Management Services

Report No. 2002-06

Sectoral Audit

Socialized Housing Program

HOUSING AND LAND USE REGULATORY
BOARD

Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Audit
MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines
Telephone Nos.: 931-9235 , 931-74-55

9 June 2003

The Honorable Chairman and

Chief Executive Officer
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
Kalayaan Avenue, Quezon City
Sir:
We are pleased to transmit the report on the sectoral audit of the socialized
housing program of the government. The audit was focused on the examination
of the role of the HLURB in contributing to the achievement of the goals of the
government housing program, specifically in the implementation and monitoring
of compliance with the provisions of Section 18 on Balanced Housing
Development of Republic Act No. 7279 otherwise known as the Urban
Development and Housing Act of 1992.
The audit was conducted from 22 July 30 October 2002 in compliance
with Assignment Order No. 2002-020 issued by the Commission on Audit on l8
July 2002. The audit covered the period 0l January 200l to 30 June 2002.
The audit observations and recommendations were discussed with
concerned officials and employees of the agency in an exit conference held on 11
September 2002. Their comments were incorporated in the report where
appropriate.
We look forward to the proper implementation of the recommendations
and we would appreciate being informed on the action taken thereon within one
month from receipt hereof.

We acknowledge the cooperation and assistance extended to the audit

team by the officials and staff of the agency.

Very truly yours,

By Authority of the Chairman:

ILUMINADA M.V. FABROA

Director IV
Management Services

Contents

Part I

Page

Executive Summary

Introduction 2
Agency Background 3
Overall Audit Objective and Scope 4
Specific Audit Objective and Scope 5
Justifications for Choice of Area 5
Audit Approach and Methodology 6
Audit Conclusion 6
Part II

Observations and Recommendations

Chapter 1

Risk Management

Introduction 10
Observation 11
Recommendation 12
Management Comment/Reaction 12
Chapter 2

Monitoring and Coordination

Introduction 15
Observation 16
Recommendations 17
Management Comment/Reaction 19

14

PART I

Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION

Providing for the housing needs of the people especially those belonging to the
poor sector of the society is a big and challenging task the government has to
embrace. Significant effort and resources have been devoted to addressing the
housing problems in the country, yet much still remains to be done.
Provision of affordable housing requires government intervention, and the
degree of such intervention needs to be defined. This is to ensure a balance in
the roles/participation among agencies/sectors involved in the housing program
of the government. In the process of meeting the housing needs of the people,
the government must also focus on its ultimate objective of eventually
empowering the people to enable them to address their own housing needs.
The Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan or the MTPDP for the plan
period 2001-2004 reported that the supply of houses has not been increasing
and the costs of available housing are unaffordable, especially to low-income
families who have no access to credit markets for housing. This matter is
exacerbated by a land market that limits reallocation of rights to the most
valuable use of land. As a result, informal settlements continue to persist. Past
housing programs have enabled non-poor households to have access to the
formal housing markets. However, socialized housing is inaccessible to the
poor, especially those in the urban areas. The bottom 40 percent of urban
households had to resort to informal housing or informal settlements
characterized by congestion and very poor living conditions.
Under the MTPDP for the above stated plan period, the housing sector targets
the provision of shelter security to 1,200,000 households that translates to a
funding requirement of P215.16 billion. The target adopts a 73 percent to 27
percent ratio in favor of socialized housing, principally for the bottom 40
percent of households because of their inability to access the formal housing
markets. This will mean providing these households with affordable socialized
housing through efficient production of housing units for ownership and
sustainable housing finance.
Executive Order (E.O.) No. 90, s.1986 identified the four key agencies for
housing as follows: the National Housing Authority (NHA), the National Home
Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), the Human Settlements Regulatory
Commission (now called the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board or
HLURB) and the Home Financing Corporation (renamed as the Home
Insurance and Guaranty Corporation then as the Home Guarantee Corporation
or HGC under Republic Act No. 8763 dated 29 March 2000.)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The NHA is mandated as the sole government agency engaged in direct shelter
production focused on providing housing assistance to the lowest 30 percent of
urban income-earners through slum upgrading, squatter relocation, and
development of sites and services and construction of core-housing units.
The NHMFC is the major government home mortgage institution and is tasked
to operate a viable home mortgage market, utilizing long-term funds principally
provided by the Social Security System, the Government Service Insurance
System, and the Home Development Mutual Fund to purchase mortgages
originated by both private and public institutions.
The HLURB is the sole regulatory body for housing and land development. It
ensures rational land use for the equitable distribution and enjoyment of
development benefits.
The HGC mobilizes all necessary resources to broaden the capital base for the
effective delivery of housing and other related services, primarily for the lowincome earners through a viable system of credit insurance, mortgage guarantee
and securitization.
Charged with the main function of coordinating the activities of the government
housing agencies to ensure the accomplishment of the National Shelter Program
(NSP) of the government is the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating
Council or HUDCC.
The NSP is the government's comprehensive strategy to address the country's
housing problem. It rests on three basic principles, namely: (1) reliance on the
initiative and capability of beneficiaries to solve their housing problem with
minimum assistance from the government; (2) the private sector as the principal
player in providing decent and affordable housing; and (3) the government as
enabler, facilitator and catalyst in the housing market, while focusing assistance
to families within the poverty line. (The State of Philippine Housing Programs:
A Critical Look at How Philippine Housing Subsidies Work by Llanto and
Orbeta, Jr., 2001)

