06/04/2012 [
tribune.net.ph ]
With less
than a year before the 2013 mid-term elections, the administration appears keen
on making more big-time spendings on high-impact projects aimed at making a
good political impression. From last week’s release of some P5.1 billion for
the electrification and internal revenue allotment, Malacañang announced the
release of P5.5 billion to bankroll housing projects for the informal settlers.
The latest
fund release brought to P10.6 billion the total amount that the government had
released in two weeks.
Malacañang,
through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), released P5.5 billion to
the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the implementation of the Resettlement
Program of squatter families living in areas classified as danger zones.
“The recent
release will allow the NHA to meet the re-housing requirements of families and
communities living as informal settlers or currently in high-risk or
calamity-stricken areas. “President Aquino understands the urgency of
relocating these residents whose safety must be ensured and protected,
especially since the rainy season has begun,” Budget Secretary Butch Abad said.
According to
NHA, the program will cover the provision of 12,227 house and lot packages,
10,188 housing units and 16,527 lots to beneficiary families nationwide. The
release will be charged against the agency’s Corporate Operating Budget as
programmed in FY 2012 General Appropriations Act.
Of the total
fund, at least P4.16 billion will go to NHA-administered re-housing activities,
of which around P2.7 billion will be used to relocate informal settler families
living in high-risk areas in Metro Manila to Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan and
Pampanga. The fund will also cover families displaced from areas earmarked for
government infrastructures.
Under this
program, the government will provide housing units to beneficiary families —
articularly for off-city relocation — and community facilities such as schools,
health centers, multipurpose/livelihood centers, and police outputs in new
housing sites. In addition, socio-economic and other community support programs
will also be rolled out, with the entire program involving local government
units (LGUs), other government agencies, affected communities and
non-government organizations.
“If we were
to merely relocate these communities without accounting for their basic needs,
we would be doing the affected families a great disservice. The NHA will see to
it that informal settlers will be resettled in homes they can call their own,
with schools and community facilities well within reach,” Abad said.
Around P905.2
million of the fund for NHA-administered projects will go to re-housing
families currently living in condemned buildings or structures. An additional
P568 million will be used in relocating poor or informal settler families
affected by calamities to safe areas, as well as to provide housing assistance
to families whose homes were damaged by calamities but who do not need to be
transferred to a different location.
Meanwhile,
P1.006 billion of the total P5.5-billion fund will be directed to local
government units outside Metro Manila for the Regional Resettlement Program.
The fund will support the relocation of families in high-risk areas, those
affected by infrastructures and calamities, and those subject to court-order
eviction.
Furthermore,
P82.6 million will be devoted to housing support activities, while P252.4
million will be used in delivering critical community support services for
relocated families.
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