Solon files 'Balik Probinsiya Program' bill

Bohol Representative Alexie Tutor has filed a measure supporting the executive order issued by President Rodrigo Duterte on the implementation of Balik Probinsiya Program.

Tutor on Wednesday filed House Bill 6674, or the proposed Balik Probinsiya Public Housing and Relocation Act, to "directly respond to the urgent need for a Balik Probinsiya program for the urban poor, especially those in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao."

The measure mandates the creation of a database on informal settlers residing in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao to identify the beneficiaries of the program.

It also seeks to register the urban poor beneficiaries for basic government services, and lay out the guidelines in creating public housing communities for them.

"The bill lays down the mandate to have ready employment for the beneficiaries, public housing, and the essential components of a functioning, thriving community. Jobs, education, electricity, water, and health services are mandated," Tutor said.

"For economic sustainability of the public housing communities, the bill includes mandates for ecozones and tourism enterprise zones as components of the commercial areas of the communities," she added.

Tutor said the Balik Probinsiya program serves as a medium-term solution to address urban congestion and population density in Manila, Cebu, and Davao.

"I am hopeful that by 2022, the first Balik Probinsiya public housing communities would have its first batches of residents settled in," she added.

In the Senate, it was Duterte's former top aide, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who had been pushing for the Balik Probinsiya program.

According to Go, the program will be a long-term solution to prevent future disease outbreaks as it encourages people, particularly informal settlers and those living in danger areas, to move out of Metro Manila and go back to their home provinces.

With a lower population density, local government units in Metro Manila would be able to respond better to health crises, he added. —AOL, GMA News