AGENCY BACKGROUND
The HLURB was formerly known as the Task Force on Human Settlements
(TFHS) created in 1973 under Executive Order (E.O.) No. 419. In 1976, it was
renamed Human Settlements Commission (HSC) under Presidential Decree
(P.D.) No. 933. It was further renamed Human Settlements Regulatory
Commission (HSRC) in 1978 by virtue of P.D. No. 1396 and was designated as
the regulatory arm of the Ministry of Human Settlements. In 1986, E.O. No. 90
again renamed the HSRC as the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
designated the office as the regulatory body for housing and land development
under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).
The HLURB is the sole regulatory body for housing and land development. It is
mandated to encourage greater private sector participation in low cost housing
development through the liberalization of development standards, simplification
of regulations and decentralization for permits/licenses. Foremost among its
functions is the protection of buyers of housing units and homelots, and
condominium units against unscrupulous practices in the industry. As a
regulatory body, the HLURB is in charge in the registration of subdivision lots
and condominium projects as well as in the issuance of licenses to sell
subdivisions lots and condominium units.
The HLURB is under the administrative supervision of the Office of the
President. Policy-making is vested in a nine-member Board of Commissioners,
with the Chairman of the HUDCC at the helm. It has fifteen (15) regional
offices (ROs) with each RO headed by a Regional Field Officer who oversees
the operations of HLURB at the regional level.

OVERALL AUDIT OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the management
systems and procedures for the:
funding of shelter security units;
reporting, monitoring, and coordination;
distribution/disposition of shelter security units to the intended
beneficiaries; as well as
occupancy by the intended beneficiaries
are adequate and effective and whether these contributed effectively to the
attainment of the objective of the government in providing shelter security units
to the low-income group.

The audit covered the following:

Mandated sources of funds from the Public Estates Authority
(PEA), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation
(PAGCOR), and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office
(PCSO)
Projects constructed and /or awarded or disposed/distributed for the
period 01 January 2001 to 30 June 2002

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Selected socialized housing projects in the City of Pasig
(Community Mortgage Program or CMP), and in the Municipality
of Rodriguez, formerly Montalban, Province of Rizal (Resettlement
Program)
Shelter security units valued at/costing P180,000 and below
Intended beneficiaries with annual income below P60,000
With regard to funding, the team focused only on the verification of whether the
intended funds were made available and remitted for the housing program of the
government.
The audit was undertaken in six agencies: HUDCC, NHA, NHMFC, HLURB,
City of Pasig, and Municipality of Rodriguez in the Province of Rizal. Surveys
and interviews were also conducted in the Department of Budget and
Management (DBM), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), and the National
Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to confirm data/information
gathered during the audit of the six agencies.
It was conducted from 22 July to 30 October 2002 pursuant to Assignment
Order No. 2002-020 issued by the Commission on Audit on 18 July 2002.

