House approves bill providing on-site resettlement for informal settlers

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a measure establishing an on-site, in-city or nearcity resettlement program for informal settler families (ISFs).

According to the bill’s author Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, House Bill 5144 or the proposed “On-site, In-City, Near-City Resettlement Act” aims to upgrade informal settlements “with enhanced physical living conditions and improved quality of life” and to “fully (integrate ISFs) into a city’s or an urban area’s physical and socioeconomic fabric and urban governance system.”

The bill amends Republic Act 7279, otherwise known as the “Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.”

The bill defines “in-city resettlement” as a relocation site within the jurisdiction of the city where affected ISFs are living, while “near-city resettlement” refers to a relocation site in a city adjacent to the present settlements of the affected ISFs.

Under the measure, ISFs shall be made active partners of the government in the planning and management of their own resettlement with specific focus on their housing needs and aspirations.

The bill provides for the formation of an ISF beneficiary association that will formulate and implement a “People’s Plan,” which shall include a relocation action plan, through a consultation process in coordination with the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP).

Concerned local government units will be mandated to implement the relocation and government agencies shall provide basic services and facilities where the resettlement site is located.

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Bureau of Local Government Finance of the Department of Finance shall formulate the implementing rules and regulations on cost-sharing mechanisms.

In addition, allocation for the basic services and facilities may be taken from 20 percent of the internal revenue allotment appropriated for development projects of the LGU implementing the resettlement.

Co-authors of the bill include Reps. Luis Ferrer, Mar-Len Abigail Binay, Ibarra Gutierrez, Walden Bello, Emmerenciana de Jesus, Luzviminda Ilagan and Fernando Hicap.