The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Daryl Rose Virtudazo
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) disclosed recently that housing for informal settlers has been allocated a total of P5.2 billion under the 2016 national budget.
This amount will fund the relocation of 14,030 informal-settler families (ISFs) living in and around Metro Manila danger zones.
Of this amount, P4.3 billion is lodged under the National Housing Authority (NHA) budget, which targets the relocation of 12,148 ISFs, while P909 million is under the budget of the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), which aims to relocate 1,882 ISFs.
In another development the DBM has released P700 million intended for the construction of housing units for ISF living in danger areas and along the easements of Metro Manila’s various waterways.
“This P700-million release will ensure that the ISFs scheduled for resettlement this year will have safe, decent, and permanent housing waiting for them,” Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.
There are 26,367 ISFs to be relocated this year under the Oplan LIKAS (Lumikas para Iwas Kalamidad at Sakit) program, implemented by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in coordination with local government units, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, the National Housing Authority, National Anti-Poverty Commission, and other agencies.
The P700 million formed part of the P1.2-billion DILG budget for the ISF program in 2015. This month’s release follows the DILG’s submission of the required People’s Plans for the construction of micro-medium-rise buildings, the listing of project sites, and the names of beneficiaries.
Of the P1.2 billion, P509.61 million was released last year to cover the cost of administrative and preparatory activities, as well as the interim shelter or dislocation allowance for those 26,367 families, which amounted to P18,000 per family.
The DBM said the development of People’s Plans is part of the process of facilitating the relocation of ISFs. The beneficiaries participate in identifying, conceptualizing, planning, designing, developing, and managing the shelter projects.
More than 20,000 ISFs have already been relocated from waterways in Metro Manila since 2013, according to the DILG, the agency mandated to spearhead the transfer of ISFs living in danger and high-risk areas, pursuant to Memorandum Order No. 57, issued by President Aquino in Aug. 2013.