House OKS bill mandating onsite relocation for ISFS
THE House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill mandating onsite, in-city, near-city, or off-city relocation of informal settler families (ISFS).
With 254 affirmative votes and zero no votes, lawmakers approved House Bill (HB) 5, authored by Speaker Martin G. Romualdez and Reps. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez and Jude Acidre of Tingog partylist, and Negros Occidental Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez.
The bill seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 7279, or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
It aims to address such issue, by providing for a local governmentled onsite housing for ISFS and mandating that off-city relocation may be resorted to only when incity or near-city resettlement is not feasible.
The bill calls for adequate consultation with the affected families.
It also provides for social preparation activities for beneficiaries and the institutionalization of a people’s plan developed by beneficiary families in coordination with the implementing local government unit (LGU).
The measure defines in-city or onsite resettlement as a “relocation site within the jurisdiction of a local government unit where the affected informal settler families are living.”
“Near-city resettlement” refers to a site close to the original area where the affected ISFS live but within the jurisdiction of another LGU that is adjacent to the implementing LGU.
“Off-city” relocation is a site developed outside and not adjacent to the implementing LGU.
Implementing LGUS may purchase land outside their jurisdiction for near-city or off-city housing.
LGUS are to implement the onsite, near-city, or off-city housing program for ISFS in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, National Housing Authority, National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., Home Development Mutual Fund, and Social Housing Finance Corp.
Other agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Science and Technology, and Philippine Trade and Training Center, are mandated to provide skills and livelihood training.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, in consultation with appropriate agencies, civil society groups, the private sector, and representatives of ISFS, will issue implementing rules and regulations.
“While the government has been providing resettlement sites to informal settler families, these sites have been mostly off-city. These do not provide employment opportunities and livelihood, as well as social services,” said the authors of the bill in their explanatory note.
“As a result, many families are drawn back to the cities to find employment that would provide for their needs, ending up living again in informal settlements that are the embodiment of abject poverty, social exclusion and unsafe housing,” they added.