The squatters and other victims of Monday’s fire have not been buried yet, but Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella already said yesterday there is no need for the city to borrow P250 million from the Philippine Veterans Bank for the purchase of a relocation site, claiming that it has available lots at the Abada-Escay relocation site and other properties.

He said he does not think it is practical at this time for the city to secure a loan to purchase properties especially that it has a budget of P1 billion.

“Let us not use this accident as a reason to borrow money,” Puentevella said referring to the fire incident in Brgy. 19 that claimed the lives of 17 persons.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia, however, said Puentevella should not use the incident against the plan of the city to purchase a new relocation site for the city’s informal settlers.

The city’s plan for the loan had been finalized long before this time and the Sangguniang Panlungsod has approved it already, he said.

Puentevella and several other political aspirants, including congressional candidate Ricardo Tan, mayoralty candidate Vladimir Gonzalez and several others running for councilor, were at the fire scene to donate relief assistance to the victims.

ROAD LOTS, PARKS

Leonardia said the properties which Puentevella and his propagandists alleged the city can use for the informal settlers, are road lots and parks. How can they be converted to relocation sites? Maybe they are just ignorant or are deliberately misleading the people, he said.

The 12-hectare property of the city in Brgy. Alangilan has been declared a forest, Leonardia said. The city also has a property at the reclamation site, but it is not appropriate for a relocation site, he said.

The remaining lot in Abada-Escay cannot accommodate the more than 12,000 squatters who are facing eviction and the more than 4,000 living in danger zones. That is why the city needs a new relocation site, he added. Obviously the solon has not checked this, or just wants to make a point.

Puentevella said that with the many people extending their help, it will not be difficult to help rebuild Brgy. 19.

Leonardia, however, said that if the owner of the lot in Barangay 19 is willing to have the property used as a relocation site, the city is willing to negotiate and if it is found to be appropriate and logical, they are willing to purchase it, he added.*CGS

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