The Political Economy of Housing

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HOUSING:

A Study on the Housing Sector in the Philippines

Submitted by:Marjorie L. AlvarezGeraline Mae Z. RamonesPOLITEC A51

Submitted to:Dr. Eric Vincent Batalla

Political Science DepartmentDecember 10, 2012

Introduction

Housing plays a special role in urban development in that it consumes more land than any other activity. Housing has a special personal meaning to urban residents as it symbolizes their existence in the city, aspirations and lifestyle. The importance of urban development and housing as directly affecting and contributing to the country’s economic development has not been adequately recognized or dealt with, explicitly in the country’s medium-term plan, as have sectors such as agriculture, industries and infrastructures.

Introduction

The National Urban and Development and Housing Framework will assist HUDCC and its sub-agencies in developing a methodology and program for formulation of the plan and in managing the stakeholder’s discussions which will comprise key elements of the process. The objective will be to prepare a unified document to reflect government’s policies and strategies in the sector and guide future urban development activities by government and its donor. The project will also provide a developing long term program of broad-based dialogue on urban sector policy issues with key stakeholders in the sector.

Introduction

It is also intended to be a macro framework for urban development and housing that consist of policy guidelines and strategies to steer the country towards efficient management of the urbanization process, reaping its benefits while alleviating many of the costs. Thus, this will be an avenue to make adjustments towards a workable urban and housing policy design and implementation at the national and local level.

Introduction

Housing is primarily an essential item for every person or household. It is considered as, most of the time, asset of any person. It is defined as an entirely living sphere that includes the land or lot, the unit itself as well as the community and services that can be used by the residents. Thus, it belongs to the basic needs of any individual such that it provides protection, convenience and ensures the sense of belongingness, comfort and good health.

Introduction Yet, not all individuals have the capacity to provide housing on their own particularly, the poor people or the population within the classes of D and E. People within class D are individuals who are thriving in relative poverty; these individuals have jobs but their income or earnings are insufficient and not enough. On the other hand, people within class E are individuals who are thriving in absolute poverty; these individuals are best described by as people who are salat na salat and walang-wala (impoverished and destitute). Individuals, such as the aforementioned, do not actually prioritize housing. They would rather select foods for their daily consumption instead of investing for housing. In this light, any state government holds responsibility for adequate housing to its citizenry.

Introduction

The Philippines as a developing country is subjected to large issues and one of these is housing. Housing is chiefly a problem in the Philippines especially in the urban regions. As a matter of fact, the sudden explosive and amplified growth of the population in the urban areas signified the development process in the Philippines. Filipinos have this mindset that life in the urbanized regions are better off compared to the rural areas that is why majority of people in the rural areas took their chances for possible opportunities in the urbanized regions; this trend is referred to as rural-urban migration flow.

Introduction

It then follows that Filipinos depend their future on the adeptness and consummation in the urbanized areas; still life in the urban areas is not as people think it is and because of this people rather choose to stay in these urban areas instead of going back to provinces, making population in urban denser and allows for the perpetuation of inadequate housing such as the slums or squatter areas.

Demands of housing in the Philippines are colossal that is why housing has been always in the top list priority of the government.

Introduction

There is the law known as the Republic Act 7279 or an act to provide for a comprehensive and continuing urban development and housing program, establish the mechanism for its implementation, and for other purposes. This particular act was passed on 1992 under the administration of former President Corazon Aquino. The Housing and Urban Development Council is the head committed and the umbrella agency for the execution and regulation of the said law. One of its subordinates, the National Housing Authority is responsible for the providence of housing to families with low-income. Programs such as abot-kayang pabahay, core housing, medium house rising, national shelter program, resettlement program, sites and services and slum upgrading are implemented under this law.

Introduction And all of these programs are highly subsidized. R.A. 7270, Article XI, Section 42 declares that a minimum of fifty percent from the annual net income of the Public Estates Authority is to be used as subsidies for the housing programs. However, it was reported by the UHDCC that in 2007, there was 36% of the population; HomelessWorldCup.Org articulated that in 2008, there were 32.8 million or 40% of the population living in slums; HomelessInternational.Org declared that at present there is 44% of the population living in slums; and UNICEF pointed out that by 2030, 75% of the population may be living in slums. These figures are alarming because, estimating it, already half of the population. This situation shows irony since Juan and Maria de la Cruz do not have adequate housing in their own nation.

