The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office II in Negros Oriental is urging local government units to help them identify public land that can be developed into resettlement sites for people living along the coast of the province.

CENRO II chief Charlie Fabre also warned of a possible repeat of the recent disaster that hit several coastal communities in the province recently, when big waves washed out and destroyed many houses along the shorelines.

He said these families must relocate to elevated areas and added that the severe weather patterns experienced in the country in recent weeks are effects of climate change.

Hundreds of families were displaced in Dumaguete City, Sibulan, San Jose, Amlan, and Bindoy by unusually big waves caused by the tailend of a cold front.

Portions of the national highway in San Jose and Bindoy towns were also destroyed by the crashing waves.

Many of the affected families are illegally residing on public foreshore land and have nowhere to go, spurring officials to seek help from the DENR.

Fabre urged the LGUs to sit down and coordinate with DENR authorities to identify, evaluate and process public lands that can be awarded to the local governments.

He said an LGU can submit a petition to the DENR for processing, with the final approval and proclamation by the President, to convert a vacant and open public land for socialized housing.

Fabre cited as an example a 15-hectare lot in Bais City, Negros Oriental, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had declared a resettlement site sometime in 2005 after a request from Mayor Hector Villanueva.*JFP

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