The Sangguniang Panlalawign (SP) has approved the purchase of P6.6-million land which will be used as resettlement site for hundreds of Badjaos currently living in a seaside village in Dauis.
The SP on Friday last week approved a resolution allowing the provincial government represented by Governor Edgar Chatto to execute the purchase of the property for the Badjaos who have set up homes along the coastline of Barangay Totolan in Dauis.
Government authorities will be purchasing a 9.7-square-kilometer land owned by one Cirilo Hontanosas in Barangay Bingag, also in Dauis.
According to the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, 189 Badjao families have agreed to be relocated to the resettlement area.
Authorities had earlier pinpointed the Badjao community in Totolan as among causes of the degradation of water conditions off the seaside village due to the lack of garbage disposal areas and proper sanitation procedures.
The Badjaos’ structures were also erected within the town’s 20-meter easement zone.
For his part, Board Member Abeleon Damalerio, chair of the SP’s committee on finance, budget and appropriations, said that the P6.6-million budget for the relocation site will be sourced from two funds.
Around 20 percent of the allocation will be from a development fund while the rest of the amount was raised through a supplemental budget approved by the SP, based on a report submitted by Damalerio.
The Provincial Appraisal Committee in March conducted an ocular inspection of the property of Hontanosas who agreed to sell the area for P680 per square meter.
In April, the Dauis local government unit through a resolution approved by the town’s Sangguniang Bayan appealed to Chatto to purchase the land which will be used for the Badjaos’ housing and also a day care center. (R. Tutas)