Introduction

The rural and urban blight is aggravating yearly. It can be argued that instead of diminishing the number of informal settlers and the removal of slum areas, it escalates annually, showing how ineffective the policies underlying R.A. 7279. Howbeit, there must be a reevaluation of the housing policy, the agencies responsible for it and the housing policy implementation.

In this study, the researchers focused on the current situation of the slums and squatter areas in the country as well as the people thriving in these places. In addition, the researchers focused also on the subsidies allocated by the government to the housing sector.

Introduction

Year Percentage of

Slum

Population

UDHCC 2007 36%

Homeless World Cup

Org.

2008 40%

Homeless International

Org.

2012 44%

UNICEF 2030 75%Table 1. Percentage of the population living in the slum areas in the Philippines

Statement of the Problem

The problem is due to the fact that the government and the agencies assigned for the implementation of the housing policy have not definitely respond and addressed accordingly the issues that paved the way for the housing dilemma.

This study intends to answer this main question: Why is there a housing backlog in the Philippines?

Statement of the Problem

Specifically, this study seeks to investigate on the following questions:

• What causes housing problems in the country?• How did the government address the housing

problems?• Are reforms needed or should be undertaken in

the housing sector?• Why does the number of people living in slum

areas increase annually?• Is it still possible to transform the slums to

decent and adequate housing?

Objectives of the Study

This study aims to examine and probe upon the subsidies

provided by the government to the housing sector.

Specifically, this study aims to:• Identify the roots of the housing dilemmas and

problems in the country.• Know the programs implemented by the

housing sector and the results of these programs.

• Determine the achievements as well as the costs or expenses of the housing sector.

• Develop possible ways that will help solve the problem of housing in the country.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study will focus on the housing problems in the Philippines, the subsidies allocated to the agencies responsible to housing and the implementation of the agenda for housing in the country. Thus, it will be limited only to the area of the informal settlers and slums in Manila, specifically in Sta. Mesa, Manila. It will also be limited to the output that the respondents from the agencies and individuals provide such as data and information that will come for the interview and survey questionnaires distributed as well as the information from literatures that will be cited and reviewed.

Literature ResearchHousing, as defined by the

businessdictionary.com (2012), is “a building or structure that individuals and their family may live in that meet certain federal regulations” or “anything that covers, protects or supports another thing”. Housing is one of the fundamental needs that is required for any individual. However, as argued above, not all individuals have the capacity to buy or rent houses; this inability to provide housing leads to the emergence of slums and squatter areas. In this regard, the government plays a vital role in providing housing subsidies for people who are not able to construct their own houses.

Literature Research

Unfortunately, in the Philippines, it was argued by Porio (2009) that “housing is largely an urban problem since a large part of the informal sectors do not have adequate housing with secure tenure and access to basic services, livelihood and employment opportunities”. And Lagman (n.d) added that because the Philippines have a high rate of population growth, it became a big challenge to provide affordable land and housing. In addition, Metro Manila being one of the urbanized regions possessed the greatest demand and need for housing.

Literature Research

And according to Lagman (n.d.), residential lands in Manila costs from PhP 3,000 to PhP 42,000 per square meter. This is far beyond the earnings of an urban poor. Because of this expensive means, they occupy government properties or some open space from private lands. These people settle in slum areas which is crowded. With the 44% of urban population living in slum areas of Metro Manila, 25% says they are not necessarily income-poor. This means that they have source of income for their living but they cannot afford to buy a piece of land to build their houses. In the article of Monsod (2001), he questions whether the government is really solving the housing problem.

Literature Research

The article basically says that it is a no since every year it grows bigger and still number of houses became insufficient and the way to solve the problem is to change the way how state approaches policies for housing programs. “Reframing of the housing discussion away from simple output targets to one which focuses on how best to remove impediments and manage the housing sector so that markets are able to produce adequate and affordable housing for all”. That is from the article itself on page 16 and it simply summarizes what shift from state approach is talking about.

Literature Research

Ballesteros (2002) emphasized that even before housing has been considered as a top priority by the Philippine government and it was written in the R.A. 7270 that 50% of the income from Public Estates authority is allotted for adequate housing. But it does not appear as it should be. According to Index Mundi (2011), the slum population for 1990 was 54.9% or 16, 223,587 while on 2005 was 43.7% or 23, 174, 910 and in 2007, it was 23, 891, 071. On the other hand, Homeless International argued that 44% or 22.8 million of the population are thriving in the slums.

