Home 
MANILA, Philippines?There's more to President Macapagal-Arroyo's order to relocate informal settlers living near riverbanks than meets the eye.
More than half of close to 40,000 displaced families in evacuation centers in Metro Manila and southern Luzon are eligible for relocation, but some of them will have to wait much longer since their new homes have yet to be built.
"Some of them will need to stay longer [in evacuation centers] than others because their new homes aren't available yet,'' Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said in a phone interview.
Some 39,000 displaced families are still in evacuation centers in the metropolis as well as in Rizal and Laguna provinces weeks after fleeing floods spawned by tropical cyclones "Ondoy'' and "Pepeng.''
More than half of the displaced people?between 23,000 and 25,000 families who lived near riverbanks, esteros, and around Laguna de Bay, before the great flood hit on Sept. 26?could qualify for relocation, Cabral said.
Around Metro Manila, there are at least 70,000 families of informal settlers that need to be moved from "danger-prone areas'' to a much safer, more permanent resettlement, according to officials.
At Thursday's Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) in Malacañang, Ms Arroyo reiterated her order to relocate the thousands of evacuees to a new site.
So far, at least 450 families from Marikina City have been bused to a resettlement area in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. If the thousands of families still in evacuation centers agree to be relocated, they will have to wait much longer for the buses that will transport them to their new homes.
Vice President Noli de Castro, who has been put in charge of the relocation, said last Tuesday that 2,350 houses were ready for occupancy in relocation sites in Sta. Rosa and Biñan, Laguna, and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, which he heads, could also make available 8,175 more units for displaced families, he said in a statement.
That puts the number of available housing units at slightly more than 10,000, or half of the number of families eligible for relocation.
"I agree, relocating these people is not going to be easy and it's going to take some time,'' Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said in a briefing. "I think the actual major relocation will take place, three, six months from now, and will last very much longer.''
According to De Castro, there are 5,825 developed lots available, but the government needs two more months to develop the relocation sites and build the houses. When the housing units are completed, there will be 3,212 house-and-lot units in Calauan, Laguna, and 2,613 units in Rodriguez, Rizal, he said.
In last Tuesday's Cabinet meeting in Dagupan City, De Castro said two housing projects?one in Tuba, Benguet, for 223 families and another Uringan, Pangasinan, for 1,000 families?have been identified.
The next batch of relocatees?some 400 families from Quezon City?were now being prepared for their relocation to Towerville in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, De Castro said.
On top of this, there's a request from Pasig City officials for 3,000 units for displaced families.
De Castro did not reply to the Inquirer's request for an interview, relayed through his staff.
To further unclog the evacuation centers, the government is also offering a "Balik Probinsiya" program (Back to the Province) for displaced families, complete with a P23,000 financial assistance package (or minimum wage times 60 days).
In Pasig, some 300 families have expressed a desire to avail themselves of this package and start life anew in their own hometowns, according to De Castro.
