Funds released to relocate informal settlers in high-risk areas in Metro Manila, Luzon

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

The Philippines has released funds to relocate informal settlers, especially those living in high-risk areas in Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, and Pampanga. 

Funds worth P5.5 billion was released to the National Housing Authority (NHA), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a statement posted on its website. 

The funds, which will also benefit families displaced by government infrastructure projects, will be used to build and develop "12,227 house and lot packages, 10,188 housing units, and 16,527 lots," the agency said. 

Under the resettlement program, the Aquino administration will provide housing units to beneficiary families—particularly for off-city relocation—and community facilities such as schools, health centers, multipurpose/livelihood centers, and police outputs in new housing sites. 

Socio-economic and other community support programs will also be implemented, with the entire program involving local government units (LGUs), other government agencies, affected communities, and non-government organizations.

Of the total fund, at least P4.16 billion will go to the NHA's rehousing activities and around P2.7 billion will be used to relocate informal settler families living in these high-risk areas. 

Around P905.2 million of the fund for NHA-administered projects will go to rehousing families currently living in condemned buildings or structures, the agency said. 

An additional P568 million will be used to relocate poor or informal settler families affected by calamities to safe areas, as well as to provide housing assistance to families whose homes have been damaged by calamities, but who do not need to be transferred to a different location.

Meanwhile, P1.006 billion of the total P5.5-billion fund will be directed to local government units outside Metro Manila for the Regional Resettlement Program. 

Furthermore, P82.6 million will be devoted to housing support activities, while P252.4 million will be used to deliver critical community support services for relocated families. InterAksyon.com

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