PPA offers lot for families displaced by Manila Bay cleanup

ONE-OF-A-KIND SPECTACLE People flock to the seawall to marvel at the beauty of the sunset at Manila Bay which is undergoing a massive cleanup. —EDWIN BACASMAS

More than 2,000 families who will be displaced by the ongoing government cleanup of Manila Bay have been assured of relocation to a 5-hectare property in Tondo, Manila, according to Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) made the commitment during last week’s hearing of the House oversight committee on housing called by Arroyo to address delays in the release of titles to the recipients of urban poor housing proclamations.

The committee found out that more than 2,000 families living on a property owned by the PPA at Isla Puting Bato would be displaced because of the ongoing bay rehabilitation.

Arroyo asked what arrangements were being made for the transfer of affected residents and to ensure their source of livelihood.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago replied that the agency would be willing to give the residents five hectares of its property at a nearby area in Tondo.

Social preparation fund

He also vowed to allot P1 million for the social preparation of the residents before their relocation.

The announcement was welcomed by Isla Puting Bato residents who attended the hearing at the House of Representatives.

Isla Puting Bato barangay chair Bryan Mondejar told the committee that thousands of residents had been worried about their condition due to the ongoing bay rehabilitation.

Earlier, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that the cleanup would be a “long” battle, citing 230,000 informal settler families who needed to be relocated.

Authorities had said that around 80 to 85 percent of waste in Manila Bay came from informal settlers.