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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background Of The Study
Poverty is one of the many social problems that have been long
entrenched in the society, especially in the Third World countries. One of the
most prevalent manifestations of it is the housing crisis.
It has been known that employment, income generation and access to
housing are highly interrelated. (Adebayo and Adebayo, 2000)
Underdeveloped states are too meager or unstable to permit commitment of
scarce resource to housing since most of the expenditures are allocated on
other areas of concerns like agriculture, health, education and infrastructure.
To an extent, these basic human necessities and income generating activities
are perceived to be more pressing than that of housing development that is
why they are prioritized instead. (TWURD, 1993)
There are initial efforts to address housing needs, however, the
combined factors of rapid population growth and migration to urban centers
have magnified the challenges faced by city and national governments. (Ibid;
Bestani and Klein, 2004; Sayos et. al, 1998; Kohli, 1997; Self, 1964)
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At the very least, poverty is likely to produce increased human
migration from rural areas to urban centers since the locus of economic
development has been concentrated here. Abundance of job opportunities
has continued to attract rural settlers to migrate in the cities for better living
condition making these urban centers overpopulated and congested. (Ibid;
Ibid; Self, 1964)
Along with the growing population is the rising cost of housing,
particularly that of land and construction costs, as well as rent charges. Under
this situation, the informal settlers, primarily those from the provinces who
moved into the city due to extreme poverty in the rural areas, are left with no
choices but to squat since they have scarce means to get decent units.
(Sayos et. al. 1998) Generally, squatters or informal settlers are those people
occupying government land and structures, those residing in reclamation
areas and danger sites; those affected by the roads widening projects of the
government, and those who are squatting in privately owned lands. (TWURD,
1993; Ibid)
Contrary to how it has been perceived as less vital relative to the other
basic needs, housing problem has practically been the root of other serious
social setbacks like poor health and sanitation in overcrowded residential and
squatters areas, increasing inter-group friction and urban crimes.
Nonetheless, despite of its seemingly lesser gravity as a social problem,
housing crisis should then be prioritized as well.
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As this problem presently affects different countries, it has been more
pronounced in Asia and the Pacific. According to available housing measure,
the housing markets in Asia are under more pressure than anywhere else in
the world (Bestani & Klein, 2004). For years, there has been a profound
insufficient availability of infrastructure services such as water, power,
sewage treatment, etc. And despite this situation, little attention has been
devoted to this problem. The fund that has been devoted both to improving
the enabling environment for housing and to the direct provision of housing is
very inadequate (Ibid.).
In the Philippines, the problem has been more evident. Urban growth
in the country has averaged about 4 percent over the last two decades and is
expected to decline only marginally, adding 2.5 million households by the
year 2000 (TWURD, 1993). However, this aforesaid growth has not been
evenly distributed across all cities and has only been rampant in various
urban centers predominantly the Metro Manila area whose primacy is a
phenomenon analogous to other cities in the Southeast Asia.
In Metro Manila, more than a half of the poor sector lives in
shantytowns, beside the railways, under the bridges or near the rubbish.
Families work as scavengers and raise their children in an unhealthy and
dangerous place. This deplorable living condition of the poor has been
aggravated by a number of demolitions and city reconstructions in lieu of
continuous development.
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These increasing demands in housing relative to the poverty that has
constantly constrained the people adds more pressure to the already limited
financial resources of local and national governments. The government has
grappled with such problems coming up with several housing provisions,
assistance and innovative programs for their poor beneficiaries, but then has
always been inhibited by factors such as inadequate funding, lack of
institutional linkages and weak political will that ensures sustainability. (Sayos
et. al. 1998)
The civil society has also been involved in housing development as
they go on supplementing the government actions and sometimes even
offering alternative solutions. (TWURD, 1993; Self, 1964)
The Urban Poor Institute for Community Building Inc. (UPICOB) is one
of the active NGOs involve in housing. It is a non-stock, non-profit and non-
governmental organization that facilitates the holistic process of peoples
struggles for empowerment through formation, education, community building
and socio-politico-economic development. It was established last August 30,
1991, duly registered by Security and Exchange Commission, duly accredited
by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD).
