Duterte appoints ex-youth solon to head urban poor body

Newly appointed PCUP Terry Ridon. INQUIRER file photo

A left-leaning former party-list representative has been appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as the new chairperson of Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP).

Former Kabataan Party-list Representative Terry Ridon confirmed the appointment on Tuesday.

As head of the PCUP, Ridon said he would support Duterte’s earlier pronouncement of not allowing demolition of poor urban communities without relocation.

“We cannot allow our urban poor to wallow further in poverty by driving them out of their homes without any recourse nor assistance from government,” Ridon said in a statement.

He vowed that under his leadership, the PCUP will review relocation projects and “determine whether relocation sites are built with acceptable standards for socialized housing,” noting that some of these projects are substandard and located in areas which are far from employment opportunities and public services.

Ridon is the latest left-leaning politician to join the Duterte Cabinet, following the appointments of Judy Taguiwalo as Social Welfare secretary, Rafael Mariano as Agrarian Reform secretary and Liza Maza as head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, among others.

READ: Duterte names members of cabinet

During his term as legislator, Ridon endorsed the filing of impeachment raps against former President Benigno Aquino III over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). Alfred Bayle/IDL

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