Manila solon bats for on-site resettlement

The homeless and the informal settlers must be resettled “on site, in city or near city” under a new social order envisioned by the proposed legislation seeking to put an end to poverty and criminality in the country.

The true essence of peace and order can only be achieved if the people feel satisfied with their lives economically and poverty reduced, according to Rep. Manuel Luis “Manny” Lopez (Manila, first district).

“We need to establish social order first in order for the community to have public order,” Lopez said in a press statement. He cited the need to facilitate the implementation of new government policies and enactment of the needed legislation intended to solve and put an end to poverty in the country.

The Tondo congressman sought the approval of a measure to establish “on site, in city or near city resettlement” now at the House committee on housing and urban development. The proposal seeks to amend Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing act of 1992.

If enacted, the law will help expand the housing program of the Duterte administration and reduce squatting activities in all cities and municipalities in the country.

As one the authors of the measure, Lopez urged the National Housing Authority, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council   and other shelter agencies to make his district in Manila a pilot area for the implementation of the measure. Manila, he said, now has a population density of 42,628 persons per square kilometer, according to government statistics.