DHSUD, SHDA Lead Call to Recalibrate Housing Strategies at the 33rd National Developers Convention

September 8, 2025, PHILIPPINES – As the Philippines marks National Shelter Month this October, housing developers, policymakers, and industry leaders are set to gather on October 9–10, 2025, at the Rizal Ballroom, Makati Shangri-La, Manila, Makati City, Metro Manila for the 33rd National Developers Convention to recalibrate strategies for delivering affordable, inclusive, and sustainable homes for Filipino families.

Organized by the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, Inc. (SHDA) in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), the event carries the theme ‘ReCalibrate: Upgrading Housing Strategies for a Better Tomorrow’ The event will spotlight urgent housing challenges and sector commitments, including SHDA’s pledge to deliver part of the 250,000 housing units committed by private developers in support of the government’s Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program (4PH). This contribution forms part of the administration’s target of building one million housing units annually.

“By working hand in hand with DHSUD, we aim to align the industry’s efforts with the government’s housing priorities, especially in expanding affordable housing and building sustainable communities,” said SHDA National Chairman, Ar. Leonardo Dayao Jr. “This convention is not only a celebration of National Shelter Month but also a call to action for all stakeholders to shape a better housing future for Filipinos.”

The gathering is expected to draw around 200 stakeholders, including top developers, policymakers, investors, and allied partners. Keynote speeches and panel discussions will cover innovative financing models, resilient and sustainable housing design, digital transformation in real estate, and regulatory reforms to accelerate the 4PH rollout.

“This convention is a testament to the strength of collaboration between the public and private sectors,” said SHDA National President, Engr. Francis Richmond Villegas. “Our shared goal is not just to build houses, but to build communities that uplift the lives of Filipino families.”

Through the National Developers Convention, SHDA reaffirms its role as the unified voice of the housing industry, bridging public and private sector efforts for inclusive growth, innovation, and long-term sustainability.

PBBM Appoints Fereira as New CITEM Executive Director

The Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export trade promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), mandated in promoting the Philippines as a reliable source of quality export products and services in the global market, announced that Dr. Edward L. Fereira, Ph.D. has been recently appointed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as its Executive Director. Fereira took his oath of office before DTI Secretary Fred Pascual at the DTI Main office.

He enters the country’s trade promotions industry bringing with him three decades of experience in the fields of science, business management, marketing, diplomacy, and now government service.

In 2018, Fereira was appointed as the Special Envoy of the President of the Philippines to the Republic of Kazakhstan. He also served as the First Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Philippines from 2004 to 2011.

The new executive director was also a former President of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the country’s biggest business and management organization composed of top business luminaries. His stint in MAP became his springboard to diplomacy as he led and chaired various private and government trade missions to different countries.

Fereira’s government career includes leadership roles at the National Development Corporation (NDC), Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE), Manila Gas, and Land Bank Realty Development Corporation (LBRDC) among others.

Fereira was conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Technology Management by the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP). He also holds an MBA degree from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master of Science (MS) in Marketing Management Development from Syracuse University in New York. He graduated from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor's degree in microbiology.

After completing his post-graduate studies in lunar microbiology, Fereira worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), under the Apollo 11 “First Man Moon Landing” project, as the first Filipino Lunar Microbiologist who examined the moon rocks brought back by Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Before Fereira’s appointment, CITEM Deputy Executive Director Ma. Lourdes D. Mediran served as the agency’s officer-in-charge (OIC).

First PH Startup Week Closes with National Conference, Signing of Startup Law IRR

ORTIGAS – The first Philippine Startup Week, held on November 18 to 22, 2019 capped off with the 5th Slingshot Conference and the signing of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Republic Act 11337 or the Innovative Startup Act.

The law provides startups and startup enablers with incentives like travel grants, venture funds, and assistance in getting visas and business permits. At the center of the law’s implementation will be the Philippine Startup Development Plan that reviews and harmonizes existing government programs for startups.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said that among his agency’s responsibilities, as mandated by the Innovative Startup Act, is ensuring ease of doing business for startups through a Startup Business One-Stop Shop (Startup BOSS) and administering a Startup Venture Fund, through its attached agency, the National Development Company (NDC).

The fund will match funding from venture capitalists for startups based in the Philippines. Sec. Lopez said that NDC can allocate an initial fund of Php 125 million to fund 50 startups and grow the fund as needed.

The Philippines in the global startup scene

In his welcome remarks at the Slingshot Conference on 22 November, the trade chief shared the Philippines’s standing according to the Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2019.

Startup Genome ranked Manila among the top Activation Phase Ecosystems in the world, together with Taipei, Busan, Calgary, and Frankfurt. The secretary reported that DTI has counted over 600 startups in the country; around 50 incubators and accelerators; and about 45 funders.

“Though our startup community is still relatively small, with Manila valued at US$ 378 million, we are seeing so much talent, value, and potential for growth among our young and dynamic Filipino startups,” said Sec. Lopez.

