NEGROS Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, House committee on housing and urban development chairman, has appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order allowing the use of public lands for on-site, in-city or near-city shelter program for the poor, including the 3,419 hectares of land in Metro Manila.
Benitez, a stalwart of the ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, said 1,234.85-hectare of government-owned lands are being occupied by informal settler families, while the 2,185-hectare of public lands have remained idle and ready for housing program.
“An order from the Palace or a law authorizing the use of idle government lands in Metro Manila to build in-city housing is integral to address the housing backlogs,” he said.
There are 2,401.72 hectares of private lands being occupied by informal settlers, he added.
Meanwhile, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, another PDP-Laban member, supported the on-site, in-city or near-city shelter program.
“In District 2, many informal settlers in barangays Commonwealth, Batasan, Holy Spirit, and Payatas have been benefited from this program. Government-owned lands have been awarded to my poor constituents where they live,” he said.
Benitez reiterated his call for the creation of a department of human settlement.