House probe sought on where P50B resettlement fund went

INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–A party-list group allied with President Benigno Aquino III is seeking an investigation into the P50 billion in housing funds his administration had allocated for the relocation of squatters from Metro Manila’s danger zones.

Akbayan Representatives Walden Bello and Ibarra Gutierrez III filed House Resolution No. 1167 urging the committee on housing and urban development to investigate how the National Housing Authority (NHA), Social Housing Finance Corp. and Department of the Interior and Local Government utilized the P50 billion for the relocation of 104,219 informal settler families from high-risk areas such as esteros, railroad tracks, riverbanks, shorelines and other waterways.

Bello and Gutierrez noted that more than half the fund, or P27.5 billion, had been spent over the last three years—P10 billion in 2010, P10 billion in 2012 and P7.5 billion in 2013.

The project was conceived in 2010 as a five-year program to clear high-risk zones, minimize typhoon casualties and ease flooding by clearing waterways.

“We have received reports from our constituents living in danger zones that up to now, they have not been consulted regarding their relocation,” Bello said in a text message.

While the implementing agencies were mandated to provide on-site or in-city relocation sites, Bello said the NHA had been “prioritizing off-site relocation areas that were not sustainable because there were no livelihood opportunities in those areas.”

Bello said the congressional probe would determine if the funds were used properly. “Over half of the fund has already been disbursed, yet information as to where it went is not readily available from the agencies involved,” he said.

Last month, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas announced that the government was targeting to relocate at least 8,000 families from high-risk areas before the end of the year.