Reimagining the BLISS housing communities

When former first lady and Metro Manila governor Imelda Marcos approved the Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services (BLISS) housing program in Metro Manila and appointed me to implement it in 1982, the goal was to build as many housing units for those who needed housing but could not afford the loan interest rates of private banks. With their regular jobs, they were also overqualified for the units offered by the National Housing Authority (NHA).

Despite difficulties, the Metro Manila BLISS housing units in four- and five-story buildings on government-owned land were quickly absorbed by the target market. The initial structures were built by the Ministry of Human Settlements, while subsequent ones were built by the NHA and some local government units. What made the housing units affordable were: 1) the use of the usufruct or long-term lease system over the land whereby the land’s market value was not incorporated into the housing cost and 2) the 25-year period to amortize the unit’s cost. These BLISS units are now over 40 years old and many need major repairs. Given the lack of government-owned land, coupled with the inability of the government to acquire new land for affordable housing, the BLISS housing sites present an opportunity for redevelopment, including the replacement of old buildings with better ones to accommodate more units.

Since their development in the 1980s, many if not most of these sites have become prime real estate. Meanwhile, the need for affordable housing is huge and increasing. Maintaining the four- and five-story structures that can accommodate only a few units no longer makes market sense. What is needed is to transform these sites into more vibrant and livable mixed-use communities. Increasing the density of the sites to allow for taller buildings will create not only a bigger number of affordable public housing units, but also a viable market for land use other than residential such as retail outlets, offices, services, and community spaces. Market-rate rental apartments and homeownership condos may also be offered. But transforming the BLISS housing sites will require an innovative approach to design and finance to preserve public affordable housing, as well as avoid the pitfalls of previous government housing projects.

A major challenge will be how to address the existing BLISS residents’ involuntary relocation with a promise of their right to return when the redevelopment project is completed. What is obvious is that many of the original BLISS housing units are in desperate need of repairs. Moreover, having been built in the 1980s, these buildings did not subscribe to the updated National Building Code that now prescribes a level of structural integrity to withstand a 7 to 8.4 magnitude earthquake. This is a serious concern, with a major earthquake likely to happen anytime. As the BLISS buildings have deteriorated, so have the neighborhoods around them changed dramatically. Metro Manila’s population has grown from 5,925,884 in the 1980s to 13,484,462 at present. At the same time, population densities have increased, from 9,317 per square kilometers in 1980 to 21,765 now. Monthly family incomes have also tripled, from P11,244 in 1975 to P34,821 in 2021. These changes need to be factored into the redevelopment plans and financing strategies for the BLISS housing sites.

A critical requirement in transforming the BLISS housing sites into vibrant mixed-use, mixed-income communities is a creative financing mechanism. Definitely, there will be a host of challenges that need to be hurdled, but as our experience with the original BLISS housing program has successfully demonstrated that when there is a will, there will always be a way.

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Nathaniel von Einsiedel is fellow of the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners and the principal urban planner of CONCEP Inc. He was commissioner for planning of Metro Manila and oversaw the implementation of the BLISS housing program.