SPECIFIC AUDIT OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

Insofar as the HLURB is concerned, the audit was aimed at determining
whether the agencys systems and procedures effectively contributed to the
governments objective of providing shelter security units to the targeted lowincome group taking into consideration the factors enumerated in the overall
audit objective.

It was limited to an examination of the role of the HLURB in the

implementation and monitoring of compliance with the provisions of
Section 18 on Balanced Housing Development of Republic Act (R.A.)
No. 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and Housing Act
of 1992 or the UDHA.
JUSTIFICATIONS FOR CHOICE OF AREA
Priority program of the government per MTPDP
Addresses concerns of target beneficiaries as to:
Funds being diverted for other purposes
Awardees and/or occupants not being the target beneficiaries

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Congressional concern
Media interest (regular media/news coverage)

AUDIT APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

The performance of the agency was assessed using the following criteria:

Established policies and procedures

Effective reporting and monitoring mechanisms
Effective coordination mechanisms and strategies
Systematic risk management program

The following approaches/methodologies were employed during the

audit:

File review
Interviews and discussions with agency officials and personnel
Collection and analysis of data
Review of results of analyses of data
Assessment of risk management/controls testing

AUDIT CONCLUSION
The audit concluded that the risk management and the monitoring and
coordinating mechanisms and strategies of the HLURB have not totally
contributed to the overall objective of the government in providing shelter
security units to the targeted low-income group. The audit noted the existence
of risks and weaknesses in the implementation of the 20 percent requirement by
HLURB as follows:
Multi-application of the same socialized housing units (SHUs) or
usage of housing units of SHU developers as 20 percent
compliance; and
Housing units sold at over P180,000 established price for socialized
housing units.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The foregoing risks were not adequately managed in the sense that there is no
adequate monitoring of the 20 percent requirement as discussed in the pertinent
portion of the report.

PART II

Observations
and
Recommendations

CHAPTER 1

Risk Management

RISK MANAGEMENT
STRUCTURED PROCESS FOR MANAGING PROGRAM RISKS
INTRODUCTION
Risk is the chance of something happening that will have an impact upon
objectives. The happening of risks would most likely affect operational activity
and would result to unnecessary costs and losses. Thus, the development of an
organizational risk management policy and support mechanism is necessary to
provide a framework for identifying, analyzing, evaluating, treating, monitoring
and communicating risks associated with any activity, function, or process in a
way that will enable organizations to minimize losses and maximize
opportunities. To be able to serve as a better effective guide, the Risk
Management Plan should be documented and assignment of responsibility must
be clearly established. It should also be updated from time to time.
The benefits of effective risk management, insofar as the HUDCC as the
overall coordinative body on housing is concerned, include improved
coordination and monitoring of the activities of agencies involved in the
housing program of the government; and efficient and effective allocation of
resources, among others. On the part of the other key agencies involved in
housing, including the HLURB, the benefits include efficient and effective
implementation and monitoring of compliance with the provisions of Section 18
of the UDHA, identification and prequalification of qualified beneficiaries,
distribution of shelter security units to intended beneficiaries and their actual
occupancy of the units. Overall, this will assist in the effective implementation
of the housing program.

UDHA PROVISIONS ON BALANCED HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

One of the requirements for the issuance of a license to sell subdivision lots
and condominium units is compliance with the provisions of Section 18 of the
UDHA on Balanced Housing Development, whereby developers of proposed
subdivision projects shall be required to develop an area for socialized housing
equivalent to at 20 percent of the total subdivision area or total subdivision
project cost, at the option of the developer, within the same city or municipality,
whenever feasible, and in accordance with the standards set by HLURB and
other existing laws.