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There are two peoples organization (POs) that were organized by
UPICOB in its housing activities: the SBHOA and UBMPC. The Sitio
Balikatan-Homeowners Association (SBHOA) is a partner peoples
organization of UPICOB on housing construction. It comprises of people living
along the railroads of Metro Manila (from Caloocan to Taguig), and is
composed of members who are the heads of the family. The other PO, the
UPICOB-Balikatan Multi-Purpose Cooperative (UBMPC) is a livelihood
cooperative whose members are the families of the members of SBHOA.
Together, they work in building houses and livelihood for the community.
B. Statement of the Problem
The study primarily ventured deeper on the issue of poverty as it takes
the NGO-PO coalition in the context of housing crisis. As it attempts to
address the main concern of the study, that which are the shortfalls,
inadequacies and indefiniteness of the current solutions done by different
sectors to resolve or perhaps even alleviate the current situation, it analyzed
the response of a particular non-governmental organization and its partner
peoples organizations towards housing crisis.
The main problem of the study is that: Is the strategy of UPICOB-
SBHOA-UBMPC a sustainable solution to the housing problem in the
selected communities in Metro Manila?
In lieu with this, the study answered the following particular questions:
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1. What is the current status of the housing crisis in Metro Manila?
2. What is the strategy employed by the UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC in
responding to the problem?
3. Is the housing strategy sustainable in terms of:
a. Institutional arrangements?
b. Technical?
c. Financial?
C. Theoretical Framework
NGO Theory of Poverty
David Kortens (1990) NGO theory of poverty is derived from his work
on the NGO development strategies, wherein he labeled the three modes of
action that NGOs undertake for addressing development problems overtime.
The development strategies that he identified are as follows: (1) generation
one, relief and welfare; (2) generation two, small-scale, self-reliant local
development; and (3) generation three, sustainable systems development.
The theory basically shows the direction that NGOs take in addressing
development issues. It explains how and why they shift from one strategy to
another in the course of achieving their goals.
According to the theory, the shift in strategy among NGOs is primarily
brought about by the realization of the problems underlying causes (Korten
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1990). Normally, NGOs that are concerned with poverty alleviation begin as
relief and welfare organizations or generation one strategy (See Figure 1).
They respond to the problem in the most direct and immediate way by
providing food, clothing, housing, and health as required (Korten, 1990).
These organizations view the entire problem just as how it appears to them,
without delving deeper into it. For instance, they view poverty merely as the
inability of the poor people to meet their basic needs. And from there they will
respond to it by providing them with what they could not afford.
In the midst of carrying out their actions in addressing the problem,
some NGOs come to a certain point of questioning the underlying causes
(Korten, 1990). It is like asking Why are the people poor? From here, they
will begin to shift in their strategy. Looking upstream, these NGOs will
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FIGURE 1
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Source: (Tobing, 1989)
NGO
the individual or family
service delivery activitythe NGO works operationally asthe single actorexpertise: logistics
Generation one: Relief and Welfare
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begin searching for the source or cause of the problem and will end up
realizing that the problem is local inertia, a sort of self imposed or self
correctable powerlessness resulting from lack of organization, political
consciousness, belief in self, credit and basic skills (Korten, 1990). And so
they will begin to intervene in the community, not by providing immediate
needs that will only be as good as temporary solutions, but will actually
intervene with community development programs (generation two strategy).
Herewith they will begin to organize the community and enable them to
overcome their powerlessness, and be capable of alleviating the solutions
themselves. At this point, the community becomes the NGOs partner in
achieving their developmental goal (See Figure 2).
