New DWUP chief told to revamp personnel

CEBU, Philippines - The newly appointed chief of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor was ordered to revamp his personnel to make his office more effective in helping the urban poor families in Cebu City.

Lawyer Collin Rosell received the tall order from Mayor Michael Rama in his second day in office.

Rama said he told Rosell to improve DWUP’s performance because he was not satisfied of the work of its personnel when it failed to provide him the correct records of how many urban poor families living in the city.

The mayor said if DWUP personnel have the initiatives they can compare notes with the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) to get the accurate figure.

Rama has advised Rosell to collate the necessary statistics for him to know about the issues that he wanted to know, including how many lots that were bought by the city during the previous administrations that are still not used for its purpose.

Rama recalled that the city bought several parcels of land during the administration of then mayor Alvin Garcia supposedly for urban poor housing. However, these were not developed for its purpose because of its difficult terrain.

Rossel replaced Engr. Danilo Gabiana as head of DWUP effective last week. Gabiana was reassigned to another position at the City Hall. – (FREEMAN)