By Roxan Vee Tampos
Davao Today intern
DAVAO CITY – Isla Verde may be habitated with a multimillion rehabilitation after last month’s fire, and a division by tribes may be an option for a more orderly resettlement, the city government information chief said.
Leo Villareal, city information chief, said the resettlement would be based on the list of residents who have been listed by the City Social Services and Development Office after the April 4 fire that rendered homeless 3,116 families, or slightly more than 10,000 individuals.
One suggestion raised in the Task Force Isla Verde, he said, was to allocate certain areas in the islet for certain tribes, “like the Badjaos may be placed facing the gulf, ang Maranao facing sa dalan. Ang Sama pwede makapuyu layu sa dagat ug pwede ibutang sa dagat (the Maranao facing the road. The Sama can live either far from the sea or on the sea itself.).”
Different Moro tribes practicing Islam, and the Badjaos, are the numerous settlers in Isla Verde but Villareal said “the Badjao will never be forced to follow the beliefs of Muslims”.
“Nag plano ang mga NGO na butangan og chapel ang Badjaos, not mosque (The nongovernment organizations planned to build a chapel for the Badjaos, not a mosque),” he said.
The rehabilitation of this 8.8-hectare area adjoining a section of a cramped boulevard here maybe slowed down by the refusal of the fire victims to vacate it to allow quick rehabilitation work of the area, including putting up of circumferential road, construction of a health center and chapels. The city government has allocated P60 million, including P25 million for land development and subdivision into 50-square meter lots.
He said the families would not budge from their temporary shelters inside Isla Verde to a relocation site in Los Amigos in Mintal, some 15 kilometers northwest of downtown.
Earlier, Duterte allowed the displaced families to return to the area saying that the city government, anyway, has no plans or project yet for the area. (davaotoday.com)