Literature Research

The numbers were minimized somehow but still the population in the slums is still big. It is inevitable that by 2030, as argued by UNICEF (2012), “75% of the Philippine population will be living in urban areas because of the fact that the urban population is growing at a rate of 60%”. Ballesteros (2010) argued “the Philippines is among the countries in Asia with large number of urban slum dwellers”.

Literature Research

Year Number of slum

population

Percentage of

slum

population

1990 16,223,587 54.9%

2005 23,174,910 43.7%

2007 23, 891,071Table 2. Slum population in urban areas in 2009, 2005 and 2007

Literature Research

Figure 1. Slum Population in Metro Manila, MMUSP*population includes households in squatter (illegal) areas and those informal settlers( i.e. no formal/legal document on tenure agreements) Image from Ballesteros, M. M. (2010, December). Linking Poverty and the Environment: Evidence from Slums in Philippine Cities.

Literature Research

This figure shows a comparison of the slum population in Metro Manila alone. The darker the color of the place implies the higher the slum population. In this figure, Quezon City possesses the greatest magnitude of the slum population while Pateros City has the least magnitude of the slum population. Slums are the most unsafe and unhealthy community an individual can thrive upon.

Literature Research

According to Gehander & Mörnhed (2006), the local government of Manila engages two NGOs which are the Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity. They both provide housing programs to different places for those people from slum area especially to settle in a clean and new environment. The government, in coordination with the National Housing Authority, offer programs that will provide adequate housing for its citizens.

.

Methodology

The study utilized interviews to the government agencies running the housing sector and to the informal settlers and slum dwellers and analyses of the published documents and researches related to the study. They also did field work to have the field report observation.

Field Report Observations

When: October 17, 2012 at 11 in the morningWhere: Recto ManilaDescription:It can be seen that the houses in are built very much close to each other and the area itself is unclean.

When: October 17, 2012 at 11 in the morningWhere: Recto, ManilaDescription:It can be seen that the houses in the are built very much close to each other and the materials used for house construction are destructible (the roofs are rusty, non-usage of concrete but of woods and plywoods) and the use of tarpaulins as coverings.

Field Report ObservationsWhen: October 17, 2012 at 11 in the morningWhere: Recto, ManilaDescription:It can be seen that the houses in the are built very much close to each other and the materials used for house construction are destructible (the roofs are rusty, non-usage of concrete but of woods and plywoods) and the use of tarpaulins as coverings.

When: October 17, 2012 at 11 in the morningWhere: Recto, ManilaDescription:A top view photo of the slums/ squatter areas.


When: October 19, 2012 at 9 in the morningWhere: Pasig CityDescription:The houses are very much amalgamated to each other and there is a great number of the slum dwellers’ populace.

When: October 20, 2012 at 4 in the afternoonWhere: Navotas CityDescription:Houses are built in a body of water (river). The place is untidy and unclean. The materials used for house construction are fragile and may appear to fall anytime. There is poor sanitation in the place. The place is a danger zone since if there might be instances of high tides of storms, houses will be destroyed and dwellers might die. .

Field Report ObservationsWhen: October 20, 2012 at 9 in the morningWhere: Teresa St., Sta Mesa, Manila (near Polytechnic University of the Philippines)Description:The location is cleaner compared to the past areas (as seen in the photographs). Also, the place is more organized and orderly however the housing units built used poor materials such as the rusty roofs, and usage of woods and plywoods instead of concrete.

When: October 20, 2012 at 9:30 in the morningWhere: Sampaloc, Manila Description:The location is cleaner compared to the past areas (as seen in the photographs). Also, the place is more organized and orderly however the housing units built used poor materials such as the rusty roofs, and usage of woods and plywoods instead of concrete. Also, the housing units are built closer to each other and amalgamated as well.


When: October 20, 2012 at 10 in the morningWhere: Damka (Damca) St., Sta. Mesa, Manila Description:The whole place actually is small and narrow. Inside that small street were more houses inside. The way was really steep. The houses are very close to each other. The place has poor sanitation. The materials used in housing were of poor quality. The electrical lines are apparently low and dismantled and at anytime might be destroyed and may produce fire. The land is owned by the government, before but now owned privately by the informal settlers through the initiative of the National Housing Authority.


When: October 20, 2012 at 10:15 in the morningWhere: Old Sta. Mesa, Manila Description:This is just a snapshot of the whole location. The houses beside the slum/ squatter areas are said to be housing units provided by the government by people who are beneficiaries of the PAG-IBIG. As you can see the slum/squatter area, it is very much disorganized, unclean and the poor quality of the housing materials. It appears that the housing materials are just concealed and layered.

