City Hall housing sites 7 out of 117 have approved plans

CEBU, Philippines - Over 100 housing sites under the housing program of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor were found with no approved plans.

DWUP chief Collin Rosell said only seven out of the 117 housing sites of Cebu City have approved plans.

Lack of approved plans prevents beneficiaries, who have fully paid their house and lot to the city government, to possess the title of the property.

It also brings conflicts in the implementation of site developments, which are allegedly the reason why most of the city’s relocation sites are branded as not livable.

DWUP chief Collin Rosell said he discovered it when he started the inventory of all housing sites, including relocation sites, under various housing and urban poor programs of the city government.

Supposedly, it is the DWUP that shall prepare the plans. The plans shall carry the details of the developments that must be implemented in the area. The discovery, according to Rosell, tells us that his predecessors have been sleeping on their jobs.

Rosell said it should not be wondered why many urban poor communities beg for developments because the DWUP seems to be deaf and blind of their situation.

The DWUP now is conducting a detailed inventory of all housing sites in Cebu City which he said he will present to Mayor Michael Rama and the rest in City Hall so they would know the real situation in the city’s housing site, especially, relocation sites.

By revealing the real plight of the city’s urban poor, he hopes to gain support for a reform in the urban poor and more support from officials to develop the sites according to the true intention of the city.

He has also started investigating the allegations against some DWUP personnel.

Rosell said he had to conduct a cross examination among employees, in fact, some have admitted to the anomalies and malpractices that were reported.

Rosell said that the number of personnel in the DWUP is threatened to be reduced by half because his initial assessment shows that half of the current employees of DWUP are not qualified for the job.

He said the office is becoming bigger in terms of scope of job and responsibilities so he would have to retain only the competent ones.

Meanwhile, Rama said the city’s relationship with Pagtambayayong Foundation headed by former city administrator Francisco Fernandez might be affected after the latter sued him over the Mahiga Creek demolition.

Rama told the Media that he was affected by the fact that the people who used to be his allies have sued him even as he claims he did not violate any law nor any right of the affected informal settlers.

Rama has ordered his people to look into the assistance that Pagtambayayong is receiving from the city government.

But Fernandez, in a phone interview, said that the foundation is no longer receiving assistance from the city government for six years now or during the time when he was still the city administrator.

He said Pagtambayayong refused to receive assistance to avoid conflict of interest.

Last year, they received P1 million to improve the water system in Kalunasan but it was from Senator Miguel Zubiri. The assistance was only coursed through the city government. – (FREEMAN)