As the Philippines advances toward upper-middle-income status, social development has taken center stage in national policy making, with the advancement of the Marcos administration’s Extended Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program (Expanded 4PH) and the accelerated implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.

By pairing aggressive housing production with structural healthcare reforms, the government aims to address two of the most pressing socioeconomic challenges facing ordinary Filipino families — shelter insecurity and out-of-pocket medical expenses.

The administration’s housing drive, executed through the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) alongside the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), marks a concerted effort to close the country’s housing backlog.

Since President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. took office, over 423,000 housing units have been constructed under the program, progressing steadily toward an ambitious target of 1.13 million housing units by 2028.

A central pillar of the Expanded 4PH framework is financial accessibility. To prevent low-income households from being priced out of homeownership, the Pag-IBIG Fund offers a subsidized interest rate of 3% per annum for eligible socialized housing loans, representing the lowest rate in the market today. More than 10,000 families are found to have already availed themselves of this reduced rate, which significantly lowers monthly amortizations.

Recent developments in Tarlac showcase the impact of these policies. Joint inspections by DHSUD Secretary Jose Ramon P. Aliling and Pag-IBIG CEO Marilene C. Acosta highlighted progress across sites like Brentwood Residences, which offers 1,022 townhouse units, and Kaia Homes, which offers 7,066 units. These developments deliver finished, ready-for-occupancy homes priced between P850,000 and P1.2 million.

This momentum extends across the country, with active turnover events occurring in Rizal, Batangas, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, and Bacolod.

The program has also expanded its reach to prioritize Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Through executive directives, OFWs are now given priority status and exempted from standard monthly salary caps under Expanded 4PH, allowing returning workers to secure long-term homes after years of working abroad. GeneralReference

Beyond physical construction, the administration is focusing on security of tenure by granting lot certificates and entitlement deeds to landless families under the Enhanced Community Mortgage Program and longstanding presidential proclamations.

To keep pace with demand, the government is partnering with private developers to adopt modern construction methods, such as precast concrete technology, to accelerate turnarounds nationwide.

Parallel to the housing drive is a comprehensive effort by the Department of Health (DoH) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to reform health financing and broaden access to quality medical services.

“To fully realize Universal Healthcare, our current legal frameworks must evolve,” Health Undersecretary Albert Francis E. Domingo recently stated.

The proposed amendments to the UHC Act focus on several core areas: refining PhilHealth premium structures, unlocking reserve funds, and optimizing how Special Health Funds are managed across local government units.

To bridge administrative gaps between local health facilities generating reimbursements and local governments allocating those funds, DoH has proposed establishing a UHC Coordinating Council.

Furthermore, the Health department secured a P1-billion budget allocation to expand the Zero-Balance Billing program beyond the 83 DoH-retained hospitals and specialty centers currently covered, ensuring indigent patients pay nothing for basic hospital stays. Health

On the ground, healthcare delivery is expanding through community-level infrastructure. The PuroKalusugan Program has reached 6.3 million Filipinos across 8,435 barangays and 110 UHC integration sites.

Simultaneously, the network of Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) Centers has grown to 62 facilities across 37 provinces, serving 1.61 million patients since March 2024.

Primary care coverage is expanding under PhilHealth’s Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (YAKAP), which has assigned 55 million Filipinos to primary care providers across 4,287 accredited clinics.

To make these benefits accessible, PhilHealth President Edwin M. Mercado reported that average claim processing times dropped by 46%, from 34.4 days to 18 days, with an operational target of 15 days.

PhilHealth expects total benefit payouts to reach between P378 billion and P400 billion, aiming to reduce out-of-pocket health spending down to 25% to 30% in the mid-term and track it down to 35% to 36% by the end of the administration’s term.

This health drive has drawn strong backing from leading private enterprise groups, including the Management Association of the Philippines, the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Marcos administration’s housing and health strategies reflect a shared blueprint: leveraging public-private partnerships, lowering financial barriers, and extending essential services directly to local communities. By scaling up the Expanded 4PH program to build dignifying communities and overhauling health financing under Universal Health Care, the government strives to strengthen both physical shelter and health security for millions of Filipinos nationwide. — Krystal Anjela H. Gamboa

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Business World Online