According to a report by Irma Boza of Philippine News Agency, hundreds of families that had fled after Marawi siege last year had purchased houses from a government-funded resettlement site intended for Sendong Victims.
An investigation by the local government showed that about a thousand units had been illegally sold by Sendong victims, mostly to the Marawi siege evacuees.
It can be recalled that Malacañang released P240M in 2011 for housing of Sendong victims in Iligan as reported in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“This money will go to the construction of the core shelters. By core shelter we mean four walls, one toilet and one room,” Edwin Lacierda, spokesperson for President Benigno Aquino III, said in a press briefing.
Republic Act 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, prohibits recipients of government-awarded housing units from selling their property.
One of the buyers, a Marawi resident who fled from Marawi siege, said their main problem was taking their money back as most of the sellers had already disappeared after the purchase.
City Information Officer Jose Pantoja assured that the unsuspecting buyers will not be held responsible.
Pantoja said all housing units sold by typhoon Sendong victims living in Bayanihan Village in Barangay Sta. Elena will be padlocked this week.
