Provision of Assistance to the Relocated Informal Settler Families (ISFs) in Resettlement Communities in Response to the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency

May 29, 2020

DILG MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 090-20

 

1. BACKGROUND

1.1. Article V, Section 21 of Republic Act No. 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, mandates local government units (LGUs) or the National Housing Authority (NHA) to provide basic services and facilities in socialized housing or resettlement areas in cooperation with private developers and concerned agencies.

1.2. A report from the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) shows the limited and even lack of assistance being provided to resettlement communities.

1.3. Presidential Proclamation Nos. 922 and 929 (s.2020) placed the entire country in a State of Public Health Emergency and State of Calamity. Further, the said Proclamations enjoined all government agencies and LGUs to render full assistance and cooperation with one another and mobilize necessary resources to undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate disaster response aid and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the threat of COVID-19.

1.4. Republic Act No. 11469, otherwise known as the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act," was issued to marshal all efforts and resources of the country, whether public or private, national or local, to combat the impact of COVID-19. Section 3 (b) of the said Act directs immediate mobilization of assistance to the provision of basic necessities to families and individuals affected by the imposition of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), especially indigents and their families.

1.5. Cognizant of the insufficiency of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF), the National Government subsidized needs of the most vulnerable sectors through programs such as the DSWD's Social Amelioration Program (SAP), SSS' Unemployment Benefits, Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) Program, DA's Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), DOLE's COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) among others. Likewise, it further increased LGU access to additional resources by relaxing the twenty percent (20%) ceiling utilization of the Local Development Fund (DILG-DBM Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 dated 27 March 2020). Lastly, it released the Bayanihan Grant to Cities and Municipalities guided by Local Budget Circular (LBC) No. 125 dated 07 April 2020 among others.

1.6. The protracted period of the ECQ, which has been extended thrice, has placed a tremendous strain on the resources of both national and local governments. However, in the spirit of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, with ISFs considered among the vulnerable sectors, LGUs that relocated and/or accommodated ISF relocatees are enjoined to converge their efforts to address the needs of these ISFs in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis in line with Section 3 (f) of the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991.

2. PURPOSE

This Memorandum Circular is issued for LGUs where relocatees have originated (Sending) and LGUs that accepted them (Recipient) to perform their mutual and shared responsibility of extending financial and/or non-financial assistance to ISF relocatees of National Government relocation programs in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

3. LEGAL COMPLIANCE

3.1. Republic Act 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, particularly its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), endorses the cooperation between LGUs as it plays a crucial role in ensuring the success of any resettlement program. It emphasizes the said partnership by allowing the LGUs to group themselves and consolidate or coordinate their efforts, services, and resources for the common good.

3.2. Section 21 of Republic Act 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, states that the LGUs shall ensure that basic services such as relief are provided to the beneficiaries of housing projects.

3.3. Presidential Proclamation No. 922 (s.2020) declared a State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines due to COVID-19, thereby enjoining all government agencies and LGUs to render full assistance, cooperation, and mobilization of resources to address the impact of the said illness.

3.4. Presidential Proclamation No. 929 (s.2020) declared a State of Calamity in the Philippines due to COVID-19 for a period of six (6) months, unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant, imposing an ECQ throughout Luzon.

3.5. Republic Act No. 11469, otherwise known as the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act," authorizes LGUs to utilize more than five percent (5%) of the amount allocated to their calamity fund to mobilize resources and provide assistance to affected communities and sectors.

4. SCOPE/COVERAGE

This Memorandum Circular shall cover all sending and recipient LGUs of national government programs that entailed the relocation of affected ISFs.

5. GUIDELINES AND IMPLEMENTATION

Pursuant to the provisions of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, LGUs that relocated and/or accepted relocatees share a mutual responsibility to assist relocated ISFs in dire need of support in order to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. As such:

5.1. Both sending and recipient LGUs shall:

5.1.1. Coordinate and converge efforts guided by the provisions of Section 61: Inter-Local Government Loans, Grants, Subsidies and Other Cooperative Undertakings under the IRR of the Local Government Code of 1991.

5.2. All Sending LGUs shall:

5.2.1. Provide the necessary financial and/or non-financial assistance to relocated communities/families, such as but not limited to, medical and food supplies and other basic necessities to augment assistance being provided by the recipient LGU.

5.3. All Recipient LGUs shall:

5.3.1. Establish a mechanism for determining the needs and requirements of ISF relocatees in coordination with the PCUP and other relevant government agencies that can provide relevant information on the status of relocatees to be shared with sending LGUs;

5.3.2. Ensure that assistance provided by sending LGUs reach the intended ISF relocatees; and

5.3.3. Include the relocated ISFs in the emergency assistance and other social safety protection programs of the national and local governments that are being implemented in their localities subject to existing policies, rules, and regulations.

6. REPORTING AND MONITORING

6.1. All City/Municipal Local Government Operations Officers (C/MLGOOs) and City Directors of Highly Urbanized Cities (HUCs) are hereby directed to provide monthly reports to the DILG Regional Office using the herein attached reporting template.

6.2. A Consolidated Regional Report shall be submitted by the DILG Regional Office on a monthly basis not later than the 5th of the succeeding month to the Capacitating LGUs on Resettlement Governance-Project Management Office (CLRG-PMO).

7. PENALTIES

LGU officials who fail to comply with the provisions of this Memorandum Circular shall be penalized in accordance with Section 6 of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, Section 60 (c) of the LGC of 1991,and other existing laws and issuances.

8. EFFECTIVITY

This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately and shall automatically be rescinded after the State of Calamity has been lifted by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

9. APPROVING AUTHORITY

(SGD.) EDUARDO M. AÑOSecretary

10. ANNEX

Reporting Template

Sheet 1: M&E Sending LGU

Sheet 2: M&E Recipient LGU

11. FEEDBACK

For related queries, kindly contact the Resettlement Governance Project Management Office (RG-PMO) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) at (0945) 683-0953 and/or [email protected]