Lack of public utilities add to the hardships of informal settler families (ISFs) at government resettlement areas, Senator Raffy Tulfo said.

Tulfo revealed this in today’s hybrid public hearing of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement chaired by Senator Joseph Victor ‘’JV’’ Ejercito on bills seeking to improve government resettlement programs.

Ejercito said the national government’s housing program would fail if informal settler families (ISFs) are relocated far away from workplaces, sources of income and basic social services.

Housing projects in the country are caught in a “vicious cycle,” where houses are built out of compliance and not to provide “meaningful” shelter to the homeless, Ejercito stressed.

Tulfo said he had received several complaints that basic public utilities such as electricity, water and sewage services are absent at a number of housing and resettlement areas offered by the government which, according to utility companies, was due to the small number of ISFs in the area.

There are also reports that many housing units were poorly made, some of which had damaged walls and rooftops, making them hardly habitable, he pointed out. "There should be a clear plan before informal settlers are asked to move in to their new homes. Government should get in touch with utility companies to ensure that these services, including electricity and water, are already available when they move in," Tulfo said in Filipino.

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Undersecretary Avelino Tolentino III said they will review existing resettlement sites and to provide the basic infrastructure and immediate needs of occupants.