Sunday, November 09, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Lydia C. Pendon
THE Iloilo City Council will investigate reports that six out of 10 occupants of the city-owned relocation sites are not qualified beneficiaries.
City Councilor Antonio Pesina, chair of the urban poor committee, said he invited chief of Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office (Icupao) Rony Firmeza to shed light on the matter before the City Council on November 12.
Firmeza is now in Nanjing, China, along with city planning officer Jose Roni Peñalosa and People's International Homeless Organization regional coordinator Sonia Cadornigara, to participate in the world forum on urban poor.
Pesina said that he fielded an advance team to inquire about the status of beneficiaries at the relocation sites in Bitoon and San Isidro, both in Jaro district. He added that he was astounded to know the extent of false beneficiaries presently occupying the lots.
Pesina also told his colleagues at the City Council that the occupants are either not qualified to own the lot or not the real beneficiaries but only bought the lot from the original beneficiary.
He also said the lots are not yet paid since there was no complete survey and subdivision plan, and his committee has yet to draw up a payment scheme pending the submission of the list of beneficiaries from Icupao.
City Councilor Erwin Plagata meantime expressed support to Pesina's committee.
The City Government has bought some 59 hectares of land for the 13 existing relocation sites provided for displaced families in Iloilo City.
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