Urban poor group asks for aid like Mahiga folk

“WHAT about us?”

About 50 members of an urban poor federation went to Cebu City Hall yesterday asking to be given the same attention as the Mahiga Creek dwellers.

Evangeline Abejo, president of the Nasadnong Katawhang Kabus (Nakkabus) Federation, said most of her 2,000 members also face the risk of demolition while a number already had their houses torn down since last year.

“Dili mi mo sugot nga taga Mahiga Creek ray maatiman sa syudad,” said Abejo. (We won’t allow those in Mahiga Creek to be the only ones taken care of by the city.)

Mayor Michael Rama, who said the city was looking at a “holistic” solution and a genuine housing program, referred them to the Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) headed by Collin Rosell.

Rosell said the city government has 79 lots available in St. Michael Village in San Jose, Talamban, for relocation.

The previous beneficiaries had forfeited them in favor of the city.

He said 56 lots are livable and ready for occupancy. The remaining are located on slopes and need to be developed.

Another 333 lot parcels have not been awarded but about 200 lack site development and are not liveable.

These were offered to dwellers of Mahiga Creek when clearing operations started on May 2.

While Mayor Rama refused to release financial aid, he instructed DWUP to arrange for relocation.

Rama said he appreciated the effort of  Rep. Tomas Osmeña and Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar to distribute P8,000 checks  to each family as financial aid from their congressional pork barrel last Saturday.

“Thank you for the help but don’t tell stories with it. If you give, then add stories on top of that, that’s buying,” he said.

About 50 Nakkabus members gathered in front of City Hall’s legislative building yesterday to press their demand.

The association represents about 60 urban poor groups in Cebu City and has members in barangays Kamagayan, Calamba and Carreta, where demolitions have taken place.

Abejo’s group presented to Mayor Rama a letter with a list of 19 concerns.

They complained about their lack of trust in DWUP, the lack of an inventory of urban poor shanties demolished in the previous years, the need to review the city’s lot expropriation ordinance and the need to investigate the distribution of socialized housing sites.

Nakkabus also questioned Pagtambayayong Foundation’s involvement in the city’s Community Mortgage Program (CMP) and said the city should refrain from using NGOs as originators to process CMP applications.

They said Nakkabus members from barangay Kamagayan paid at least P2 million to Pagtambayayong but to date have no proof of ownership of their assigned lots, said Abejo.

Families in Kamagayan whose shanties were torn down in 2000 were assigned relocation sites in barangay Canduman in Mandaue City.

Abejo said beneficiaries have been paying for the property but to date have not been given titles or proof of ownership.

Pagtambayayong president Francisco Fernandez said in an interview with ABS-CBN that his foundation was only involved in the construction of row houses.

He asked Nakkabus members to show him receipts of  payment to help him trace where their money went.

In their letter to Mayor Rama, Nakkabus members asked to be part of monitoring the city’s urban poor programs and to be able to submit a plan on how they want their assigned areas developed.