By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine
Star) | Updated September 9, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The government
has released P1 billion as part of the assistance to informal settlers, not
just in Metro Manila but in the entire country as well.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said
the funds would go to the Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC) to support land
tenureship loans to informal settler families under the government’s Community
Mortgage Financing (CMF) initiative.
“The fund release made in July and
representing the CMF’s fiscal year 2013 allocation under the General
Appropriations Act will cover loans for 175 projects under the SHFC’s Community
Mortgage Program,” he said in a statement.
“These projects are expected to
benefit 19,953 poor households and informal settlers nationwide,” Abad said,
noting the amount is crucial as the country gears up for the onslaught of the
rainy season.
“Now that we’re in the middle of the
rainy season, it’s even more important to inject funds into programs that will
enhance our pre-disaster management initiatives,” Abad said.
“Besides relocating poor families
particularly those in flood-prone or high-risk areas, this fund release will
also allow SHFC to give poor families the opportunity to secure their own
property,” he added.
A subsidiary of the National Home
Mortgage Finance Corp., the SHFC facilitates social housing programs and
provides assistance to organized informal settlers to secure land tenureship
through the CMF.
Under the CMF, qualified families are
provided with loans to finance the acquisition of lands which they are
currently occupying or where they have been resettled.
In 2012, SHFC financed 100 projects
where 9,287 informal settlers’ families were provided housing assistance with a
total loan takeout of P549 million.
The Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG) under Secretary Manuel Roxas II earlier said the
government is adopting a near-site or even on-site relocation policy for
informal settlers residing along the precarious waterways of Metro Manila.
Roxas said President Aquino himself
gave instructions that all relocation strategies of the government agencies
should, as a top priority, prevent the displacement of families from their
source of livelihood and schools.
The DILG is coordinating with local
governments units, civil society organizations, and agencies such as the
National Housing Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development and
SHFC in not only ensuring safe and permanent housing sites, but also for the
provision of basic services and livelihood programs for families living in the
so-called danger zones in Metro Manila.
These danger zones are communities
located near or along the tributaries of Manila Bay.
People living there are most prone to
disasters brought about by sudden silt and deposit flows that occur mostly
during rainy season.
Data from the Metro Manila Development
Authority said that as of 2011, a total of 104,219 families are living in
high-risk areas. Roxas said about 19,440 families were identified as residing
along eight waterways that are deemed very hazardous.
They are located along the San Juan
River (4,217 families), Pasig River (1,434), Tullahan River (3,683), Maricaban
Creek (1,637), Manggahan Floodway (2,997), Estero Tripa de Gallina (3,887),
Estero de Maypajo (1,415), and Estero de Sunog Apog (170).
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