The City Government of Bacoor has tapped various national government agencies including the DILG IV-A to address the relocation and resettlement of informal settler families along the coastal areas of the city.
In the action planning workshop facilitated by the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) held on April 24-26, 2017, local government officials, stakeholders, and agencies involved discussed possible interventions, resettlement programs, and activities that will prevent relocated families from coming back to the said waterways communities.
Supported by the recent study conducted by the PCUP, participants were able to come up with different programs which focused on four areas namely, social protection; relocation and resettlement; actual relocation; and livelihood opportunities.
Relocation and Resettlement
It was revealed during the workshop that the development plans for the relocation sites were already approved but the city government has yet to determine specific projects for each site.
City Mayor Lani Mercado Revilla said that the construction of housing units for around 8,000 informal settler families will commence June next year and projected to be turned over in 2019.
Mayor Revilla is determined that the crafted Relocation and Resettlement Action Plan will help them address the city government’s challenge in providing decent houses for informal settler families.
The action planning was part of the interventions of the City Government of Bacoor, Cavite and DILG IV-A in compliance with the Supreme Court Writ of Continuing Mandamus to rehabilitate Manila Bay and existing mandates as provided in the Local Government Code of 1991 and Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
Among the agencies involved in the action planning workshop were the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP); Philippine National Police; Department of Public Works and Highways; and National Housing Authority. Housing authorities to include Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC); Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) also attended the said activity. —JMNR, R4A