When: October 20, 2012 at 10:30 in the morningWhere: Angbuhay St., Sta. Mesa, Manila Description:This is just a snapshot of the whole location. Houses are made closer to each other. The road or way going inside is narrow and steep. More houses are inside that small road/way. The housing materials are of poor quality. There is also poor sanitation in the area. Electrical posts and lines are dismantled. The area is said to be owned by the government.

Field Report ObservationsWhen: October 20, 2012 at 10:45 in the morningWhere: V. Mapa St., Sta. Mesa, Manila Description:This slum/squatter area is actually located on a higher ground. This is near the LRT 2- V. Mapa Station. Compared to other slum/squatter area, the houses are built with concrete already. The housing materials appear to be stronger. But the land is privately owned by a company owner (the company is near or is just beside it).

When: October 20, 2012 at 10:30 in the morningWhere: Sociego St., Sta. Mesa, Manila Description:The location is actually a mixture of well-built housing units and to its end are the slums/ squatter areas. The housing materials used were of ordinary woods/ plywoods and other materials look to be fragile. It also looks disorganized. That slums/squatter area is located in a subdivision. It was a vacant lot but informal settlers began building houses on it.

Basically, as what you can see from the pictures displayed and shown above are only snapshots of the slum and squatter areas in the country. The places where slum and squatter areas are most found in the urban places particularly in Metro Manila or in the National Capital Region. People living in slums and squatter areas make use of weak materials for their housing such that the materials and composition of their houses can easily be destroyed when calamities occur. Also, houses in these slums and squatter areas are most likely located in danger zones such as near the railroads, near the rivers, near the dumpsites or even in street sides.

The researchers were able to witness how untidy and disorganizing the dwellings of people who cannot afford adequate housing – garbage are all over and the foulness is also rampant. However, it is somewhat ironic to see that some of the people dwelling in slums possess expensive appliance and gadgets like having a flat screen television or even cables and satellites. It implies that people have the capacity to buy such things but do rather not invest to good and adequate housing.

As the researchers went on their field work and took pictures on one hand, the researchers noticed that people who live in slums have jobs for instance tricycle drivers, jeepney drivers, pedicab/kuliglig drivers and have small stores while majority are just bystanders hanging in their respective territories. In addition, not only the slums or squatters areas itself are the dangerous one but also the people living within it. The researchers overheard people saying “Mag-ingat kayo diyan huwag kayo masyado papasok sa kaloob-looban baka tubuan kayo” “Nako delikado sa mga lugar na iyan, doble ingat”.

In the course of the researchers’ field work, it is seemingly obvious that people living in the slums are curious and wondering why are there people taking pictures of their dwellings. A man approached the researchers and asked “Bakit niyo kinukuhanan ng litrato ang bahay namin, gigibain niyo na ba?”. It looks that slum dwellers immediately associated visitors of their places as persons who conduct study on their areas and eventually demolishing their houses that is why slum dwellers appear to be as tough and strong as they can be to frighten possible researchers and demolishers.

The places visited by the researchers are somewhere in Sta. Mesa, Manila and Recto, Manila alone and it is apparent that slums and squatter areas are rampant and in great number already what more in other places of Metro Manila right? Housing is indeed a widespread problem in the country.

The study basically used key informant interviews for both the housing sector and the informal settlers, respectively. The questions in the interview are all open-ended.

Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

Key Informant Interview: Housing Sector

For the key informant interview in the housing sector, the researchers interviewed two sub-units of the main housing sector, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; and these sub-units are the National Housing Authority and the Socialized Housing Finance Corporation. In the National Housing Authority, the key informants were Ms. Visitacion Alba who was part of the Corporate Planning Office and Ms. Helmina Wagayen who was an architect and part of the Area Management Office.


In the Socialized Housing Finance Corporation, the key informant was Ms. Rizalina Laca who was part of the Office of the President. A prominent distinction between the agencies for the housing sector is that the Socialized Housing Finance Corporation has only one program known as the Community Mortgage Program wherein a loan is given to an association of informal settlers for them to buy the lands they are occupying and develop it as well, while the National Housing Authority has more programs such as relocation, resettlement, slum upgrading and medium rise housing; but for individual informal settlers only. It appears that both agencies cater to different types of people: organization of informal settlers and then individual informal settlers.


