Screening of Pasay squatters for ‘Balik Probinsiya’ program underway

MANILA, Philippines—To decongest the city from the growing number of illegal settlers, the Pasay local government is offering cash for families to return to their respective provinces, providing them with enough funds to start a life anew away from Metro Manila.

In a statement, Mayor Antonino Calixto Jr. said the cash offers for relocation was a pro-active approach in dealing with the perennial problem of squatting on open lots in the city which often end in violent dispersals and clashes between settlers and the authorities.

“If we could settle the problem through peaceful means, that’s a better option to take. We’ve seen how violent some demolitions [in Metro Manila] have been,” Calixto said referring to the San Juan and Quezon City demolitions.

Calixto estimated that the city had over 30,000 families who settled illegally on some open lots.

The mayor said that much as the city government wanted to relocate the families within Pasay, such a move was quite impossible now considering the lack of space in the city for new government housing facilities.

In November last year, Calixto signed a directive ordering the city’s urban development and housing office to begin screening prospective beneficiaries of the “Balik Probinsya” program.

Among the priorities of the relocation project are those families living along waterways, railroad tracks and other locations classified as hazard areas, especially during heavy rain and weather disturbances, the mayor explained.

“We expect to have about a hundred beneficiary-families by the end of first quarter of this year. We are encouraged by the results so far and we plan to sustain this activity in the long run,” Calixto said.

Each family-beneficiary would get P25,000 which they could use to rebuild their lives in the province. Calixto said the amount would go a long way for beneficiaries, considering the cost of living in the province was relatively low compared to highly urbanized areas like Pasay.

The city council earlier allocated P4 million for the program from its budget.

The violent demolition in San Juan last week resulted in arrests of protest leaders and residents who refused to leave Barangay Corazon de Jesus, where the city government there intended to put up a new city hall and a housing project for the marginalized.

Meanwhile, thousands of settlers at a squatter colony along Agham Road in Quezon City continue to resist clearing operations of the local government, which has been planning to establish a business district envisioned to boost revenues for the city and provide more jobs for the unemployed.