Housing Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling pushed back on Senator JV Ejercito’s concerns over the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), insisting that recent leadership changes have not diminished the agency’s competence.
In a Facebook post on November 26, Ejercito said he was “surprised to find out all Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries were replaced,” warning that such sweeping changes may undermine the agency’s institutional memory.
“Being the sponsor of the DHSUD, I was surprised to find out all Usecs & Asecs were replaced. Paano na ang institutional memory?” said Ejercito, author of Republic Act 11201 that created the DHSUD.
But in a video obtained by The Situation Report, Aliling responded to the Senator a day after the latter’s post, stressing that the DHSUD continues to perform: “We beg to disagree with your statement na dahil may mga bago kaming Usec at Asec ay magkakaroon na naman ng learning curve o mawalan ng institutional knowledge ang departamento.”
“Tama po kayo, tama na ang learning curve na anim na taon. Sa accomplishments po ng departamento nitong huling anim na buwan, masasabi ko po na we hit the ground running. Wala po kaming naging learning curve,” Aliling said on November 27.
Aliling added that DHSUD has already surpassed the adjustment period expected of a relatively young agency, citing ongoing construction of modular housing units with support from other government agencies.
“Hindi po, hindi po nagdulot ng kawalan ng institutional knowledge ang aming repormang ginawa sa DHSUD. Nagde-deliver na po ng magandang resulta ang DHSUD,” the Housing chief said.
“Sa akin pong pagkakaalam, hindi po institutional knowledge ang nawala, kundi institutional corruption ang nabawasan at malapit nang mawala,” he stressed.
