4,800 houses ready for informal settlers – Binay

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday that 4,800 housing units are ready for occupancy by informal settler families who will be removed from waterways in Metro Manila.

Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), said the informal settlers will be moved tomorrow to National Housing Authority (NHA) resettlement sites in Trece Martirez in Cavite and in San Jose del Monte, Bocaue, Norzagaray and Pandi in Bulacan.      

Binay said an initial batch of 80 informal settler families living along the San Juan River will be relocated next week to the San Jose Heights in San Jose del Monte, one of the government’s resettlement sites under the ISF housing program.  

Binay said the resettlement site is complete with basic facilities such as water and electricity, a health center and a school, among others.  

Based on the data provided by NHA, Metro Manila has 104,219 informal settler families living in danger areas and about 60,130 of them occupy major waterways.  

Under President Aquino’s directive, the government launched in 2011 a five-year, P50-billion housing program for informal settlers living in danger areas in Metro Manila, particularly along waterways.