Lacuna to go after ‘professional squatters’

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna has signed an executive order creating a local committee that would go after “professional squatters” in the city.

Lacuna said the committee would serve as the operating arm of the national drive against “professional squatters and squatting rings to combat the problem of informal settlers.”

Lacuna will sit as the chairperson of the committee. The chief of the Manila Police District will be the vice chairman.

The members of the committee are the officers of the Manila city government’s urban settlements office, barangay bureau as well as representatives from the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

The committee is tasked to curtail the activities of the squatting rings, provide legal assistance to victims and investigate violations of laws on eviction and demolition.

“Professional squatters target informal settler communities in large swathes of land to mulct money in exchange for ‘rights’ to live in the claimed property. They use fake documents and titles to sell or convince victims of their legitimacy,” the DHSUD said on its website.