House passes bill aiming to stem migration
A measure that provides for the development of sustainable cities and communities throughout the country has been approved on third and final reading.
With a vote of 242 against three, the House Bill 6715 aims to create neighborhoods that can provide decent living conditions to our people, especially the poor, including comfortable shelter and recreation facilities, basic services and employment opportunities.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said poor people from rural communities migrate to cities and other urban areas principally to find jobs and earn money for their families.
“We can prevent such migration if we could build sustainable urban areas, towns and communities and balance national development,” he said.
HB 6715 is a consolidation of three related measures filed by Reps. Jose Francisco Benitez of Negros Occidental, Christian Tell Yap of Tarlac and Ivan Howard Guintu of party list group PINUNO.
It was endorsed by the committee on housing and urban development, which Benitez chairs. It short title is, “Sustainable Cities and Communities Act.”
The proposed law would cover all cities and towns, with a majority of barangays classified by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as urban areas.
They are mandated to align their plans, programs and activities toward the full implementation of the measure and to be guided by Ambisyon 2040, which embodies the country’s long-term development plan.
Among the salient features of the measure are: Inclusive urban circular economy which creates decent jobs with fair wages; supports entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation; ensures safe and non- discriminatory working environments; and promotes resource-efficient industries and consumption; Spatial justice which promotes multiple use of land to prevent forced evictions, displacement, marginalization, and gentrification; and ensures that urban development provides vulnerable and marginalized sectors the access to safe, adequate and affordable housing under different tenurial arrangements, giving priority to on-site resettlement, as well as universal healthcare, accessible education, adequate infrastructures, sustainable livelihoods, food security and nutrition; and safe and inclusive public spaces that foster social cohesion and Urban renewal which includes slum upgrading to improve housing, infrastructures and services; urban greening, including the promotion of urban agriculture for food security and communal wellness; and the development of inclusive, safe, accessible and enjoyable open spaces and parks.
