CEBU, Philippines - Acknowledging the increase of informal settlers in the city, the Cebu City Council is pushing for an ordinance mandating the creation of a housing committee in all barangays.
The proposed ordinance, which is now being studied by the committee on laws, shall create a specific body per barangay that will be responsible in addressing and monitoring the housing concerns of its constituents.
In his resolution, Councilor Alvin Dizon said that there is an estimated 36,000 informal settlers in the city and half of the household population is inadequately housed.
“The city’s rapid urbanization coupled with increasing prices of land make it difficult for many urban poor families to buy and own a decent shelter, which in turn forces them to live in informal settlements,†said Dizon.
He further disclosed that last 2011’s flooding has shown that many informal settlements are now concentrated in danger zones such as inlet canals, waterways, riverbanks and shorelines.
There is actually “Cebu City Ordinance 1481 or an Ordinance Regulating the Construction of Buildings and Other Structures within the City Of Cebu,†which only empowers the barangay officials to monitor the construction of buildings and other structures in their area.
If finally approved, the ordinance shall be known as “An Ordinance Creating the Barangay Housing Committee in the City of Cebu,†which will be created in all 80 barangays of the city.
The said committee shall be composed of a barangay captain as chairperson, a barangay councilor as co-chairperson especially the one holding the committee on social services, two representatives of people’s organizations or homeowners association, barangay tanod chief, a non-government organization representative, and a Lupon member.
Among others, the barangay housing committee shall recommend actions and policies to the barangay council and the Cebu City Local Housing Board on matters and issues related to housing.
The committee will also monitor demolition and eviction cases within the barangay.
The Cebu City government shall appropriate P500,000 annually for the capacity building activities of the said committee.
In January 2011, the Department of Interior and Local Government, which also acknowledges the proliferation of informal settlers as a perennial problem, actually issued a memorandum circular.
The memo mandates the local government units most especially the barangays to undertake measures to prevent and curtail the proliferation and further increase of the number of squatters in their areas.
“The rampant proliferation of informal settlers has been a nagging perennial problem that besets particularly urban local governments and are the unsightly manifestations of urban decay and intergenerational neglect,†said the DILG circular. (FREEMAN)