Housing, at the basic level, can lift more incomes more consistently for more people than most programs of government. More easily as well because after purchase, it requires less sustained hard mental or physical effort and gives more consistent growth in value at less risk to more people than other programs. The greatest majority of trainees and recipients of support in agriculture, manufacturing, carpentry, construction, crafts, cottage industries, tourism, education and other sectors that have bought homes will attest that at the end of a career, the greatest portion of their retirement nest eggs' value derives from their homes more than their pensions, savings or enterprises in which they invested. This asset not only works for them, but can be a capitalization for their next generation.

And yet the recent Philippine direct allocation of P3.975 billion for housing agencies out of a P4.5 trillion budget, or some 0.08 percent, is just too little. To reverse the growing homeless population, more resources need to be given to this industry. Even if fully allocated to housing without administrative overhead, this can produce only less than 10 thousand homes in a backlog of over 6 million.

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