The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council is the main agency for the housing sector in the Philippines. Two of its key shelter agencies or KSAs were interviewed by the researchers: the National Housing Authority and the Socialized Housing and Finance Corporation.

Based from the data gathered, the National Housing Authority is “a government –owned and controlled corporation, mandated through the Presidential Decree No. 757 on July 31, 1975, tasked to develop and implement a comprehensive and integrated housing program which shall embrace among others housing development and resettlement, sources and schemes of financing, and delineation of government and private sector participation” (National Housing Authority Primer, 2012).


The plans and programs offered by this key shelter agency are the following: national and regional resettlement program, slum upgrading program, sites and services development program, core housing program, medium rise housing program and tenurial assistance program.

When the informant from NHA was asked about the amount of subsidies given to them, she answered that theoretically, fifty percent (50%) from the Public Estates Authority must be allocated from them, but in reality, there is no money or fund being allocated to them from the aforementioned authority and in case that they will be getting funds, the authority will say that there is no money.


From the government, she said, they have been allocated with more or less ten billion pesos which most of it are used only for the resettlement program. And the end of every quarter, she said that NHA passes a report to the Department of Budget and Management regarding appropriations so that if ever there is an insufficient funding, they can get money. In relation to the resettlement program, she said that they only resettle slum dwellers who are near danger areas and they are being transferred to sites in Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan; and for now they are experimenting on the medium rise housing. It was also said by the informant that not all the programs are implemented, much of it are dissolved already and the focus programs are only the resettlement and medium rise housing program.


Before there was the slum upgrading and the lands are being awarded to the dwellers – this is in the case of the informal settlers in Damca Street. With regard to the housing units, she said that it depends on the demands of the people and the people being transferred to these NHA housing units are to pay three-hundred pesos a month for the house and there is a year for moratorium. There is a very low collection efficiency she said it is only about thirty-percent, very low and whenever they are collecting rents from the dwellers, they will often say that they do not have money so NHA cannot do something about it.


She emphasized that there is government and agency failure in housing and it is a fact since yearly, informal settlers amplifies and there are still inadequate housing units; but she pointed out that other sectors should also help like the local government units and private sector to provide or donate lands and money to them; as well as the settlers because they have this mindset that if it is from the government, then it must be free.


She also agreed with the fact that housing has an effect in the economy such that first, it will hit the tourism since once foreigners see how turbulent and intricate the country is, they will have this feeling of leaving the country. Then, she argued that a developed or developing country provides appropriately the needs of its citizenry, if housing cannot be provided, it only signifies that country does not look after the welfare of its people. She also mentioned about the multiplier effect like what happened in US that its economy tumbled down because of housing since housing is said to be the pump primer of the economy and housing is a major avenue for consumption and production.


Another informant from NHA was interviewed; she was an architect and belongs to the committee who relocates these informal settlers. She pointed out that it is very hard to convince and encourage these informal settlers to resettle, such that it took them years. She recounted that they were able to relocated 80,000 settlers; however she agreed that informal settlers increases every year, she admitted that they cannot control these settlers. She also pointed out that the housing policy is inefficient since it does not give importance to lessening the informal settlers.


The Socialized Housing Finance Corporation is another key shelter agency “mandated through Executive Order No. 272 on 2004 and is the lead financial institution providing shelter to the underprivileged sector of the society” (Socialized Housing Finance Corporation Annual Report, 2011). The main program of the SHFC is the Community Mortgage Program.

When the informant was asked about the housing agenda of the SHFC, she said that it is through the community mortgage program that their agency is aspiring to reduce the housing backlog in the country. She discussed that the community mortgage program as a financing assistance window for organized informal settlers families.


That provides loans payable for twenty-years with six-percent interest. Only organized informal settlers can partake to this program. The SHFC follows strict procedure with this CMP because they do not want that the loan will be misused. She gave a scenario: if for instance the informal settlers decided to buy the land they are occupying and the owner agreed to that, the settlers must be organized and from there they can go to SHFC and avail of the loan, but they need to submit documents such as land titles; SHFC also takes background investigation and requests the organized informal settlers to save money so that in case they can still payback the loan they borrowed.


She mentioned that there had been cases that the organized settlers did not pay so what they did they followed up to this organization and talked to them about the matter. She mentioned that they were able to help 240,000 plus informal settlers families. In terms of the collection efficiency it is utmost eighty-percent far from the NHA’s. It can be implied that the SHFC is more determined and capable in dealing with the ISFs. She said that the problem with NHA is that they are not using the community approach and do not give value to community empowerment unlike them.


