Most Panay Ville occupants illegal, Besa says

By Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz — Nearly two-thirds of the occupants of Panay Ville in Barangay Poblacion Ilaya, Panay town, are illegal settlers, Mayor Jonathan “Sonny” Besa said.

Besa said in a media interview Friday, May 1, that the finding was based on the local government’s re-evaluation of 1,500 occupants of the Panay Ville housing project.

He said 471 occupants were found to be legitimate beneficiaries, while 1,029 were classified as illegal settlers.

Besa said he will refer the matter to the interagency committee for a collegial decision on how to address the illegal occupants.

The interagency committee is composed of the National Housing Authority, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, and the Panay municipal government.

The Panay local government created the interagency committee to re-evaluate the occupants after receiving reports that many housing units had been rented out to other people.

Other beneficiaries allegedly sold their rights to the housing units to other individuals and relatives.