chapter 1and 2 new format
TRANSCRIPT
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Rationale
Communities started as people grouping themselves to secure basic
necessities which include food, shelter, clothing and transportation. Over time,
these communities developed into cities and urban areas brought about by
technology advancement and the ever-changing needs of the people namely
housing, food and basic services such as water and electricity, security and
health care. In many communities, all of these basic services are not met
resulting to problems such as informal settlement (widely known as squatting),
poor sanitary condition (e.g. absence of toilets) and high crime rates (e.g.
robbery and theft).
As cities and urban areas are generally viewed capable of offering more
opportunities, a local migration scenario is common in the country—people from
the rural areas move to the bigger cities to seek for better employment or another
source of living. For instance, a young college graduate from one of the
provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao will seek job opportunities in bigger cities
such as Manila and Cebu. As the population continues to grow brought about by
the influx of people, congestion became an unavoidable problem in urban areas.
Obviously, the new settlers’ lack of land property within urban areas is the reason
of informal settling. Settlement became a major problem and even reached the
point that it seemed uncontrollable.
Like any cities and barangays in the Philippines, the city of Cebu also
faces the same problem of congestion and informal settlement. As the second
largest city in the Philippines, in terms of economic activity, population migration
is not surprising. The Cebu City government in general and its comprising
barangays in particular have their respective stories to tell revolving around the
issue on informal settlement. One of the
identified communities of informal
settlers in Cebu City is located in
barangay Lorega-San Miguel,
particularly those living within the Old
Municipal Cemetery. Within it, ironically
a place where the dead rests, houses
(classified as illegal structures) served
as homes for the living. In a report
published in Sun.Star Cebu newspaper
dated July 10, 2010, it was stated that for many years now, the cemetery has
been home to urban poor families who have built their homes on top of tombs.
Moreover, among these illegal structures, 91 have tombs underneath the house.
Sixty tombs still have cadavers, while the other 31 are empty (KAL/RRF, 2010).
Hence, it is a fact that these people live in an inappropriate site for settlement. As
the area is not made for people to live in, problems on health and sanitation
among others arise.
Photo 1: Actual View of a basketball playing area inside the cemetery
Theoretical Background
The study has its basis on the concept of human settlement in the
Philippine Constitution, which states that every Filipinos has a right to quality of
life. With this, having a decent land and domicile for the latter to uplift and
prosper himself is of great importance and is one of his basic needs. This need,
part of the other basic elements of human living settlement, is particularly
stressed out in the Ekistics theory which is proposed as the science of human
settlements by a Greek architect and urban planner named Constantinos A.
Doxiadis. In his theory, he explained that man, part of a living organism which is
the community, has his needs and these needs must be addressed. In
addressing such needs, he is able to survive and set himself as a factor
influencing other elements comprising the community. One of these elements
which have a bearing on man’s survival is the shell which refers to body covering
and a house or a domicile. This has become a very important property that the
latter should have to protect him from the danger the outside world may bring.
Similar to this, the occupants in Lorega-San Miguel Cemetery also has this
perception of a house or domicile where they and their families are secured.
As much as this need became prevalent, arriving on a solution which
would satisfy these people’s need is also a matter of considering the existing
factors within the locality of Cebu City. These factors that were considered on the
solution were as follows: the government agencies, department and sections
namely the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), the Housing and
Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), the City Planning and Development Council, the Local
Government of Lorega-San Miguel; the non-government organizations in the
likes of the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, the Action for
Nurturing Children and Environment (ANCE); the most importantly the existing
laws are ordinances that could affect the solution on accommodating the
occupants of the cemetery on Lorega-San Miguel. Figure one below shows the
above mention.
FIGURE 1: A diagram on the factors affecting the accommodation of settlers in Lorega-San Miguel Municipal Cemetery
ACCOMMODATION OF SETTLERS IN LOREGA- SAN MIGUEL CEMETERY
Existing Laws and Ordinances
BP 220 of the Socialized and Economic Housing Act
PD 1096- The National Building Code of the
Philippines
PD 1185- The Fire Code of the Philippines
PD 957- The Condominium and Subdivision Buyers
Protective Decree
RA 7279- The Urban Development and Housing
Act
Non- Government Organization
Homeowner’s Association- UCESIRA or the United
Cemetery Side Residents Association
Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation Inc.