According to her, basing on Dr. Karaos’ research by 2016, there will be 2.8 million ISFs in the country and they are targeting to help 850,000 of these 2.8 million ISFs, sounds ambitious but she said that the number of ISFs yearly is alarming. The SHFC has 500M pesos for the CMP allocated by the government. She believed that there is government/agency failure in the housing sector because of inadequate housing. She said that the government provides small funding for housing, dissimilar to other countries that most of their money are provided for housing.


She elucidated that housing is necessary to the economy because it had been part of the Filipino culture that every family must possesses a house and lot because it is truly something. When asked if adequate housing can still be provided, she responded that it will take a lot time because as the population grows, more Filipinos go to the urban areas but end up living in slums. The following tables were from the presentation of the respondent form SHFC. She gave these figures and the researchers were able to put those in a table form.



Table 4. Update on the Implementation of the Program 1989-May 2012

Table 4 shows the Community Mortgage Program achievements when it comes to the number of projects implemented and families assisted from 1989-May 2012. It can be observed that both projects and families being assisted by the program is increasing.


Table 5. Average numbers of ISFs assisted

Table 5 shows he average numbers of ISFs assisted yearly and monthly from 1989-May 2012. Since there is an increasing number of the Philippine population, informal settlers alaso increased. There is a dependent relationship between the two.


Figure 2. CMP Performance from 2010-2012

Figure 2 shows the target and performance of the CMP from 2010-2012. In 2010, there are 16,000 estimated numbers of ISFs to be assisted; 20,000 in 2011 and 25,000 in 2012. But as what thery have achieved, they only have 7,109 families in 2012; 15,875 in 2011 and 2,567 until May 2012 only.


Figure 3. Collection Efficiency Rating Figure 3 gives the amount and rating of collection efficiency

from the CMP. This is strictly monitored by the SHFC so that they can also provide loans for those who want to avail the program. They do campaigns in the organized community who previously asked for loan so that they will be conscious and responsible in paying. From the figures above, it can be said that still they can have a high collection efficiency rating even though the program is running for such a long time already. This means that the agency is much focused.


Table 6. Number of Informal Settlers in Metro Manila, by type of area

Key Informant Interview: Informal Settlers/ Slum Dwellers:

For the key informant interview with the informal settlers, the researchers went to the slum areas in Sta. Mesa, Manila, specifically in Angbuhay Street and Damca Street. There were a total of ten (10) respondents- five (5) respondents from Angbuhay Street and another five (5) respondents from Damca Street. With the ten (10) respondents, there were three (3) males and the rest are already females.


A prominent distinction between the settlers in the aforementioned areas is that in Damca Street, the lands and houses are already owned by the settlers, whereas the settlers in Angbuhay Street do not own the lands and the lands were said to be still government owned and that they are still waiting for the government to award it to them however it will still be a long and enduring process.


Based on the interviews conducted, these respondents are living together with their families and extended families. These respondents had been living for years already in that slum area- the maximum year is 40 years, while the minimum year is 17 years. It is quite shocking how these people were able to thrive in a place wherein live is inconvenient and undesirable.

When the respondents were asked about the relationship inside their community, they all answered that their relationship is good within the community. They are all acquaintances inside their community.


Half of the respondents were born already in Manila and chose to stay in Manila; while half were from the province and migrated into Manila thinking that life in Manila is better. The theory of migration can be taken into account here. Basically, the gist of the urban migration theory is that people from rural areas transfer to the urban or more civilized areas, primarily because of work, livelihood, scenery and better opportunities. However, as more people go to the urban areas, these urban areas eventually become overcrowded and resources become scarcer leaving rural areas be undeveloped.


When the respondents were asked about their expenses, respondents from Angbuhay Street, they answered that they are paying for water, electricity and food but for the house itself and land, they do not pay any. While the respondents from Damca Street said that they pay for water, electricity and land.


When the researchers asked the respondents why they chose to live in the places like that their common answer is that the place that they are living in is accessible to job opportunities, markets and such. When the respondents were asked if they are offered by the government some services and benefits, people living in Angbuhay Street responded that they were respondents of the 4Ps or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program whereas the respondents from Damca Street, .


According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (2012), the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is “a human development program of the national government that invests in the health and education of poor households, particularly of children aged 0-14 years old and patterned after the conditional cash transfer scheme implemented in other developing countries, the Pantawid Pamilya provides cash grants to beneficiaries provided that they comply with the set of conditions required by the program.”


