Colliers said major developers joining the government's Expanded 4PH program with Pag-IBIG could help clear unsold stock, including about 32,000 finished condo units. For contractors, engineers and estimators, this points to more affordable-housing work ahead, and to buyers who will compare homes closely on comfort, safety and delivery time.
Unsold Homes
According to The Manila Times and Daily Tribune, Megawide, Ayala Land (Amaia, Avida), SM Development, Filinvest Land and Robinsons Land have signed MOUs with Pag-IBIG. Federal Land and Megaworld were added at the 2nd National Housing Expo in October. Philstar, in a separate October 27 report, framed stronger partnerships as key to bridging the gap between home prices and Filipino incomes.
Two points to keep straight. First, the 32,000 figure covers completed units that are already built and unsold. Clearing them mainly helps developer cash flow. Second, an MOU is an agreement to cooperate, not a construction order.
Why It Matters
If sales of finished stock recover, developers have more room to launch or resume phases. When a program is built around price-sensitive buyers, the pressure lands on the cost per square meter of the whole building, and on how fast a unit can be turned over.
Walls are a good place to look. Wall work touches materials, labor, finishing and rework all at once. Hollow-block walls need mortar joints and thick sand-cement plaster (palitada) on both faces, and each of those steps takes crew time and curing days. When a schedule is tight, that is where days disappear.
Where AAC fits
This is where AAC honestly fits, especially for mass and mid-market housing. Blocktec's AAC blocks are laid with thin-bed adhesive and finished with skimcoat, so there is no palitada. A trained mason with a helper does about 10-12 m2 per 8-hour shift, and up to 20 m2 on straight runs. In Blocktec's cost comparison, the wall system came out up to about 21% cheaper than hollow blocks, depending on the project.
There are also things a buyer feels after turnover:
- 4-hour fire resistance rating
- Sound reduction up to STC 44 for a 150 mm wall in tested configurations
- Thermal conductivity of about 0.16 W/mK, which helps rooms stay cooler
The products are covered by DTI-BPS PS Certification Mark License No. Q-6620 and comply with PNS ASTM C1691:2019 and ASTM C1693. For non-load-bearing partitions in housing, Aerobloc (AAC-2) and Ecolite (AAC-3) are the usual starting points. Your engineer should confirm the class for each wall.
What to do now
If you are bidding or planning for 4PH-linked projects, price the wall system as a whole, not just the block. Compare the cost of block, mortar or adhesive, plaster or skimcoat, labor days and rework. Ask suppliers for strength class, certification and delivery lead time in writing. Blocktec supplies from hubs in Metro Manila (Marikina), Subic and Laguna (Cabuyao), which can shorten haul distances for projects in those areas.