Action for Nurturing Children and the Environment (ANCE)
Government Agencies, Department and Sections
Division for the welfare of the urban poor
Department of Social Welfare and Development
City Planning Office
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
Lorega Local Government Unit
Proponents of the project proposal
Significance of the Study
Any project undertaken always has impacts on people and the
environment. This study is for the provision of better accommodation and
housing for the informal settlers of barangay Lorega-San Miguel Cemetery and
for security of the health and well-being of the people. Resolving informal settlers
as one of the pressing community issues is likewise seen as a good blueprint to
serve as inspiration and guiding document in addressing matters of and relating
to informal settlement. Specifically, the study is most significant to the following
entities:
Residents of the Cemetery grounds:
This is most beneficial to these people in as much as the solution to
the problem of informal settling will determine the capacity to reside permanently
within the cemetery grounds.
Cebu City Government:
With the possible accommodation of residents in the cemetery
grounds, the implementation of a statute of disallowing cemeteries within urban
areas is clearly implemented. Likewise, the problem of informal settlers gets to
be resolved through the joint effort of the city and the community.
Local Government of Lorega-San Miguel:
With this, barangay officials may become aware and vigilant in the
approach of this certain problem and that, on the onset of informal settling, they
may be able to nip it in the bud before it becomes a problem.
Public:
Through this, there is clear delineation of land use and that the public is
made aware that the Lorega-San Miguel municipal cemetery is no more and that
the grounds have been made to accommodate “live” people as residents who are
monitored by LGU units; thus, appeasing the public that no shady characters
abound the area.
THE PROBLEM
Statement of the Problem
Giving these informal settlers better housing condition is a matter that the
City Government has to address. However, the lack of these people in terms of
land property in an urban area like Cebu City poses an explicit constraint in
carrying out this responsibility. This matter is considered alongside the influx of
people in the city.
However, the issue on land property can be addressed with a better
strategy on accommodating these people. It is on this regard that the thesis
proponents believed that turning these informal settlers into formal settlers is
possible. As steps to achieve this goal, the following sub-problems should be
addressed:
1. When did these occupants start to reside inside the cemetery grounds?
2. What are the reasons for migration of these residents from the rural to
urban cemetery grounds?
3. How many settlers, in terms of families, have been identified to reside the
Lorega-San Miguel Cemetery?
4. What economic activity/ies are indulged in by the residents?
5. What is the condition of the area like?
6. Has government taken action on the plight of the residents of the
cemetery?
7. Is the cemetery, in terms of property ownership, a government or privately
owned land?
8. Is the particular undertaking, a project acceptable to the local residents
outside the cemetery grounds?
Scope and Limitations
The study covered the identified residents of the municipal cemetery,
located in barangay Lorega-San Miguel. Moreover, data on living conditions have
limited to the government agencies, departments and sections in the likes of the
Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD), Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
(HLURB), City Planning and Development Council, Geographic Information
System (GIS) and the local government of Lorega-San Miguel; and the non-
government organizations: Action for Nurturing Children and Environment
(ANCE) and Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation (GK CDF);
and the United Cemetery Side Residents Association as respondents to vital
information on the problems on property through interviews and surveys. The
study was undertaken on June 2010 to February 2010.
Definition of Terms
Cemetery: a site intended for burials of the deceased
Lorega-San Miguel Cemetery: is a municipal cemetery located in Barangay
Lorega-San Miguel. Also known as General Echavez Old Cemetery it
came into its current land use as a cemetery due to the reason of
accommodating non-Catholic burials in the past. With basis on
zoning, it was classified as commercial and as its name clearly
suggests, it is a place for the dead. However, there are people
occupying within its grounds.
Tenement: a term used on an apartment building for rent or rent to own that
meets the minimum standards of comfort and safety (Merriam-
Webster Dictionary, 1991)
Tenement Housing: a vertical development housing or apartment building
provided by the Government as a program to the poor and
marginalized sector
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Method
The study used the descriptive method in which clerical and mechanical
tools were applied in the data collection. Include in the tools were interview
guides, on-site observation checklist, Moreover, the gathered data and results
obtained were then presented in a descriptively with supplementary documents
such as photos and hand written notes.
