Rizal flood victims to storm local housing authority

MANILA, Philippines - Hundreds of families in the government's off-city relocation sites in Rodriguez, Rizal are set to storm on Monday the local office of the National Housing Authority (NHA) to ask for a dialogue with officials.

They families were enraged by the recent flooding caused by the southwest monsoon and tropical cyclone "Luis," submerging at least 2,000 housing units in waist to roof-high water in Kasiglahan Village on September 19 .

They claimed that local government and NHA officials had not issued any warning before the massive flooding.

Aside from demanding that the housing officials secure their homes, those who needed to relocate will also ask a moratorium in monthly house payments as urban poor families continue to face the threat of flooding and lack of employment after they were transferred by government to off-city relocation sites.

The Informal Settler Fund, worth P50 billion until 2016 with an annual disbursement of P10 billion, is released by the Department of Budget and Management to the NHA supposedly for in-city housing of urban poor in Metro Manila, including those living along waterways.

Part of the ISF came from the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program of the Aquino administration, which the Supreme Court struck down in a decision earlier this year.