The shift in strategy to generation three known as the sustainable
systems development is brought about by further upstream, which leads to
the realization that in large measure the evident powerlessness of the villager
is not self-imposed; rather it is externally-imposed and sustained by policies
and programs, often originating from the state and funded by foreign
agencies, that deprive the poor of access to productive resources and
maintain them in a state of dependency (Korten, 1990). With this, NGOs will
then adjust their approach accordingly and set about to advocate for changes
in critical policies: macropolicy and micropolicy reforms. The macropolicy
reforms (see Figure 3.1) are accomplished through preemptive central actions
(Korten, 1990). More so, they will begin to work with the government, or at
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FIGURE 2
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Source: (Tobing, 1989)
NGO
Generation two: Small-scale self-reliant local development
COs CD activities through localprojects
Actors: NGO and POsNGOs expertise: projectmanagement and communityorganizing
PO
PO PO
target groups: peoples organization (POs) in the village/s
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FIGURE 3.1
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Generation three: Sustainable systems development
Source: (Tobing, 1989)
Catalyst for macropolicy reform
different action agencieswhich constitute the systemfor a particular sector indevelopment activity
NGO
cooperates with other NGOand different entities
catalysts
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least with other sectors related, perhaps the private entities and foreign
agencies, by forming partnerships and coalitions aimed at reorienting their
programs towards the attainment of their goals. On the other hand,
micropolicy reforms (see Figure 3.2) entail a social learning process (Korten,
1986) as highly complex and difficult institutional changes are sometimes
required for its accomplishment. And as part of micropolicy reforms, NGOs
play the role of development catalyst in facilitating the development projects
of the government.
The theory clearly projects the course of action among NGOs, and
explains the reason for the changes and shifts in their developmental
strategies. In relation to the study, which aims to determine how a particular
NGO-PO, that which is UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC, addresses to the problem
of housing in the selected communities in Metro Manila, the theory explained
what type of strategy they adapted and why they responded the way they did.
This is primarily in line with the purpose of the study, which is to analyze the
response of the UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC towards housing crisis.
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FIGURE 3.2
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Generation three: Sustainable systems development
Source: (Tobing, 1989)
NGO
Catalyst for micropolicy reform
COscatalyst
action
agency
development projectof government
project beneficiaries groups
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Sustainable Housing Development
In analyzing the sustainability of the housing strategy of UPICOB-
SBHOA-UBMPC, the research made use of another theory, the Sustainable
Housing Development by Lombard and Wyk (2001) from their research
entitled The Housing Development NGOs Offering Housing Education and
Training Programmes in South Africa.
Sustainable Housing Development identifies four pillars (See Figure 4)
necessary for sustainable housing development (Lombard and Wyk, 2001).
The first pillar of housing development is the establishment of
permanent physical residential structures with secure tenure and allthe other physical elements.
The second pillar of housing development is the building of the
capacity of the participating community at all levels (mentally,socially and technically) to such a level that they are empowered toparticipate in their own development.
The third pillar is to make communities sustainable through the
housing development process, is the establishment or strengtheningof local community institutions or organizations to such a level that
they can maintain developments as well as orchestrate and conductfuture developments within the community.
The fourth pillar states that for the community to become
economically self-sustaining, opportunities need to be created wherethe community can utilize their inherent and newly developedcapacity for local economic development.
This theory has been used to analyze whether the technical
capacity of the strategy of UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC is sustainable or
not.
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FIGURE 4
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Sustainable Housing Development Approach
SUSTAINABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
FIRSTPILLAR
SECONDPILLAR
THIRDPILLAR
FOURTHPILLAR
Theestablish-ment ofpermanen
t physicalresidentialstructures
withsecuretenureand all theotherphysicalelements
Thebuildingofcapacity
of thepartici-patingcommu-nity at alllevels(so-cially,mentallyand tech-nically).