Basically, the 4Ps targets families that are considered to be poor and experiences bad or inconvenient conditions. The program will start from selecting the households/ families that will be the beneficiaries and these families will also be surveyed and interviewed. In relation to the interviews gathered, only five (5) respondents from Angbuhay Street were considered beneficiaries, while the respondents from Damca Street were not beneficiaries of the program.


It was also mentioned by one respondent who was from Angbuhay Street that not all of the families will be interviewed and surveyed; only random families, thus it will end up that the beneficiaries will be more likely the only ones who were interviewed and surveyed. In this case, government failure can be seen already because if the government, indeed, promulgates and implements the 4Ps enthusiastically, all families will be interviewed and many will be more beneficiaries. Of course it will be unfair for those non-beneficiaries.


And also, it can be correlated to this that if for instance, a member of the committee of the 4Ps know of a family of informal settlers, that member of the committee will eventually make sure that this family will be a beneficiary. This will pose a positive externality to the known family because even if that family does not pass the requirements but because they knew someone, they will immediately be a beneficiary. But also, this will also pose a negative externality to the families who are aspiring beneficiaries because whatever they do, even though they will follow all the procedures and then pass all the requirements if they are not known to any member or they do not know any backer, they will not be a beneficiary still.


When the respondents were asked if they know something about the housing projects offered by the government, the respondents from Angbuhay Street said that they heard about it on television and radio but they were not yet directly offered by it. They also mentioned that they tried to apply for the resettlement or relocation and the slum upgrading but there were many requirements and the process is somewhat extensive so until now they are still waiting for the approval of the government to give them and award them the land titles.


The respondents from Damca Street said that truly the process was long and you really need to work it on because there are many requirements to submit; they admitted that it took them many years to be given and provided by the titles of the land. In relation to this, it can be seen how information dissemination is inadequate. The agencies for the housing sector do not inform very well the people about the housing plans and programs they offer. If these agencies are implementing well and want to provide adequate housing, employees under the housing sector will disseminate information accordingly, they will go to these slum are squatter areas and orient all the people there.


When the respondents were asked if they know the law about squatting and that they may even be arrested for putting up houses and living in lands that they do not own, they said that they do not know anything about the law on squatting. In line with this information, it is unfortunate that these people are ignorant about the laws of the country. It can then be implied that these people are not aware of the consequences of their actions, for instance setting up houses in lands that they do not own; government must not forget to converse and orient with these people so that it will be fair to everyone.


When the respondents were asked if they had experienced demolitions, the settlers from Angbuhay Street mentioned that they were able encounter demolition but that was already years ago; whereas people from Damca Street were not able to experience such. To follow this up, the respondents from Angbuhay Street were asked what did do after the demolition has occurred; they said that they fought and waited for the demolition to stop; when the demolishers left already they cleaned the place and built again their houses there. Some of them, according to them, organized and went to the National Housing Authority to grant their request of awarding the land since they have lived there for a long time already and it is a government-owned land; but until now it is still in the process of awarding it to the settlers.


The researcher deems that there is a problem with regards to the housing sector in the country. Housing reforms must be undertaken. These reforms, of course, cannot only be done one time, it must perpetuate until the housing backlog in the country had been diminished or if not, alleviated.

Ineffective reforms are inevitable but the researcher believed that together with these policy reforms are plans, programs and practice. Also, the government must work in coordination with other sectors.

Policy Recommendations

The researchers provided a list of housing policy recommendations:

• The government must reexamine all its mandate to the housing sector and must assure that there will be no overlapping of mandate and duties. Land policies and management must be altered to be sound and strong.

• There should be a better database system that will always monitor and be updated in relation to the population of the informal settlers and the need for housing units.


• There must be larger amount of money that is to be provided for the housing sector. Since according to the researchers’ informants the government provides less budget for the housing sector.

• Partnership of the government between the other sectors must be emphasized and amplified. Because it is already a fact that in the Philippines, the private sectors provide better projects and opportunities to the society.

• There must be better governance and transparency to avoid rifts and conflicts.

• The mindset that availability of land and housing and ownership must be focused upon.


• The housing agenda (plans and programs of housing) must be gestated in the sense that the beneficiaries will be secured and possess tenure.

• The development of the Department of Housing so that there will be only one department that will cover everything about housing and thus can avoid the overlapping of mandates and goals.

