Tim Orbos
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has committed to provide housing for 150 families to be affected by the construction of the Southwest Integrated Terminal Project in Paranaque City, the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP) said聽on Wednesday.
Jon Jamora, PCUP general counsel, said that DOTr Usec. Tim Orbos and Asec. Mark de Leon made the commitment in a continuation of the department鈥檚 working partnership with the commission.
The partnership also includes a P1 billion social preparation fund for one hundred thousand urban poor families affected by the SouthRail project from Tutuban to Bicol, he disclosed.
鈥淲e thank them for their support of President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 pronouncement of 鈥楴o demolition without relocation鈥�,鈥� Jamora said in a statement as the PCUP greenlighted the project鈥檚 clearing operations during a predemolition conference.
The DOTr鈥檚 commitment was also a testament of the Duterte administration鈥檚 promise that no poor families should be left without homes as the country enters its 鈥済olden age of infrastructure,鈥� Jamora said.
鈥淲e are hopeful of the same level of compliance for urban poor housing on other pending infrastructure projects, such as MRT-7, National Housing Authority鈥檚 (NHA) Vertis North, NLEX expansion, and C-6, which involve more than twenty thousand of families,鈥� he added.
The mandatory housing policy for affected urban poor families was the flagship program of former PCUP chairman Terry Ridon, Jamora noted.
Ridon, a former lawmaker affiliated with Kabataan Partylist, was sacked by Malaca帽ang last December due to 鈥渦nnecessary junkets.鈥