5Philippine Presidentiables’ Say in Real Estate
The 2016 presidential elections is drawing near and we only have a few months to decide on who to vote to take the highest government position in the state. The speculation market is flowing with who is going to form the government and what will be the future for the next six years. Like all other industries, the real estate industry is equally excited and nervous about the scenario post elections. Only time will show whether the property market will remain intact or experience a change.
The real estate industry is one sector with a huge multiplier effect on the economy. 2015 has been a great year for the industry because the Philippines were able to sustain momentum in the real estate sector in Q1 2015, according to property consultancy CBRE Philippines, in a report on the Metro Manila market. CBRE observed that the property sector continued to grow, supported by low inflation, a promising business climate and higher government spending.
The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is a significant contributor to the growth and robust nature of the office market, particularly the IT-BPO sector which registered an 18.7 per cent revenue increase in 2014 and breached the one-million mark in employment.
The BPO industry in the Philippines will continue to drive growth in the real estate market this year, according to a report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC. The Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2015 report ranked Manila as eighth among Asia Pacific (APAC) countries in investment and development prospects, higher than neighbours Singapore, Taipei and Bangkok.
The year 2016 will be a very challenging yet exciting year for the country’s property sector as real estate developments shift its focus on catering to the specific needs of investors, as well as end users.
The challenge lies on several factors such as the current “over supply” of inventories as property investments and developments flooded the market over the past few years.
Thus, as the 2016 presidential election heats up, property portal Lamudi Philippines seeks to contribute to the presidential evaluation discourse by outlining each aspirant’s accomplishments that in some way benefited the real estate industry.
Mar A. Roxas II
As a former legislator, he authored Republic Act 8748, an amendment to the Special Economic Zone Act.
Although establishments operating in the ecozones are exempted from paying taxes, this amendment required them to remit 5 percent of gross income: 3 percent to the government and 2 percent directly to the treasurer’s office of the host city or municipality. This law also sanctioned “disturbance compensation” for residents who were displaced to give way for the ecozone construction. Roxas also authored Republic Act 8756, which gave incentives to multinational companies establishing regional headquarters here, including issuance of multiple-entry visas to expat employees and immediate family members, a fixed withholding tax on compensation of 15 percent and exemption on value-added tax.
(Roxas’ support for the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector helped this industry become a key driver of the property sector and the economy over the years).
Miriam Defensor Santiago
Cited as one of the country’s most prolific legislators, Lamudi said that among the pertinent bills she had co-authored was Republic Act 9646 or the Real Estate Service Act (RESA). This law called for the professionalization of the real estate service by means of mandating all practitioners to be licensed by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the same way that lawyers, doctors, engineers, nurses and architects were licensed by the agency.
Grace Poe
The neophyte senator has yet to leave a mark on the real estate industry, Lamudi said, however, that she had led hearings on public transport, most notably on the rehabilitation of the Metro Railway Transit (MRT) and Light Railway Transit (LRT).
Jejomar Binay Jr.
As head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), Binay claims a number of accomplishments for the country’s key shelter agencies, including the provision of house and lot packages, lots, or houses valued at P268.83 million to almost 800,000 families. Quoting Binay’s spokesperson, Lamudi noted that under Binay’s term as housing czar, Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or the Pag-IBIG Fund became the largest shelter agency with assets reaching more than P376 billion. Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) had also become stricter in monitoring the real estate industry, most notably on advertisements which could mislead buyers of properties, such as inaccurate locations and exaggerations.
Rodrigo Duterte
Although long-time Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte has yet to make his political contributions felt, Lamudi noted his “well-lauded” accomplishments as a local chief executive. “Observers believe Davao City became more progressive (and safer) under his watch, and among his most important ordinances is the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which outlined flood- and landslide-prone areas within Davao City where human settlement is prohibited,” Lamudi said. “He is also quite popular for his focus on peace and order, and many of his supporters hope he can accomplish in the entire Philippines what he had in Davao City.”
Real Estate is not directly correlated with the elections but is correlated with how the economy is doing. The economy in the next six years will be in the hands of the new president, on how he/she will address existing economic problems, on how he/she will sustain the current market now, and on what laws he/she will be implementing,
Resources
http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/Emerging-Trends-Asia-Pacific-2015.pdf
