Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon is proposing an ordinance to permanently allocate funds for site development and lot acquisition for urban poor housing so that the money won’t be spent for other purposes.
In a draft presented in a Friday public consultation, Dizon said the ordinance would institutionalize a P100 million outlay in the city’s annual budget for site development and P50 million for lot acquisition.
Similar outlays were made in the city’s 2013 and 2014 budget but they were either unsued or were spent for other purposes, he said.
“Our purpose is really to uplift the living condition of the under privileged by offering them safe and decent housing,” he said.
Since the implementation of the Urban Housing and Development Act (UDHA) in 1992, the Cebu City government has provided relocation to 10,100 families.
Another 41,000 families living along danger zones, water bodies and those facing eviction still need to be served.
Funds for site development may be spent on site upgrading, construction of medium rise buildings and houses for socialized housing beneficiaries, self help projects, and other projects endorsed by the Local Housing Board.
The Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) is tasked to conduct consultations with beneficiaries and help in the preparation of a Program of Works and Estimates (POWE) for their site development plans.
“The ordinance will make it very clear where the money goes,” said go),” Councilor and budget committee chairperson Margot Osmeña said,