President Benigno Aquino lll issued Executive Order No. 69 to strengthen the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, PCUP chairman Hernani Panganiban said.

Under E.O. 69, dated March 29, 2012, the PCUP will be transferred to the Office of the President to effectively coordinate, formulate and evaluate policies and programs concerning the urban poor.

Panganiban said that within 45 days, the PCUP together with other concerned agencies, will draft the Implementing Rules and Regulations of E.O 69.

With E.O. 69, he said they hope that there will be an improvement in the process to avoid violent demolitions.

The role of PCUP is to ensure that the rights of informal settlers under R.A. 7279 are violated, Panganiban said. It is their role to coordinate with local government units to avoid bloody demolition, he said.

He said there is a need for proper intervention on the problem of informal settlers. Consultations should be conducted, a ready relocation site and livelihood programs should be provided, and government must ensure that children will be able to continue their studies and there will be no economic dislocation, he said.

The President hopes that the number of informal settlers will not double after his terms ends since he has already reduced the present 520,000 by 120,000 in the country, Panganiban said.

“We believe the national government will not be able to resolve the problem of informal settlers unless there is a comprehensive plan for housing. In the National Capital Region alone, the housing backlog involves 526,000 families and if key cities are included, this will reach to about 2 million of the poorest of the poor,” he said.

Meanwhile, Panganiban also said congressmen are now lobbying that Visayas and Mindanao will also be allocated a budget for onsite development after the President approved a P50 billion budget for NCR.*CGS

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