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RISK MANAGEMENT

OBSERVATION
ABSENCE OF A STRUCTURED PROCESS FOR MANAGING
RISKS
1.

The agency could have greatly enhanced its ability to deal with
emerging issues and new risks that would have an adverse effect on the
housing program if it had a structured process for managing program
risks. Without a structured and systematic risk management approach,
there is a greater likelihood that risks would not be identified, analyzed,
treated and monitored in a timely manner, thereby affecting the overall
effectiveness of the housing program.
The audit noted that the HLURB does not have a documented nor a
structured risk management process specifically in the implementation of
the provisions of Section 18 of the UDHA on Balanced Housing
Development. The following risks were identified in relation thereto:
Multi-application of the same socialized housing units (SHUs) or usage
of housing units of SHU developers as 20 percent compliance; and
Housing units sold at over P180,000 established price for socialized
housing units.
If the risks are left untreated, this can lead to adverse exposure or loss and
prevent an agency from meeting its targets and objectives efficiently and
effectively. Thus, managing risks is an essential element of good
management practice. Managers need not only to identify significant risks
which impact upon the attainment of goals but to manage them to
mitigate their effect. The risk management policy shall be relevant to the
organizational strategic context and its goals, objectives, and the nature of
its business.
Without a structured process of managing risks, there is a great likelihood
and probability that the risks would not be identified, analyzed, treated
and monitored specifically in the area of monitoring the implementation
of the provisions of UDHA on Balanced Housing Development. This, in
turn, would frustrate the attainment of objectives of the socialized
housing program of the government.

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RISK MANAGEMENT

RECOMMENDATION
1.1

To be able to avoid or mitigate the impact of risks, a Risk Management

Plan relative to the implementation of the provisions of UDHA on
Balanced Housing Development should be developed and documented
for the guidance of all personnel involved in such activities.
The following strategies may be adopted in implementing a risk
management system:
Establish a risk management committee or coordinator and
allocate management responsibilities;
Carry out risk surveys and determine priorities for planning risk
management activities;
Make all staff aware and inform them of the benefits of risk
management;
In areas considered necessary, develop new procedures and set
performance targets; and
Develop reporting policies and procedures to monitor progress of
compliance with the plan.
To serve its purpose more effectively, the plan should be
continually monitored and reviewed because risks do not only
change over time, but their relative significance as well as the
mechanisms and tools required to manage them efficiently and
effectively do change also.

MANAGEMENT COMMENT/REACTION
The Managements Comment/Reaction, quoted verbatim, and the
Teams Rejoinder are shown below:
Management Comment/Reaction

Teams Rejoinder

The risk management plan that

HLURB observes and implements
can be derived from an abundance
of its law-based or inherently
administrative systems and rules and
guidelines for its regulation and
supervision of the real estate

Though there are laws, rules and

regulations (LRRs) that HLURB
believes to address every issue
and concern, these cannot
substitute a documented risk
management plan, which is an
essential element of good

12

RISK MANAGEMENT

Management Comment/Reaction

Teams Rejoinder

development industry. Its rules and

guidelines are meant to address
every issues and concerns that range
from standards of development,
requirements for application and
permits,
prosecution
and
adjudication
of
violations,
enforcement of its decision, and
resort
to
enforcement
and
prosecutorial agencies of the
government. These rules and
guidelines, therefore, serves as the
map or diagram of the plans,
actions, remedies and strategies that
HLURB takes for each and every
concern that falls under its domain.

management practice. While it is

true that there is an abundance of
LRRs, the risks are not clearly
identified therein, nor are there
processes to analyze and manage
same.