Adam Bregu, Business Development Manager of Startup Genome, gave a talk about the global startup ecosystem, with a deep dive on the Philippines. He said that 68% of the US$ 2.8 trillion value of the startup community is still concentrated in the top cities, namely San Francisco, New York, London, Beijing, Boston and Tel Aviv. This, however, already decreased from an 87% share from 2011 to 2012.

Bregu cited that Philippine startups are strong in agri-tech and food, blockchain, and fintech; the first two are the highest growing sectors globally. He also reported that the Filipino startup community has a strong local connectedness driven by its sense of community and the above-average number of female founders.

However, Bregu pointed out that to maximize growth, Philippine startups should develop a globally-focused mindset, wherein startup founders should plan to go global as early as day one. Globally-focused startups, Bregu said, grow twice as fast as their nationally-focused peers. To develop this mindset, he suggested a stronger link to the key startup hubs in the world, with an emphasis on founder-to-founder connections.

Startup Pilipinas

In 2016, DTI developed Startup Pilipinas as the industry cluster program to foster inter-enterprise linkages among startups and strengthen collaborative networks. As part of this program, DTI funds Filipino startup founders to participate in international events.

A delegation of Pinay-led startups recently participated in the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology 2019 (SWITCH) on 11 to 15 November. Aside from Singapore, DTI sent startups to 17 international events this year, including those in Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Canada, and Germany.

DTI’s foreign commercial attaches also initiated their own programs such as the Bridging the Philippines and Silicon Valley Innovation Ecosystems program and SPARK447, a co-working space at the Philippine Center in San Francisco was launched in October 2019 to provide Philippine Startups access to a virtual address and physical space.

Meanwhile, KALA Works, a 10,659-square feet co-working space founded by Fil-Am investors will be operational by the 2nd quarter of 2020. This will be the first Fil-Am managed co-working space in San Francisco with the goal of helping startups scale up by providing a state-of-the-art facility and best possible mentorship.

NDC CELEBRATES ITS CENTENNIAL YEAR

The National Development Company (NDC) had a modest celebration of its centennial year which was held at the PICC with its Chairman, DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, as the guest of honor.

The occasion was a gathering of luminaries with the presence of former NDC Chairpersons, Ambassador Lilia Bautista, Jesli Lapuz and Adrian Cristobal. Likewise, present were former General Managers, Arthur Aguilar, Jose Mari Trenas, Samie Lim and Ofelia Bulaong together with partners from the government and the private sector.

The affair was an opportunity for NDC to showcase its evolution from 1919 to 2019, from its first subsidiary, the Cebu Portland Cement Company incorporated in 1921 to its most recent investment in Rizal Mini Hydro Power Project.

The DTI Secretary cited NDC’s rich history and commended the company for its contribution to the current economic progress that the country is experiencing now.

Through its 100 years of existence, NDC took the role of a catalyst in the country’s economic development, undertaking diverse projects, from inception, to nurturing, to privatization. These include industrial projects in the form of the National Steel Corporation, Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corporation, Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation, agricultural plantations through the NDC-Guthrie Plantations, Inc. and NDC-Guthrie Estates, Inc., transport with the Philippine Airlines, National Shipping Corporation and ocean-going vessels.

Likewise, NDC was the Philippine corporate representative in the Asean Joint Venture Projects in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

After focusing on privatization during the Aquino administration, NDC reverted on its cycle of investments with the likes of the very successful First Cavite Industrial Estate, Inc., Manila Exposition Complex, Inc., Science Park of the Philippines, Inc., San Carlos Bio-ethanol, Inc., Philippine Mining Development Corporation, Philippine Pharma Procurement, Inc., NDC Philippine Infrastructure Corporation, Alabang-Sto. Tomas Development, Inc.

As NDC journeys through its bicentennial year, its developmental perspective is geared towards high impact projects where it would act as an enabler to new technology-incubation, global competitiveness endeavors, renewable energy generation, addressing supply chain gaps, micro, small and medium enterprises and urban/rural development, providing support to local economies.

Its projects in the pipeline include the Multi-purpose Gamma Irradiation Facility, the expansion of the World Trade Center Metro Manila, the Davao Food Complex in Toril, Davao, the NDC Industrial Estate in Dasmarinas, Cavite, the solar hybrid system project initially targeted to be located in Palawan and the venture fund for start-ups.

NDC is, likewise, working in parallel with and is supportive of the investment priority plans of the Department of Trade and Industry, specifically in the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone.

The company has and will continue to champion socio-economic programs through projects in greenfield areas generating employment and raising income towards the upliftment of the dignity of the Filipinos.

Realizing the need for a definitive identity and to embrace a sense of corporate branding, the celebration was capped with the release of the new NDC Logo and the NDC Corporate Hymn.