Environment
Lorega-San Miguel Municipal Cemetery is a government owned lot which
was the selected site of the study. It came into its use due to the need of non-
Catholic people to bury their deceased loved ones in another area apart from the
nearest Catholic burial site including Carreta Catholic Cemetery. These non-
Catholics were urged by this need because burying their dead loved ones in
Catholic cemeteries would be costly for them, and by tradition, it had been a
norm for us Filipinos to separate the Catholic and non-Catholic burials which was
an influenced from the Spanish colonizers. As much as it serves its use in the
present, a problem on informal settling came into the picture.
Currently, there are people occupying the cemetery grounds and these
people have been living the area since 1960’s. Even the area was an
inappropriate site for human settlement, as local news reports describe that most
houses are built on top or beside tombs; the occupants still dwelt on it because it
was the nearest place to set up their homes from their workplace and it was an
area they knew that can accommodate them within the city. Moreover, they also
found the place less hassling because they don’t have to pay rentals for it.
Due to this circumstance, an outbreak on scabies happened as these
people dwelt within the cemetery grounds. Scabies, also known in the vernacular
language as kagid-kagid, caused by a bacteria became a rampant skin disease
for the occupants. With this, the people became aware of the threat that may
affect them by living inside a cemetery. Given options on avoiding this threat
through relocation, they also became unreceptive on such idea. As a result,
these people requested for a legislation to happen on converting the site into a
residential area, and on July 09, 2010, a resolution on the closure of the
cemetery was passed and with it, the project on housing was pushed through. At
this point of time, the Cebu City government is on its phase of removing and
transferring the remains of those tombs which will be affected by the housing
development.
Respondents
The occupants of the municipal cemetery were the respondents of the
study. In addition, they were usually the ones who were screened and got
passed as legitimate beneficiaries of the project and members of the UCESIRA,
a homeowner’s association within the cemetery.
Tools Procedure
As what had been discussed previously, the tools used were the clerical
and mechanical. Under the clerical tool, instruments that were included were the
interview guides and observation checklist. Interview guides were made as an
option to survey questionnaires due to the fact that the intended respondents
were those identified as members of the UCESIRA and those who passed the
screening made by the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor. As these
respondents were already identified, the researchers still had to make interviews
to identify more beneficiaries that had not been listed as a member of the
association within the cemetery. In it questions were crafted carefully by the
researchers to obtain data from these people. Prior to this, a letter of request had
been made and received by the people through their association. The interviews
were scheduled prior to the deadline on the data presentation and were done
casually. To gather more substantial data, the researchers also attended
meetings held at the UCESIRA office every Sundays and note what were the
updates and activities the members were up into.
On-site observation checklist was a researcher-made list used to identify
existing elements within the site. This was an important tool on obtaining
pertinent data particularly from the site for it would have a bearing on the solution
of the problem particularly on the physical aspects. In it, list of existing structures,
utility line and services, vegetations and type, the site characteristics and
condition, the current tomb and dwelling pattern of the site and other physical
attributes of the site were listed and were marked as present or absent. This
instrument aside from the interviews made was scheduled prior to the
submission of data presentation and was used on site visitations.
Under the mechanical tool, included instruments were photographic
cameras and voice recorders. These were used alongside with the interviews
and on-site observations to document data. The camera was used extensively to
document the existing condition of the site, during interviews and at every
Sunday meetings at the UCESIRA office. The voice recorders were used during
interviews for purposes of documentation. Handwritten notes were also made in
the absence of the voice recorder.
Scoring Method
Since the study did not used any survey questionnaires, scoring of the
data obtained were not based quantitatively, rather it was more of the qualitative
method wherein, the substantiality of the data relied on the appropriate
respondents and interviewee the researchers selected. Moreover, the
identification of the stakeholders became an obvious factor of not using survey
questionnaires. Hence, the latter became a matter that the researchers had to
consider less since the data collection were intended to obtain more beneficiaries
of the project and their preferences.