This Office is grateful and

appreciative of the enlightenment
you have extended. Rest assured
that we shall continuously strive to
find better ways and means to justly,
decisively, and effectively supervise
or meet the challenges in the real
estate business to help contribute in
safeguarding the welfare, security
and comfort of our countrymen.

13

CHAPTER 2

Monitoring
and
Coordination

14

MONITORING AND COORDINATION

EFFECTIVENESS OF MONITORING AND COORDINATING
FUNCTIONS/MECHANISMS
INTRODUCTION
Among the most effective means of facilitating the effective delivery of the
socialized housing program of the government to qualified beneficiaries and
ensuring the attainment of objectives and national priorities is an evaluation of
the performance of the agencies involved in housing and the monitoring of
progress against milestones as well as conduct of coordinated efforts between
and among agencies involved in housing. Improved assessment will assist in
enhancing the consistency, completeness, and comparability of data.

UDHA PROVISIONS ON BALANCED HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

As a regulatory body, the HLURB is in charge of the registration of subdivision
lots and condominium projects as well as in the issuance of licenses to sell
subdivision lots and condominium units. One of the requirements for the
issuance of a License to Sell (LS) is compliance with the provisions of the
UDHA, the pertinent provision of which states:
Section 18. Balanced Housing Development. The Program shall
include a system to be specified in the Framework plan whereby
developers of proposed subdivision projects shall be required to
develop an area for socialized housing equivalent to at least twenty
percent (20%) of the total subdivision area or total subdivision project
cost, at the option of the developer, within the same city or
municipality, whenever feasible, and in accordance with the standards
set by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and other existing
laws x x x
The compliance on the 20 percent requirement in the form of socialized housing
serves as the private sector contribution to the housing program of the
government.
Under the Implementing Rules and Regulations to Govern Section 18 of R.A.
No. 7279, proposed subdivision projects falling under the category of socialized
housing shall be considered as having fully complied with the requirements of
Section 18 and are thus exempted for socialized housing.

15

MONITORING AND COORDINATION

OBSERVATION
WEAK MONITORING OFCOMPLIANCE ON BALANCED
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

2.

The weak monitoring of compliance with the provisions of law on

Balanced Housing Development greatly affects the realization of the
governments housing program insofar as the provision of areas for
socialized housing and the affordability of socialized housing units are
concerned, as the interest of the bottom 40 percent of urban households
which cannot afford or avail of formal housing markets is greatly
infringed.
Interviews with HLURB officials and personnel and examination of
sample documents such as dockets of developers, particularly that of New
San Jose Builders, Inc. or NSJBI which developed the Resettlement Site
(Kasiglahan Village I composed of San Jose Plains I and Sub-Urban) in
the Municipality of Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Province of Rizal,
revealed the existence of risks in the implementation of the 20 percent
requirement as indicated in the previous observation. In addition, despite
the fact that the NSJBI had at least 16 pending violations at the HLURB
as of July 2002, including the Cease and Desist Order or CDO for 5,000
socialized housing projects (at Kasiglahan Village I) sold to NHA in 1999
due to lack of license to sell, it was able to sell 2,904 additional units to
NHA in 2001. This was primarily due to the failure of the HLURB to
coordinate with NHA and with the Municipality of Rodriguez in Rizal
regarding the Notice of Violation (NOV) issued to NSJBI.
According to a personnel from the Plans and Programs Group (PPG) of
the HLURB, the double application of the same socialized housing units
as compliance is checked by indicating at the back of the LS for the main
project, the location, block and lot numbers pertaining to the 20 percent
compliance (socialized housing project). The main project to which the
SHUs pertain, on the other hand, is indicated at the back of the LS for the
socialized housing project. It is noted that an LS is issued for the main
project and another is issued for the socialized housing project.
The PPG personnel admitted though that the present system of
monitoring is not foolproof. She stated that the agency lacks funds,
facilities, equipment and personnel to conduct actual field
investigation/monitoring and added that 100 percent level of assurance
that there would be no double or multi-application will be attained only
through the adoption of the Geographical Information System, which is

