The state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said that 277 families occupying the BCDA property in JUSMAG have applied to voluntarily vacate the area and avail of the relocation program being offered by the BCDA.

BCDA President and CEO Arnel Paciano D. Casanova said the 277 families represent 92 percent of the 300 informal settler families who are occupying the JUSMAG Area.

According to Casanova, 108 families have already voluntarily vacated the area with a total of 63 families opting for outright cash while 42 families choose to relocate in the National Housing Authority (NHA) relocation site in Rodriguez, Rizal. Three families were disqualified but opted to voluntarily dismantle their structures.

“The relocation program presented to the informal settlers is considered one of the best relocation programs so far offered to informal settlers,” he said.

The relocation package consists of cash equivalent to the value of their respective houses as assessed by the Taguig City assessor’s office, plus a cash incentive which the resettlers can use as start-up capital for any livelihood project they may set up in their new community.

The BCDA continues to assist the families in dismantling their house materials, and hauling of furniture and appliances from the JUSMAG area, to their new homes in the NHA relocation site in Rodriguez, Rizal. There, the informal settlers will move into a house and lot they can call their own.

The new community in Rodriguez, Rizal, is an ideal resettlement site for the informal settlers. The relocation site is complete with utilities and amenities, and is near schools, churches, and a nearby market and hospital in the community.

“We want our development in JUSMAG to be reflective of inclusive development where the lives of the informal sector are uplifted and given dignity,” Casanova said adding that by providing a good relocation program, the informal residents are given a new lease on life. “Now they have a home to speak off, they are not informal settlers anymore.”

Those who availed of the incentive before the 30-day notice to vacate received the best package offer. The incentive was reduced if the application was filed within the 30-day issuance of the notice, and lowered again if filed on the 16th day up to the day before the issuance of the final 7-day notice to vacate.

To facilitate processing of the applications, the BCDA offers its service, free of charge, for documentation, notarization, and application purposes.

The seven-day notice to vacate the premises has been issued last May 22, 2012 and expires on May 29, 2012. BCDA is awaiting for the Certificate of Compliance (COC) from the Taguig city government.

The relocation project has been coordinated with the members of the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) composed of the Local Government of Taguig, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Commission on Human Rights, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, National Housing Authority, People's Organizations, the Office of the Barangay Chairman of Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City and the Office of the Barangay Chairman of Southside, Makati City.