I'm Poor, Give Me A House!

The Quezon City local government is looking at purchasing a 34-hectare lot in Montalban, Rizal to accommodate about 10,731 informal settler families living in or near the city's identified danger zones.  Mayor Herbert Bautista, with authority from the QC Council to negotiate for the purchase and acquisition of the property, has signed a Contract To Sell (CTS) with the Arce Family, who owns the land.  The land, valued at P550 per sq.m., can be used to develop 5,100 lots with an area of 40 sq.m. each.

I guess the real question now is, will there ever be an end to this dilemma?  As long as our rural areas continue to remain under-developed or undeveloped, our countryside fellowmen will continue to seek greener pastures in Metro Manila, adding to the burgeoning pollution and over-population, not to mention the problem with land-usurpation and illegal occupation woes of legitimate land owners.  Although I laud the QC local government for this initiative, this is at most a band-aid solution to the squatting problem.  We must develop the whole country, not just the capital.  That way, more people will be inclined to stay where they are.


Let's move to the country,
Jon

Informal Settlers: The scourge of the land owner

Laperal Compound in Makati City

Well, I'm not gonna delve into a philosophical tirade about informal settlers (or squatters), this is really just an update on the clash between informal settlers of the fire-razed Laperal Compound in Makati City (EDSA-Guadalupe) and the demolition team last April 28, 2011.  More than a dozen people were reportedly hurt in the clash between the clearing team and residents (meant to be used as a general term, I'm sure).  The "residents" threw rocks at members of the demolition team and police authorities who were involved in the relocation efforts.  The President has directed Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo to hold a dialog with the informal settlers and resolve the issue peacefully, and to ensure adequate resettlement.  Last Thursday, Robredo rushed to the site to help stop the violence but instead ended up in a word war with current Makati city mayor Jejomar Binay Jr.  Mayor Binay allegedly faulted Sec. Robredo for deploying only a small number of policemen to defuse tension in the area that has been declared a danger zone.

So landowners, make sure you fence your property if you're not going to put up a structure or a building yet; don't let up in paying your real estate property taxes either.  If you have informal settlers on your land, you can basically expect to spend more on relocating them, assuming you can get them to leave peacefully.


Fence it or lose it,

Jon