Theestablish-ment orstrengthe
n-ing oflocalcom-munityinstitutions ororgani-zations
Opportuni-ties needto becreated
where thecommuni-ty canutilizetheirdeveloped capacity
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Resource Dependence Theory (RDT)
There is another theory that the study employed as a supporting
framework to the first two conjectures given. This is the Resource
Dependence Theory (RDT) by Jeffrey Pfeffler and Gerald Salancik in their
work The External Control of Organizations (1978).
RDT begins with the assumption that no organization is able to
generate all the various resources that it needs (Pfeffler and Salancik, 1978).
Thus, it is impossible that all activities can be performed within the
organization to make it self-sustaining. Organizations must be dependent on
the environment for resources.
Basically, there is a scarcity of resources in the environment essential
for an organizational survival. This makes resource acquisition more of an
uncertainty for any organization. Thus, organizations are assumed to work
towards the goal of maximizing their power, and this not at all possible they
will not create internal and external coalitions with other organizations due to
the aforementioned lack of resources in the environment.
Organizations then will seek to establish relationships with others in
order to obtain the needed resources (Ibid). As their dependence on other
organizations increase, they tend to minimize it by acquiring control over their
own resources so as to make others dependent on them as well.
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In much simpler terms, resource-dependence model takes into
consideration the ways in which organizations interact with others in the
environment in order to get their needed resources, which they themselves
lack. This means that resource dependence model can be though of as an
inter-organizational resource dependence model since resources are deemed
to come from other organization as well (Pfeffler and Salancik, 1978). Thus, it
is impossible for an organization to stand on its own, entirely isolated from the
rest in the environment since there are needs that it cannot produce on its
own without cooperating with others.
This theory has been used in analyzing the sustainability of the
financial aspect and institutional arrangement of the Balikatan Self-Help
Housing Project of UPICOB and its partner POs, the SBHOA and the
UBMPC.
D. Conceptual Framework
In the attempt to respond to the housing problem in the country,
specifically the selected communities in the Metro Manila area, the Urban
Poor Institute for Community Building (UPICOB) organized two partner
peoples organization, the Sitio Balikatan Home Owners Association (SBHOA)
and the UPICOB-Balikatan Multipurpose Cooperative (UBMPC). These three
organizations work and cooperate with each other and ventures into housing
development called the Balikatan Self-Help Housing Project (See Figure 5).
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In this study, the housing strategy of the said NGO and its partner POs
was analyzed whether it is a sustainable solution to the housing problem of
the selected communities in Metro Manila. In doing so, the current housing
situation in the Metro Manila was presented, and then the response of
UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC was laid down and analyzed. The last part
assessed the housing strategy whether it is sustainable or not based on the
given indicators in the study.
To further elaborate on the first part, the root causes of the problem
were analyzed here using the quantitative data from government researches
and projections. The factors considered here were the Philippine population,
population count per region, and the population of Metro Manila together with
that of the cities comprising it. Land area was also taken into consideration
since the population density is vital in determining whether Metro Manila is
already jammed and overcrowded. Income brackets of Metro Manila
households were also considered since this is significant in understanding
why there has been housing problem in the aforesaid urban center. Most
importantly, the projected housing need and backlog in Metro Manila was
presented as well as the total number of depressed households relative to the
totality of the families in the area. These data were taken into consideration in
lieu with the goal of presenting the current housing condition in the Metro
Manila area.
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Upon knowing the condition or the problem that exists, the study
presented in details the response of UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC. First, the
organizational background was laid down. Then their different programs as
well as the approaches employed in addressing the housing problem were
presented. Given the kind of programs and the approach they used, the
strategy of the NGO and its partner POs was determined. This has been done
using the following strategy indicators: actors, activities and expertise.
The last part analyzed the sustainability of the housing strategy using
the sustainability indicators institutional arrangements, financial aspect and
technical capacity. This is to assess whether the said strategy employed is
sustainable solution to the problem.
