CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, June 4 (PNA) – A lawmaker of the local legislative body here on Thursday hailed the approval of a law that requires an “on site relocation” of informal settlers in the city.
City Councilor Ramon Tabor, chair of the city council committee on laws and rules, said that the committee on urban poor elsewhere in the country has been batting for the on-site relocation in order to be near their sources of livelihood.
Tabor made the statement after the House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 5144, which mandates the relocation of Informal Settler Families (ISFs) within or near the cities where they lived.
He said that the HB 5144 or the “On-site, In-City, Near-City Resettlement Act,” amends Republic Act 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and House Act of 1992.
The bill defines “in-city resettlement” as a relocation site within the jurisdiction of the city where the affected ISFs are living while “near cities” refers to a relocation site in a city other than the city of the affected informal settlements, adjacent to the present settlements of the affected ISFs, Tabor said.
He said that the legislative measure would empower the informal settlers by making them active partners of the government in the planning and management of their own resettlement.
Tabor expressed confidence that the Senate would approve the bill and urged the concerned committees, and government agencies of the existence of the bill.
He said that the members of the City Council have also proposed the passage of a resolution to request Senate for the inclusion of Cagayan De Oro during public consultations so the city can express its stand based on the actual situation of informal settlers in the city. (PNA)