MAYOR Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has urged the National Housing Authority (NHA) to ensure that legitimate victims of the 2013 siege belonging to the Bajao tribe will get their permanent houses under the Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction (Z3R) project.
Salazar issued the call following receipt of complaints from concerned indigenous peoples (IPs) saying that the names of at least 10 to 20 Bajao families originally from Sitio Hongkong were removed from the list of beneficiaries of Z3R houses.
The arrangement, according to the complainants, was with the knowledge of NHA and some village officials, Salazar said.
The mayor has asked NHA General Manager (GM) Jun Escalada to look into the problem as the Bajau families have the right to occupy the houses as they were displaced by the 2013 siege.
“We appeal to GM Escalada that the NHA must ensure that these (affected) families be entitled to housing,” the chief executive said as she called on those affected by the said arrangement to submit their names to her office. (SunStar Philippines)