BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Relocation sites for informal settler families (ISF) have to seriously consider people’ needs and aspirations and look at the holistic concept of human settlements, creating economic value for communities thus gaining acceptance for housing interventions.
This was stressed by Third District Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez during the Metro 3rd Housing Coordination meeting on November 3 held at Brgy. Patag, Silay City, Negros Occidental.
“Hilway Balay” is among the top priority advocacies of Rep. Benitez, who chairs the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, when he started his first term in 2019.
Benitez said that Local Government Units (LGU) are the driving force that hasten action on housing plans and the Congressional District Office provides full support to facilitate programs and services to address the housing backlog in the Third District.
“Working together to find solutions will ensure “Hilway Balay” and strengthen Metro 3rd’s continuing journey to smart Asenso, he stressed.
Teams composed of mostly representatives from housing and planning offices of Victorias, EB Magalona, Silay, Talisay and Murcia presented housing profiles and plans focusing on priority sites for socialized housing projects in upland, lowland, coastal and urban communities.
The reports covered the situation of around 60,000 informal settler households district-wide.
As the housing teams identified priority sites for implementation to start within the next seven months, Benitez said the body agreed to fast-track site inspection and assessment, closely coordinating with the Congressional District Office for the administrative support for applications for funding for housing projects by the national agencies.
Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca and Victorias Councilor Junb Bantug; Murcia Mayor Gerry Rojas, Silay Mayor Mark Golez; Talisay Executive Assistant Nicolai Jalandoni; and Javi Benitez joined the solon during the meeting.*
