Mayors tasked to intensify campaign against squatting

CITY and town mayors have been ordered to create local committees against squatting syndicates and professional squatters (LCASSPS) in their respective localities as one way to further intensify the campaign against professional squatters.

In his directive, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo stressed that the proliferation of professional squatters and squatting syndicates continues to be rampant not only in urban areas but in rural communities as well.

“The government is very serious in addressing the problem and it needs the active participation of local government units through the creation of their respective LCASSPS,” he added.

The LCASSPS shall serve as the operating arm of the national drive against professional squatters and squatting syndicates in the fight against the problem at the local level.

LCASSPS shall also be tasked to adopt measures to identify and effectively curtail the activities of professional squatters and squatting syndicates; identify the names of public officials, private individuals or entities suspected of abetting or tolerating squatting;

Provide legal assistance to victims of professional squatters and squatting syndicates; investigate cases of violation of laws or rules on eviction and demolition; as well as monitor eviction and demolition activities.

DILG regional directors, meanwhile, were directed to submit quarterly reports on identified professional squatters and squatting syndicates, and the demolition and eviction activities covered by the LCASSPS in their areas of responsibility.

The LCASSPS shall be headed by the city or municipal mayor. The members shall include the local chief of police, a representative from the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), the president of the PCUP-accredited urban poor organization, the duly-designated or deputized representative of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, the president of the Liga ng mga Barangay of the municipality or city, and a representative from the private sector.

The directive noted that as per Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, LGUs are mandated to adopt measures to effectively curtail the nefarious and illegal activities of professional squatters and squatting syndicates. (CGC)