DAGUPAN CITY – Mayor Benjamin Lim has assured that the riverside squatters of sitio Dawel, along Dawel River bank of Barangay Pantal here that no ejection shall be done until relocation is available and a livelihood program for them is in place.

Last Monday the protesting riverside informal settlers trooped to the Sangguniang Panglunsod (SP) session hall supposedly to “seek the help” of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez to stop a plan to relocate them in preparation for the city’s proposed river cruise program in the area.

Lim was surprised with the sudden change of heart of the informal settlers after holding a dialogue with them and applauded the idea when he bared that “they will have the chance to own their residence and be given livelihood assistance, which is a whole lot better compared to their current situationwhere they are exposed to constant danger when floods come.”

“The letter we sent is just to inform them that they are illegally staying in the place as a matter of procedure before we relocate them to a much betterplace. It doesn’t mean, however, that they have to vacate the place right away or in two weeks time. I have given them my word na hindi sila tatanggalin sa kanilang kinalalagyan hangga’t ang ciudad ay hindi pa nakakahanap ng lugar na paglilipatan sa kanila,” said Lim.

Lim expressed concern that someone from the vice-mayor’s office has induced these settlers to block the plan, which he considers as a cheap politically-motivated ploy.

“When I said, I will give them a free housing program, I mean it. It is up to them if they will believe my word or not. In the past I have already done this. There are now more than a hundred families living in the Gawad Kalinga area, which I started in my first two terms as the city mayor. If they will succumb to the disinformation being disseminated against the river cruise program then I can only do so much for them,” said Lim. (CIO – Joseph C. Bacani)

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