Housing law misconceptions resulted in failure to resolve squatting–former senator
MANILA, Philippines – Former Senator Joey Lina on Thursday said misconceptions arising from the understanding of the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) resulted in the failure to resolve the proliferation of illegal settlers in the country.
Lina stressed that one of the misconceptions lay in some sectors’ belief that
“a right to housing is a right to free housing,” saying that nowhere in the world was free housing provided by government for the homeless.
“Right to housing may be a right to lot only or house and lot, but never free,” he said.
Lina also emphasized that it was wrong for people to “construe consultation as consent,” and that illegal settlers’ possession or use of property for a long time did not translate to ownership.
“After all the parties have been heard in a consultation, it is still the government that decides finally,” he said.
Lina, however, stressed that if relocation and eviction was the last resort, the government must exhaust all alternatives to relocate the settlers near their job sites before moving them out.
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