Citing figures from the National Housing Authority (NHA), De Castro described the Northrail relocation as government’s most successful and publicly accepted relocation program which encountered the least resistance from affected families.

De Castro said that 70 percent of the 10,000 informal settler families relocated so far actually volunteered to be evicted from their homes along the construction site of the Northrail in exchange for benefits under the government’s relocation program.

In response to allegations that the selection and purchase of some of the relocation sites had favored certain private land owners, NHA General Manager Federico Laxa said the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) of the local government units is responsible for the selection of relocation sites.

Laxa said that the NHA only provides the funding for the purchase of relocation sites recommended by the LIAC.

Laxa said the LIAC is chaired by the local mayor with representatives from local and national government agencies, and community groups, including the informal settler, as members.

This is to ensure that the relocation sites are acceptable to the informal settler families, said Laxa.

He added that before government acquires the relocation site recommended by the LIAC, it seeks three independent appraisals of the value of the lot with the lowest appraisel used as basis for purchase.

Laxa also defended the choice of cites from allegation these are too far away.

He said the relocation sites for Northrail informal settlers are mostly just 1.5 to 5 kilometers away from the railway tracks where they previously lived.

Government also also ensured that the relocated families have access to clean water by providing deep wells with one well for every 20 families.

Mayors from the towns of Balagtas, Bocaue, Guiguinto, Marilao, Meycauayan, and Malolos in Bulacan, where 60 percent of those affected by Northrail are located, also signed a manifesto of support for the relocation project of the government.

The informal settler groups Buklod ng Maralitang Taga-Lungsod, People’s Homeless Federation, and Samahan ng Lakas Bisig ng Balagtas also expressed support for the relocation program of the government.

The program has already relocated some 10,000 families from Caloocan, Malabon, and Valenzuela. Some 9,500 informal settler families from various towns in Bulacan are scheduled to be relocated before the end of the month. Another 20,000 informal settler families along the part of the Northrail in Pampanga are scheduled for relocation late this year or early next year.

Meanwhile, the findings of the University of the Philippines Law Center (UPLC) North Rail Project Study Team should not be seen "an opinion against the Executive Deparment, the Chinese government or the desirability of railroad system to the north," the head of the study team said yesterday.

"It is a legal opinion about the validity of the Northrail contracts," said Prof. Solomon Lumba, Northrail Project Study Team chair, adding that the "research was based on documents available to the public."

In a 28-page opinion, the UPLC team said the contract between the North Luzon Railways Corporation and China National Machinery and Equipment Corporation (CNMEC) and Buyer Credit Loan Agreement dated Feb. 26, 2004 between the Export-Import Bank of China and the Philippine government were "unlawful and void for failure to comply with the mandatory requirement of competitive public bidding under Republic Act (RA) 9184 in the selection of CNMEC as the prime contractor.

The team raised serious issues on the legality of the award of the North Rail project to CNMEC and the US$400 million loan contracted by the Philippine government from China Export-Import Bank to pay CNMEC. (with a report by Ellalyn De Vera)