Vice presidential frontrunner Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero vowed to push for an on-site resettlement program for Metro Manila’s informal settler families to provide them with decent housing without having to relocate them to areas where jobs and livelihood opportunities are scarce.
Since around 70 percent of the estimated 3,000 hectares occupied by ISFs are owned by the state, Escudero said the government could build medium-rise residential buildings on these lands for the same families.
“Kung magtatayo ng mga condominium na apat na palapag bawat isa, ibig sabihin three-fourths o 2,200 ektarya ang mababakanteng lupa na maaaring pakinabangan bilang karagdagang kalye upang solusyonan ang malalang trapiko. Gaganda at aayos pa ang tirahan ng ating mga kababayan,” Escudero pointed out.
The veteran lawmaker said on-site resettlement could address the housing problem of the poor not only in Metro Manila but also in other urban centers around the country where residents seeking employment gravitate.
“Through on-site resettlement, you will be able to upgrade and rehabilitate blighted slum urban areas and at the same time minimize displacement of dwellers in said areas where they have enough access to basic social services and livelihood,” Escudero said.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority placed at 2.8 million the number of informal settlers living in the National Capital Region as of 2010, or about 556,526 families.
In 2013, the Department of the Interior and Local Government identified some 104,000 families residing in areas considered as danger zones, such as railroad tracks, garbage dumps, canals, rivers and creeks.
On-site development could be costly, but Escudero said the government is capable of implementing the project given the huge amount of savings it incurred during the last five years due to public underspending.
“Mahigit P700 bilyon ang hindi nagastos ng gobyerno mula pa noong 2011. May kasabihan tayo na ‘pag gusto laging may paraan, pag ayaw palaging may dahilan.’ Madaling gumawa ng dahilan at madali ring hanapan ng paraan kung gusto talaga,” Escudero said.