FACT CHECK: Panelo inaccurately claims that 160,000 houses were built for Yolanda victims under Aquino admin

In a statement issued to reporters on May 21, former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo claimed that the Aquino administration built about 160,000 housing units to relocate victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan). This is inaccurate.

STATEMENT

Refuting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s claim that “nothing was done” in the past two administrations to rehabilitate the areas devastated by the super typhoon, Panelo said:

“The Aquino administration built about 160,000 housing units and commenced its distribution to the victims in 2014.”

Sources: GMA News, Panelo: Marcos ‘misinformed’ on Yolanda rehab claims, May 21, 2024; Daily Tribune, Marcos’ claims on ‘Yolanda’ rehab inaction refuted, May 22, 2024; Manila Bulletin, Marcos misinformed on ‘Yolanda’ – Panelo, May 22, 2024

A similar claim was echoed in a May 24 article on PhilStar.com which quoted former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea also disproving Marcos’ claim. Both Panelo and Medialdea served under the Duterte administration.

FACT

In 2014, the National Housing Authority (NHA) identified the sites for 160,000 dwelling units but completed only 42,499 when Benigno Aquino III ended his term and Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016.

A 2014 report by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council stated that in November of that year, the NHA identified the sites for 160,000 housing units to meet the required 205,128 under the government’s comprehensive rehabilitation and recovery plan for the Yolanda-hit areas.

In 2016, the Commission on Audit (COA) noted the delays in construction and the low occupancy rate (27%) of the completed houses. The agency has since repeatedly flagged the NHA for the same issues, citing “various suspension orders, time extensions, and variation orders” as causes of delay.

In its 2022 audit report, the state audit agency noted that of the 166,034 houses completed that year, 51,538 or 31% remained unoccupied.

“Review of the Status of Accomplishment for the YPHP (Yolanda Permanent Housing Project) as [of] December 31, 2022 revealed that some of the completed housing projects have not yet been turned over to the concerned LGUs despite their completion,” COA reported.

This delay in turnover was attributed to the pending approval of the consolidation-subdivision plan by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Land Management Services, release of individual lot titles by the Registry of Deeds, processing of Deed of Transfer and Acceptance, and the ongoing installation of electrical post and water lines, among others.

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(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)