16

MONITORING AND COORDINATION

now in the process of development. This system is maintained primarily
for the purpose of storage, retrieval, manipulation and analysis of spatial
data as well as non-spatial data which may be used as input and reference
for planning, decision-making, and monitoring land use changes and
development control.
Examination of sample Licenses to Sell show that one of the conditions
for the issuance and approval of the LS is sale of the SHUs only at the
maximum selling price of P180,000 per unit.
The PPG personnel stated that the HLURB is assured that SHUs are sold
at the ceiling HLURB-approved rate through the Sales Status Report
being submitted by developers on a semestral basis. She, however,
informed the audit team that they could not monitor violations on
overpricing considering the volume/magnitude of the transactions. The
only time that they investigate overpricing is when there are complaints
against the developers in this aspect.
The audit recognizes that while cross-referencing of the compliance in
the LS for the main project to the LS for the socialized housing units will,
in a way, serve as a check against multi-application of SHUs as
compliance, many cases thereof could still occur considering that not all
dockets/LSs on file are verified (unless the pertinent database and/or
information system is already in place as verification could be done
immediately) before a license to sell is issued. Due to time constraints
and in view of the tediousness of the process of verification, the audit was
not able to verify occurrences of multi-application of SHUs.
The weak monitoring of compliance with the provisions of law on
balanced housing development contributed to the non-realization of the
governments housing program particularly as regards the provision of
areas for socialized housing and the affordability of SHUs, as the interest
of the bottom 40 percent of urban households which cannot afford or
avail of formal housing markets is greatly infringed.

RECOMMENDATIONS
2.1

Initially, the HLURB should fast-track the development and

implementation of the GIS. While this may not totally eradicate the
practice, it would better forestall the double or multi-application of
the same housing units as compliance to the 20 percent requirement
under the law.

17

MONITORING AND COORDINATION

An intense information dissemination should be conducted to apprise
prospective buyers/beneficiaries of the maximum selling price of
socialized housing units. This could be done through:

conduct of meetings/dialogues with prospective

buyers/beneficiaries;
television advertisements;
publication in newspapers;
posting in conspicuous places in the offices of concerned
agencies and local government units as well as in the
project site;
issuance of flyers or brochures; etc.

In regard to actual amount paid, interviews of selected beneficiaries

could also be done.
2.2

Considering the length of time that has elapsed since the

NSJBI has entered into an agreement with the NHA for the
sale of the housing units in 1999, there is a need to revisit the
monitoring strategies of the HLURB specifically with regard
to enforcement/implementation of CDOs as well as on
coordination among agencies including local government
units. Existing information systems on housing should be
shared with all agencies concerned, whenever feasible,
specifically those on socialized housing units which have
been identified to be produced in compliance with Section 18
of the Urban Development and Housing Act.

2.3

The completion of the Development Control and Monitoring

System (DCMS), which mainly processes data/information on
monitored projects which have been issued permits/licenses
by the regional field offices, including name, location and
status
of
development
of
subdivision
projects
inspected/monitored or found with violations, and number of
violations corrected, should be fast tracked so that
information on a specific owner/developer particularly on
violations as well as status thereof, could be easily obtained.
The database should, as much as possible, include
information as to the aging of the violations, i.e., how long
the violation has remained outstanding or unsettled to serve
as guide in decision-making. The system should, likewise,
provide a check so that complete and accurate data are
entered. This would prove useful especially in the issuance of
clearance by the Monitoring Unit pertinent to the application
for Certificate of Registration or License to Sell. If the data

18

MONITORING AND COORDINATION

are complete and accurate, all unsettled violations of each
developer would appear in the clearance.

MANAGEMENT COMMENT/REACTION
The Management Comments/Reactions and the Teams Rejoinders on the
foregoing observations and recommendations are presented below.

