The Angono local government announced that the town will soon be cleared of informal settlers with the implementation of several projects and initiatives to solve the issue of squatting.
Based on the report of the local urban development and settlement office, the local government’s "Zero Squatter” program has effectively reduced the number of informal settlers in the municipality.
The report said the program is now 79.88 percent complete as it has already helped around 9,272 families settle in places which they can call their own.
The office of Mayor Jeri Mae Calderon said the local government has utilized the LGU-brokered direct buying scheme, Community Mortgage Program (CMP), National Housing Authority (NHA) program, and the municipal government’s initiative on auctioned and levied properties to achieve its goal of giving homes to informal settlers.
The city government said 959 families were facilitated through the CMP while 78 beneficiaries acquired their homes through the NHA program.
Under the LGU-brokered buying scheme, the private owners have agreed to monetize their properties being occupied by some 4,174 informal settlers, instead of going through the long process of court proceedings.
The biggest chunk of beneficiaries of the “Zero Squatter” program was facilitated through auctioned and levied properties which covered 5,129 families.
The LGU is still in the process of negotiating some 2,332 more relocation sites.
“What makes our zero squatter program is that we don’t just dump people to far places. All these initiatives are in-city relocation. Taking them far from where they work or earn a living is like displacing them,” Angono Municipal Administrator Alan Bitong Maniaol said.
Maniaol also admitted the presence of professional squatting syndicates in their locality, but the local government has put up a mechanism that has effectively thwarted attempts to establish squatter colonies in their town.
“Yes, I must admit meron talagang mga nagtatangkang magpasok ng mga squatter dito sa amin. Buti na lang we already have a mechanism in place that kept them at bay (There really are people who try to deploy squatters in our area. Thankfully, we already have a mechanism in place to keep them at bay),” he explained.