On the other hand, the on-site observation checklist was an instrument
used on checking the condition of the site and the characteristics of its elements.
No tallying had to be made in this instrument, since it only presented the
existence and absence of necessary elements the site had.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Settlement as defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary is an act or
process of settling, has been a prevalent activity or phenomenon caused by
behaviors. Particularly, in humans, this occurs due the latter’s need for food,
water, shelter and many others. With this, people tend to move from one place to
another in search for their basic needs to survive. It was in this manner that
nomadic life was an apparent settlement. But later, as these people learned new
things and started to develop new technologies which would help in their means
for survival, permanent settlements known as agricultural village were
established. From this, towns and cities were later developed and
industrialization happened. At this point of time, factories and industries came
along which generated employment, and also caused the influx of people
towards the industrial cities. These would have been beneficial to industries
which requires workforce. However, the influx of people also caused problems
instigated in the likes of accommodation and housing of these new settlers, and
because of these settlers’ lack of land properties with the city, settlements known
as squatting happened.
In the process of human settlements, there must have been an identified
site which is suitable for human living. This site should have also been
possessed by the settlers wherein they should have legal evidences of the site or
land ownership. This process supposedly must have happened in the
Philippines, but, it did not for many reasons. One is that laws and local statues
addressing human settlements were not that firm on imposing strict rules against
squatting. Another was that, zoning of lands according to its pre-empted use was
not strictly followed. Others are by political reasons.
In effect, informal settlers increased their numbers, and as time passed,
these people became unreceptive when ask to move out of their areas. In terms
of planning, this was so because of the mere truth that these people had already
established themselves on the areas they have lived. Moreover, the idea of
evicting these people from there homes would be like uprooting an aged tree
from its location, causing detrimental effects to the latter. Hence, evicting this
people from the land they do not own is less an effective solution in solving illegal
settlements in urban areas. With this growing problem in urban areas,
particularly in the Philippines, the government has to promulgate laws to address
it.
In this scenario, an act, known as the Republic Act 7279 or the Urban
Development and Housing Act of 1992 was promulgated. Also known as the Lina
Law, it had already been made to protect these settlers from being evicted from
the properties they are squatting and provide guidelines on providing
resettlements on the particular beneficiaries. This act was promulgated since
1986 by then Senator Jose ‘Joey’ Lina, which states that informal settlers living
on lands they do not own for 30 years and over from the time the law’s
promulgation are protected from any means of eviction. Whereby, in the event
that these settlers have to be moved out from the properties they are squatting
due to a valid cause, the government will mediate and shall help these people for
resettlement. However, people who were not covered with this law are not
protected and are subject to eviction. As what has been published in SunStar
News, a local newspaper; “Cebu City Hall will demolish illegal structures along
Cebu City’s riverbanks and it will not provide relocation sites to affected
families”(PDF, 2010). These planned actions were done on the matters of
discouraging illegal settlers and most importantly, securing the safety of these
people. However, the truth that these informal settlers which were regarded as
the Urban Poor has probably no more fundamental problem than their inability to
access decent, secure lands for even the most minimum housing needs. Access
to land is an inseparable ingredient in a poor household to survive, earn, thrive
and lift itself out of poverty. Evicting households might be an effective way of
clearing land for other uses, but in almost any eviction, the poor are the greatest
losers: they loose the houses that they have invested in, they often loose their
jobs, their belongings, their building materials and their social support systems.
Plus, evicting informal settlements reduces the city’s stock of affordable housing
and instead of solving the problem simply moves it elsewhere, at very high
social, economic and political costs (UN Human Settlements Program and UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2008). Hence, the
government still has to find ways in dealing with this people in a manner that it is
not violent and is beneficial on part of the land owners and the informal settlers.