Management
Comments/Reactions

Teams Rejoinders

A possible risks w/c could be

monitored thru reports submitted
to HLURB, complaints from
buyers,
field
investigation.
However, due to a very limited
no. of personnel for monitoring,
detailed and frequent monitoring
of each project can not be
undertaken. The Board has no
control over as to whom the
Socialized Housing units are sold
by
the
private
developers/owners;
HLURBs
function is limited to ensuring
that the subdivision plan are
within national standards and
that certain requirement such as
20% balanced is complied with.

The HLURBs system of monitoring

is more reactionary rather than
preventive in that risks are monitored
if reports are submitted or if
complaints from buyers are received.
Thus, without these reports or
complaints, instances of violations of
the provisions of the UDHA on
Balanced Housing Development as
well as on the established price for
socialized housing could hardly be
discovered and managed. In turn, the
socialized housing program of the
government would be frustrated.

Publication in the newspapers of

orders and actions relative to the
regulation or supervision of real
estate developer or owners is a
costly proposition as the Office
regularly generates, on a daily
basis, tens or hundreds of
notices, orders, and other official
directives. A posting of these
orders, etc., either in HLURB
website or bulletin boards may
address the need. The website or
database for development control
monitoring is gradually receiving
updates. Despite facing limited

The suggestions of the team are

alternative. Thus, one or more
options, whichever is/are may be
found practicable by the agency
would be alright. Inclusion of the
information in the website would be
ideal. Caution must be exercised,
however,
so
that
up-to-date
information is included therein. Also,
publication in the newspapers and
posting in conspicuous places in the
offices of housing agencies concerned
and the Register of Deeds as well as
in the project site would be an added
advantage especially since not

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MONITORING AND COORDINATION

resources to address and carry
out its national mandate and the
vast yet diverse operational
difficulties
and
issues
it
encounters,
including
its
campaign to inform, one vital
element that HLURB or the
national government needs to
ensure effective and just
regulation of the industry or
enforcement of land use laws in
the country similarly lies in an
educated,
responsible
and
enlightened citizenry whose
awareness of the laws can deter
the prevalence of lawless or
swindling developers as well as
warn citizens from being
defrauded.

everybody has access to the internet.

Closer
inter-department
coordination
or
continuous
exchanges of data between the
licensing and monitoring units,
and a reliable system of
documents-tracking is ideal but
still leaves much to be desired.
The system of maintaining
separate records or data for
license or permit evaluation, and
for monitoring or enforcement,
while vital to the maintenance of
a registry of records of projects
and for supervision of the
industry,
inevitably
create
situations where information
available to one operating unit
may not be readily accessible to
or would not be shared with the
other unit. Daily subjects of
project
evaluations
and/or
monitoring by both operating
units do not simultaneously or
uniformly transpire within the
premises of the Office. Also the
great
volume
of
records
undergoing review on a daily
basis by evaluators, both in the
licensing or monitoring units,
and the interferences of field

Problems, difficulties, and other

issues and concerns that may be
encountered in relation to exchanges
or sharing of data and information
may be threshed out via proper
means.
For
example,
regular
dialogues and meetings could be
conducted.

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MONITORING AND COORDINATION

inspections conducted in their
aid or of complaints lodged,
oftentimes cause an almost
labyrinthine routes for papers
and other vital office documents.
Shared information systems on
housing would be welcome.
Deployment of the DCMS will
start in the last quarter of this
year. Development of a geobased
System is currently being
undertaken.

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Submitted in compliance with COA Assignment Order No. 2002020 dated 18 July 2002.

MERCEDES E. CALERA
KIONISALA
Team Member
Member

FLORITA K.

EMELITA R. QUIRANTE
PAZ
Team Member

MANUELA

ADELINA L. ANCAJAS
Co-Team Leader

ISABEL D. AGITO
Team Leader

Team

E.

DELA

Team Member

CAROLINE V. IDOS
Director III
Team Supervisor

Noted by:

ILUMINADA M.V. FABROA

Director IV
Management Services

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