San Juan informal settlers relocated to Bulacan

MANILA, Philippines - At least 21 families voluntarily dismantled their shanties along the banks of the  San Juan River yesterday, the first batch of informal settlers that the San Juan city government relocated to Bulacan.

San Juan Mayor Guia Gomez said some 87 families are looking forward to being relocated in Barangay Muñoz in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

“I’m sad that we have to parts ways but happy in the sense that they would now be safe and comfortable in their new homes this coming rainy season,” she said.

Whenever a typhoon occurs in the past, the families would lose sleep because of danger to their lives, she added.

The promised P18,000 subsidy from the national government and the additional P1,000 from the city government would be handed out to the relocated families in Bulacan, Gomez said.

The families loaded their belongings onto trucks that  inter-agency task force Oplan Likas (Lumikas para Iwas Kalamidad at Sakit) had provided for their free use.

A resident, Shirley Sinag of J. Ruiz St., Barangay Salapan, said it was their fervent wish to leave the place years back because of the danger of heavy rains that caused massive flooding.

The relocation site is peaceful and clean, she added. She thanked the government and Gomez. Before being relocated, the residents were treated to a free medical checkup last Sunday to determine who among them are suffering from sickness.

The city of San Juan has at least 1,150 informal settlers and 87 families have signified willingness to be relocated to San Jose Heights, where houses range from 20 square meters to 40 sqm. in floor area. 

President Aquino is letting Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II spearhead the relocation of informal settlers.

Under Memorandum Order No. 57, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was tasked to coordinate with the National Housing Authority, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, and other relevant agencies. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said it would be up to Roxas to determine if the government could relocate the close to 20,000 families of informal settlers by yearend.

“This will be a continuing mission for Secretary Mar Roxas to ensure that all those people living in the danger zones be relocated to decent housing,” he said.

Lacierda said other agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) would help the DILG in the relocation of informal settlers.

“Remember... we have to give them social preparations for the move and, also, the P18,000 that we promised the volunteer families and all families who are going to leave esteros for safer havens,” he said.

Lacierda said the informal settler-families were taken to the relocation site to see for themselves the place where they would be moving to.

“We brought them to, for instance, in this case, San Jose del Monte and we allowed them to see, this is going to be your new havens, new homes, and they were very appreciative of the work of government and what we are doing,” he said. 

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto wants former informal settlers in Metro Manila to be enrolled in the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program on the condition that they would receive the monthly stipend if they remain in their new homes.

“Among the poor, the homeless are the poorest, so if CCT is meant for those who have the least, then they are the ones who must get it first,” he said.

Recto said a one-time relocation allowance might not be enough for those moving away from flood-prone and other danger zones. 

“If we want an assistance that will help them get back on their feet, it must be of the sustained kind, like what the CCT provides. If we want them to put down roots fast in their new community, CCT can help in this ‘anchoring’,” he said. “It should never be a permanent thing. We do not want them to develop a lifetime dependence on dole.” 

Under the CCT, a poor family will receive as much as P1,400 a month provided the children regularly attend school and go to government clinics for check up.

The DSWD-operated Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps has a budget of P44.3 billion this year for 3.9 million families. 

The amount will go up to P62.6 billion next year to accommodate 4.3 million families and an additional 131,000 homeless families and extend its coverage to 10.2 million high school students, the last two costing P2 billion and P12.3 billion, Recto said. – With Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez, Cecille Suerte Felipe