The aforementioned policy recommendations

are generalized solely on the research conducted. Nonetheless, there are already the National Urban Development and Housing Framework and Medium Term Development Plan (Sections 5 and 8 for Housing), which are good stepping stones of the government to monitor policy reforms in the housing sector.


From the past until now, there is the existence of the housing backlog in the Philippines. There is inadequacy of housing in the country, for instance, take into account the informal settlers and the slum dwellers. Based on the data gathered, it is noticeable that annually, the population of these informal settlers increases, but the government fails to address the housing concerns of these people. The factors that can be attributed in the increasing population of the informal settlers in the urban areas are the fast-paced population growth rate of the country, migration of the people from rural areas to the urban areas, and expensive housing.

Conclusion

In general, the government must provide its citizenry’s basic needs like for housing but the Philippine government cannot; the government has assigned agencies for housing like the NHA and SHFC, however there is a weak coordination among these agencies and between these agencies and the informal settlers. Actually, the researchers were able to perceived that there is an overlap with regards to the tasks of these housing agencies, take for instance, the heads of these agencies pass on the housing agenda to other agency and say that it is not the agency’s mandate.

Conclusion

The government may have done its part for the providence of housing units to the informal settlers, nevertheless, other sectors such as the local government units and the private sector must also participate. The local government units and private sector can by themselves, buy a piece of land and donate it to the informal settlers or raise a fund to upgrade the sites or even give livelihood programs (for those in the rural areas) so that there will be no migration and overcrowding to occur.

Conclusion

Housing is a basic necessity to every person. Its effectiveness and adequacy maintains wide assumption to the economy. Housing is ceased to be a pump primer for the economy. Yet, housing in the Philippines delay to be complicated and unresolved – from access to land, loans, credit and other schemes. Appropriate governance must apply to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and with its key shelter agencies. Housing backlog in the Philippines can be addressed and resolved. Ambitious to say, but nevertheless, the collective and united goal of making all Filipinos as adequate homeowners and landowners is within reach.

Conclusion

Ballesteros, M. M. (2002, November). Rethinking Institutional Reforms in the Philippine Housing Sector. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from www3.pids.gov.ph/ris/pdf/pidsdps0216.PDFBallesteros, M. M. (2010, December). Linking Poverty and the Environment: Evidence from Slums in Philippine Cities. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps1033.pdfCariño, B., & Corpuz, A. (2009). Toward a Strategic Urban Development and Housing Policy for the Philippines (Master's thesis). Retrieved October 18, 2012, from dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps0921.pdfCongress of the Philippines. (1992, March 24). Republic Act 7279: An act to provide for a comprehensive and continuing urban development and housing program, establish the mechanism for its implementation, and for other purposes. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from www.chanrobles.com/republicactno7279.htmGehander, M., & Mörnhed, E. (2006). From Slum to Adequate Homes (Master's thesis). Retrieved October 18, 2012, from www.hdm.lth.se/fileadmin/hdm/Ex-jobb/Gehander_-_Moernhed.pdfHousing. (2012). In Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/housing.htmlLagman, J. (n.d.). Anatomy of the Nation’s Housing Problems (Master's thesis). Retrieved October 18, 2012, from philrights.org/wp./Anatomy-of-the-nations-housing-problems.pdfLlanto, G. M., Orbeta Jr, A. C., Sanchez, M. C., & Tang, M. G. (1998). A Study of Housing Subsidies in the Philippine. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps9842.pdfMonsod, T. (July 2001). Is Government Really Solving the House Problem?. Retrieved October 18, 2012 from http://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/672.

References

Office of the President NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY. NHA - Corporate Operations & Systems Office, 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://www.nha.gov.ph/index.html>.Philippines (2012). In Homeless International. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www.homeless-international.org/our-work/where-we-work/philippinesPorio, E. (2009, August 31). Urban Transition, Poverty, and Development in the Philippines. Retrieved October 18, 2012http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G02570.pdfSlum population (2011). In Index Mundi. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www.indexmundi.com/philippines/slum-population.htmlUnited Nations Statement on the Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act Bill (2012, August 5). In UNICEF. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www.unicef.org/philippines/mediacentre_19331.html#.UIEFRG_6baF(2012). In Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://www.hudcc.gov.ph/default.aspx(2012). In Office of the President National Housing Authority. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://www.nha.gov.ph/(2012). In Social Housing Finance Corporation. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://www.shfcph.com/index.html(2012). In The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://pantawid.dswd.gov.ph/index.php/about-us?showall=1

References

The Political Economy of Housing

Documents

Transcript of The Political Economy of Housing