In the Philippine Senate, a centuries-old legal concept is being summoned to address a very modern crisis: how a government with finite land and finite resources can still fulfill its obligation to house its poorest citizens. Senator Francis Escudero's Senate Bill 2420 proposes usufruct agreements on state-owned land — allowing families to occupy and build lives on government property without the state ever surrendering title. It is a proposal that reframes the question of housing not as one of ownership, but of belonging.