As mitigating measures are also tried to be used in addressing issues on
informal settlements, so are other Local statutes and National Laws which has
concerns on this matter also had to be considered and implemented. Primarily,
these laws were made to provide guidelines on how to make settlements
appropriate for the people who will be involved. One of these is the Socialized
and Economic Housing Law, also known as Batas Pambansa bilang 220 which is
“an act authorizing the ministry of human settlements to establish and
promulgate different levels of standards and technical requirements for economic
and socialized housing projects in urban and rural areas from those provided
under presidential decrees numbered nine hundred fifty-seven, twelve hundred
sixteen, ten hundred ninety-six and eleven hundred eighty-five.”
With this law, guidelines and standards on how to settle informal settlers
through low cost housing are provided, and as stated, this law also correlates
with other laws established which the following are: PD no. 957 or the subdivision
and condominium buyers’ protective decree which shall “regulating the sale of
subdivision lots and condominiums, providing penalties for violations thereof, PD
1096 also known as the National Building Code of the Philippines that shall
regulate the implementation of buildings in line with the accommodation of the
settlers, PD 1185- The Fire Code of the Philippines, which sets out guidelines in
developing safe structures and buildings against fire, BP 344- The Accessibility
Law of which is a law that sets guidelines on incorporating physical features that
would provide and encourage access to persons with disabilities, “to put them
back on the mainstream of society”.
With these Republic Acts and laws, accommodating informal settlers in
urban areas though housing and resettlements is made possible. However, with
the constraint on a limited area that a city has, efficient housing and resettlement
strategies should be considered. Particularly in Cebu City, a highly urbanized city
with a prevalent problem on informal settling, there is less land available to
accommodate these people. Hence, tenement housing is an option.
As traced from history, a tenement has been in its existence since the
ancient times, particularly the Romans, who housed in their slaves and the poor
in this particular dwelling. Even in the later times, during the Industrial
Revolution, a third of low-income families lived in one room, as more highlanders
crowded into tall tenement dwellings. This situation happened because Western
Europe underwent a period of rapid urbanization: the number of people living in
cities and towns grew more rapidly than did the percentage of people residing in
the countryside (Merriman, 1996). In the Philippines, tenement housing is used to
accommodate the marginalized sector of the society. Existing examples of such
were in Manila, particularly in Tondo.
In Tondo, the well-known tenement housing
is called the Punta Sta. Ana Tenement
House built in 1965. It was the first urban
government housing project under the
administration of President Diosdado
Macapagal. As cited from a blog posted by
Howie Severino, this has been condemned
for over 15 years, yet is still the crowded
home of over 1000 families. Existing with
Photo 2: A child resident looking at the condemned Sta, Ana Tenement Housing in Tondo, Manila Source: GMANews.tv
daily danger, they nevertheless take pride in not being squatters. The seven-
story high-rise is now a wretched symbol for what has gone wrong in the country
since. When Marcos defeated Macapagal in 1965, the housing project was
virtually abandoned by the government, identified as it was with the previous
administration. But those who had been homeless and awarded units there,
which they call condos, continue to live there and hope.
Shortly after the earthquake of 1990, residents were told by government
officials that the building was condemned and no longer livable. But hardly
anyone left. Most have nowhere to go since the government offered no
assistance for relocation. The National Housing Authority so far refuses to say if
it has a plan for the residents, 17 years after the NHA itself declared it unsafe
(Severino, 2007).
Another example of the same building type
is also located in Tondo namely, the Jaime
Cardinal Sin Village. It is a seven-storey
building which was built recently by the
Archdiocese of Manila, with the help of
Gawad Kalinga for those who are less
fortunate people.
Like any other means of
accommodating the marginalized sector of
the Philippine society, the Cebu City government also envisioned tenement
PHOTO 3: A One Point Perspective View of the Jaime Cardinal Sin Village Tenement Housing Building Source: http:// urbanroamer.files.wordpress.com
housing as a solution since the city has lesser lands to develop housing projects
horizontally. With this, vertical development is a possible choice wherein the poor
could still be accommodated. With the help of non-government organizations
such as the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation and the Action
for Nurturing Children and Environment, Cebu City is now pushing through the
said development. The housing development However, the down-side of such
development is that the people would less likely to be used in living on a vertical
housing since it is not one’s culture to reside on this type of development.
Moreover, the fact that these people would rather live on shanty or exchange
their awarded units for moneys is a problem that the Government had also to
foresee.