{"id":204182,"date":"2019-02-26T22:16:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T03:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=204182"},"modified":"2019-02-26T22:16:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T03:16:40","slug":"govt-donates-land-for-relocation-of-over-2k-informal-settlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/02\/26\/govt-donates-land-for-relocation-of-over-2k-informal-settlers\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov’t donates land for relocation of over 2K informal settlers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: The Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Philippine Ports Authority, signs a memorandum of understanding, in collaboration with the National Housing Authority, local government unit of Manila, International Container Terminal Services, Inc., and the Manila North Harbor Port, Inc., to donate five-hectare land for the relocation of informal settlers in Isla Puting Bato in Manila. (Photo<\/a>: Department of Transportation – Philippines\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Resonating the Duterte administration\u2019s drive for social responsibility, five hectares of government land will be donated for the relocation of at least 2,086 informal settler families (ISFs) long living on Isla Puting Bato in Manila.<\/p>\n

The Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Tuesday, in collaboration with the National Housing Authority (NHA), local government unit (LGU) of Manila, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), and the Manila North Harbor Port, Inc. (MNHPI).<\/p>\n

Through the MOU, the ISFs from Isla Puting Bato are now beneficiaries of new housing units in the five-hectare property owned by the PPA in Tondo, Manila.<\/p>\n

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, who also chairs the PPA Board, commended the collaborative efforts of all parties, and vowed to increase the capacity to benefit more ISFs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNapakaganda ng balita na ipinamahagi sa atin ng<\/em>\u00a0PPA\u00a0na kung saan sila po ay magbibigay o magdo<\/em>-donate\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0five hectares\u00a0para sa<\/em>\u00a0relocation\u00a0ng mga kababayan natin sa tubig. Ito \u2018ho ay mag-a-<\/em>accommodate\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a02,400 families\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0target\u00a0natin<\/em>\u00a0(This is a very good news the PPA has imparted to us where they will donate five hectares for the relocation of our fellowmen living in the area. This would accommodate 2,400 families which is our target),\u201d Tugade said.<\/p>\n

Legal Protection of ISFs<\/strong><\/p>\n

PPA general manager Jay Santiago announced the good news during the regular session of the House committee on housing and urban development, which was held remotely at Rosauro Almario Elementary School in Tondo, Manila.<\/p>\n

Santiago assured that ISF beneficiaries will receive legal protection for ownership of the housing units, as documents are being prepared to prevent their eviction. PPA targets to secure the beneficiaries up to 25 years. The land property, meanwhile, will remain under government ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeligroso po \u2018yung nasa malapit sila sa katubigan. Ito po ay hindi magiging pagmamay-ari ng kung sinuman kundi ng pamahalaan pa rin. Mayroon po tayong dokumentasyon na kasiguruhan na kung sinuman ang benepisyaryo ay hindi siya mapapaalis diyan sa<\/em>\u00a0units\u00a0na gagawin<\/em>(It is hazardous to be living near the waterway. This [property] will not be owned by anyone else but the government. We have documentation to ensure that the beneficiaries would not be evicted from their units),\u201d Santiago said.<\/p>\n

Additional land from PNR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently, a rail line of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) runs through the relocation area for the Isla Puting Bato ISFs. Both the DOTr and the PNR agreed to adjust the rail line to give way to the housing plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cGagawa tayo ng paraan para magkaroon ng<\/em>\u00a0balance\u00a0nang sa ganoon, \u2018yung hangarin natin sa kabuuan na mapaayos ang kalagayan ng mga pamilya ay mabigyan ng katuparan<\/em>\u00a0(We will make a way to strike a balance to achieve our goal of giving them [ISFs] decent homes,\u201d Tugade said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PNR will redesign its alignment of the said property to allow NHA and their actual occupants to use it. We would make available the 1,064 square meters that was requested by the Key Shelter Agencies that they would require for the fruition of the project,\u201d PNR general manager Junn Magno added.<\/p>\n

Long wait for relocation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed joy over the MOU signing, as the relocation plan was unattended for nearly 15 years until now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very happy with the developments to finally give the people of Isla Puting Bato a place they can call home,\u201d Arroyo said.<\/p>\n

Senator Cynthia Villar also conveyed her excitement for the relocation of the ISFs, which coincides with the full rehabilitation of the Manila Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are we giving our citizens on Isla Puting Bato proper shelter, but we are giving the Manila Bay a chance to return to its former glory,\u201d she said.\u00a0(DOTr PR)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Resonating the Duterte administration\u2019s drive for social responsibility, five hectares of government land will be donated for the relocation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":204183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}