Cabinet revamp

Hidden Agenda

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

With the BBM administration entering its fourth year, a Cabinet revamp/reshuffle is in the offing as its members have been asked to tender their resignations.

The President has already accepted the courtesy resignation of Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga, and housing czar Jerry Acuzar. Manalo will be appointed instead as the country's permanent representative to the United Nations come July, succeeding Antonio Manuel Lagdameo, while Loyzaga will be given another Cabinet-rank position at a future time.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro would be the next secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Acuzar, who will be named presidential adviser on Pasig River development, will be replaced by Human Settlements and Urban Development Undersecretary Jose Ramon Aliling.

As housing undersecretary, Aliling was in charge of the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) program and the Pasig Bigyang Buhay Muli project.

Acuzar, founder of the New San Jose Builders Inc. and brother-in-law of former Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, who was a law partner of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, is said to have under-delivered on his target of one million housing units a year.

Under Acuzar's leadership, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) was aiming to build six million housing units from 2022 to 2028.

The big question is, of course, can Aliling deliver as promised by Acuzar or will he lower his target to a more realistic level?

After all, the country has been suffering from a massive 6.5 million housing units backlog, especially for informal settler families and low-income earners for many years now, with the number expected to increase to 10 million units by 2028 due to urbanization and population growth.