Icupao chief ready to face SP inquiry on relocation sites
The chief of the Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office (Icupao) denied the accusations hurled against him by some members of the City Council relative to his alleged failure to submit reports on the status of relocation sites and the corresponding payment from the beneficiaries. As such, he is ready to submit himself to any legislative investigation on the issue.
Icupao chief Roy Firmeza stressed he has provided the members of the City Council, particularly Councilor Antonio Pesina, chair of the committee on urban poor, of his report. He said the members of the City Council were kept abreast on the status of the city's resettlement areas.
Firmeza said the council were furnished of the midyear and annual reports of the Icupao. The report contains information on how the resettlement area was disposed to the beneficiaries and the corresponding statistics on homelots released to the beneficiaries.
The Icupao was recently placed in the hot seat after the Sangguniang Panlungsod wants a moratorium in the purchase of additional lots to be used as relocation sites for the informal settlers in the city until they could submit a report on the actual distribution of lots in the relocation sites. The other issues that cropped up are the alleged non-availability of subdivision plan for each relocation site and the failure of the city government to recompense the millions of pesos used to procure the relocation sites.
Firmeza stressed he is ready whenever the council will call him to shed light over the issue. The Icupao has in hand the technical descriptions of each relocation sites and socialized housing zones in the city. The distribution of homelots are based on the subdivision plan for each relocation or socialized housing project provided to the beneficiaries.
Based on the Icupao's record, the city government has the following relocation sites: San Juan Relocation Site (Zone 3) San Juan Molo; San Juan Relocation Site (Zone 1-B & 2) San Juan Molo, South Fundidor Relocation Site, South Fundidor, Molo; East Baluarte Molo Relocation Site; Sto. Niño Relocation Site in Brgy. Sto. Niño Sur, Arevalo; Tanza Baybay Relocation Site in Barangay Tanza, Baybay, City Proper; North East Timawa Onsite Relocation Site , San Isidro, Lapaz Relocation Site, Bitoon New Sites Project, Lanit Relocation Site and Buntatala-Iloilo Flood Control Project, Banuyao Lapaz.
The socialized housing zone are in Project 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the Iloilo Flood Control Project on Sooc, Mandurriao. Projects 1 to 6 are also in Sooc, Mandurriao.
On the issue that the city failed to recompense the millions of pesos used in the purchase of relocation sites, Firmeza lamented that it was the members of the city council which did not pay attention to his proposed paying scheme. As early as 2005, Icupao has already submitted a proposed paying scheme which is affordable to all beneficiaries in number of years, Firmeza said.
The Icupao should not be blamed for the city's inability to get back whatever they have spent for the relocation sites. The failure of the city government to collect money from the beneficiaries did not made the city's coffer bankrupt anyway, said Firmeza.