Go seeks better opportunities for informal settlers
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has called on concerned government agencies to facilitate a comprehensive assessment of the population and situation of informal settler families, especially in Metro Manila, to provide better opportunities for them to start anew after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
“As the government continues to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, the poorest of the poor remain the hardest hit,” Sen. Bong Go, chair of the Senate committee on health and demography, said.
“Even if the entire Metro Manila eventually transitions to general community quarantine soon, the daily struggle for the urban poor remains the same or has become worse due to the effects of the pandemic – lack of decent and safe housing, low-paying jobs, lack of livelihood opportunities and the constant threat of criminal elements lurking in busy streets,” he added.
Go called on concerned government agencies, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources to provide maximum assistance to informal settler families.
He said if the urban poor are provided better opportunities in the countryside, they would be motivated to relocate back to their home provinces, which would help solve problems in the metropolis related to congestion such as poor quality of life, inefficiencies in the delivery of services and environmental degradation.
Go stressed the need to rapidly assess the situation of ISFs as they should be the priority target beneficiaries of the Balik Probinsya program.
Recently, a PCUP survey showed that many of them are willing to return to their provinces.
The commission expects that as soon as the government finalizes various programs under the Balik Probinsya program, more informal settler families will opt to return to the provinces.
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