September 6, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a personal and collective privilege to discuss in this august chamber the challenge of addressing the concern of millions of informal settler families in Metro Manila as well as in other highly urbanized parts of the country. Enshrined in our constitution is the right to decent homes for our people.
Under Section 9 Article 13, the State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to under-privileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the implementation of such program the State shall respect the rights of small property owners.
The Constitution likewise guarantees the right of urban or rural poor dwellers not to be evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner. No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in 2010 has estimated that there are already 2.8 million informal settlers—that’s 556,526 families—living in Metro Manila. Of this number, 104,219 families are occupying areas identified by the Department of the Interior and Local Government as danger zones. The city’s esteros—along with railroad tracks, garbage dumps, riverbanks, shorelines and other waterways—are classified as danger areas by the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) of 1992, and are thus of great concern to the government, since informal settlers in these areas are most vulnerable to the disastrous impacts of floods and earthquakes, not to mention diseases such as malaria, leptospirosis, dengue and typhoid fever.
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a personal and collective privilege to discuss in this august chamber the challenge of addressing the concern of millions of informal settler families in Metro Manila as well as in other highly urbanized parts of the country. Enshrined in our constitution is the right to decent homes for our people.
Under Section 9 Article 13, the State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to under-privileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the implementation of such program the State shall respect the rights of small property owners.
The Constitution likewise guarantees the right of urban or rural poor dwellers not to be evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner. No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in 2010 has estimated that there are already 2.8 million informal settlers—that’s 556,526 families—living in Metro Manila. Of this number, 104,219 families are occupying areas identified by the Department of the Interior and Local Government as danger zones. The city’s esteros—along with railroad tracks, garbage dumps, riverbanks, shorelines and other waterways—are classified as danger areas by the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) of 1992, and are thus of great concern to the government, since informal settlers in these areas are most vulnerable to the disastrous impacts of floods and earthquakes, not to mention diseases such as malaria, leptospirosis, dengue and typhoid fever.
