ILOILO City — More than 200 informal settler families occupying a government property in Barangay San Pedro, Molo district here are set to be relocated before 2027.
The city government will clear the site for the planned Iloilo Justice Complex, city housing officials said.
Iloilo City Local Housing Office (ICLHO) head Peter Jason Millare said the city has intensified its validation process after discovering that the number of families occupying the area has nearly doubled from the 115 households officially recorded during the 2024-2025 census.
Millare stressed that the relocation must be completed ahead of the scheduled start of construction for the Iloilo Justice Complex in 2027 to avoid delays in the multimillion-peso government project.
The proposed Iloilo Justice Complex will serve as the future hub of the regional, city, and provincial prosecutors’ offices as part of the city government’s plan to centralize justice and legal service agencies.
The six-hectare government property in Barangay San Pedro already hosts the regional office of the Commission on Elections and the ongoing construction of the Iloilo City Hospital.
Millare said the city is closely reviewing the eligibility of residents occupying the area to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries will qualify for relocation assistance.
“During our validation, we discovered that some houses are no longer occupied by the original listed families. Some units are being used as boardinghouses, while others are being rented out to different occupants,” he said.
“This is exactly why validation is critical. We need to make sure that those who will benefit from relocation are the legitimate and qualified informal settler families originally identified by the city,” he added.
Qualified beneficiaries will be relocated to the San Isidro Relocation Site in Jaro district, where the city already has housing provisions for displaced informal settler families, according to Millare.
He assured affected residents that the city government intends to carry out the relocation in an orderly and humane manner.
“We are not simply removing people from the area. We are making sure that those qualified will be transferred to a proper relocation site where they can continue rebuilding their lives,” he said.
The relocation initiative comes amid renewed public scrutiny over informal settlements on government-owned land following the discovery earlier this year of residential structures standing for six years on state property near Esplanade 2.
Millare said the city government remains committed to balancing urban development with fair housing solutions and lawful relocation procedures for affected residents./PN
