snaps urban analyst Maria Cruz. “They peddled hope, then handed out crumbs.”

Duterte’s Balai churned out 1.5 million units by playing small ball with local muscle—Marcos Jr. swung for glory and whiffed. The toll? Slums like Metro Manila’s, home to 4 million per UN-Habitat, cram families into 10-square-meter traps, prey to floods and filth.

Ripple Effects: Inequality’s Unyielding Fortress

This isn’t just a housing bust—it’s a social time bomb. Stalled builds widen the gulf between slum-dwellers and condo kings. Construction, a 10% GDP lifeline, sputters. Politically, Marcos courts backlash from a fed-up populace, with midterms in May 2025 as the Duterte clan sharpens its knives.

Final Stand: Demanding More Than Empty Words

Maria Santos deserves a roof, not rhetoric. Quick fixes—digitize permits, bribe contractors with tax breaks—could kickstart those 90 stalled projects. Long-haul, land reform must slash ownership snarls, and public-private deals with solid returns could bridge the P4 trillion abyss. Transparency’s non-negotiable: quarterly tallies—units up, cash down, families in—no more fluffy pep talks.

The people must rise—independent audits, not Palace spin, should judge this vow. Without a reckoning, Marcos’s housing vision stays a cruel illusion, abandoning millions to the wreckage of a promise shattered like brittle cement. Time’s running out—will he build, or just bluster?