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FIGURE 5
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Housing Problems in Metro Manila
current housing situation, responses of thegovernment
UBMPC(PO)
SBHOA(PO)
UPICOB(NGO)
Balikatan Self-HelpHousing Project
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E. Objectives of the Study
The prime objective of the study was to assess how the UPICOB and
its partner POs, the SBHOA and UBMPC respond to the housing problem in
selected communities in Metro Manila.
The specific objectives on the other hand are the following:
1. To illustrate the current status of the housing crisis in Metro Manila and
at the same time the different sectors involved in it;
2. To determine how were the UPICOB and its partner POs, the SBHOA
and UBMPC responded to the housing problem;
3. To analyze whether the housing strategy used by UPICOB-SBHOA-
UBMPC in addressing the problem is a sustainable solution.
F. Significance of the Study
This study tends to contribute a more in depth knowledge and
information on housing crisis, and how different sectors like the government,
the private entities, and the civil society respond to it. This is to fill in the gap
found in the literatures and studies both on NGO-PO relations and housing
crisis and development.
The need for shelter is a primary need of every individual, and so
housing is a serious problem that needs to be addressed, and a complex
issue that should be subjected to further studies. Despite the countless
housing projects and programs of the National Government in their serious
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attempts to solve this aggravating crisis, the situation continues to
degenerate.
It is undeniable to a certain extent that this kind of problem is hard to
attend to since housing is not a single entity; it is for a fact a heterogeneous
item. (HUDCC, 2006) Thus, entering into such a venture is definitely costly.
Perhaps these are the reasons that made it difficult for housing crisis to be
solved.
The difficulty however should not discourage the national government,
the local government units, private firms and most especially, the civil society
to be disillusioned. Rather, this problem should be confronted and studied
thoroughly. There should be a constant search for better strategies in house
building, in financing these projects in order to alleviate it from its worsening
status.
In the bulk of literature regarding housing, it is always the government
that is being taken in the studies. Thus, there is a pressing need to conduct
more researches that will also take the civil society, who has already taken
the cudgels in this undertaking. Most specially the non-governmental
organizations, there are very few researches on housing that were done in
the NGO perspective since studies about NGOs usually focus on agriculture,
education and health. (Etemadi, 2000; Mitlin, 2001; Agoncillo, 1996; Barredo,
2001; Patriarca, 1992; Subhan, 2004; Tobing, 1989)
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This suggests the need to conduct a study regarding housing which
will be taken on a different angle, that which is on the standpoint of these non-
governmental organizations.
The study basically analyzed how these NGO-POs relations
responded to the housing crisis in Metro Manila. Further, this study is
significant for the following reasons:
1. The study will contribute to the development of the UPICOB and its
partner POs relations in their plight to address the problem of housing
in Metro Manila;
2. This will help the organization itself, in this case the UPICOB, to
improve their internal structure, so as to be better agents of change in
the society;
3. The findings of the study will furnish a partial source of strategic
schemes in responding to the housing crisis that will either supplement
to the current solutions being done, or can be an efficient alternative;
4. The case study will serve as a guide and basis for other NGO-POs
involve in housing development in improving their strategies; and
5. The study will also benefit future researchers delving on NGO-POs and
housing crisis as well as other researchers of related fields.
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G. Scope and Limitations of the Study
This study is intended to determine how NGO-PO responded to the
housing problems in Metro Manila. Thus, the study focused only on housing
crisis as an aspect of the more general concept of poverty. Housing is a
serious urban problem that often branch out to many other setbacks. Thus,
this should be of prime concern among the policy makers, local officials and
researchers as well. As this problem needs immediate solution, it nonetheless
requires a good study and analysis to back up every action. There should be
a constant search for innovative solutions to this crisis, as conventional ones
are deemed to be lacking in effect.
One more thing, this research is one case study of an NGO-PO
coalition, comprising of one NGO and two POs. This single case was
purposely preferred so as to be able to study the organization better with all
its specificities. This allowed the research to delve deeper into the coalition,
the strategy, and study it more accurately.
The study only focused on selected communities in Metro Manila area
those that are covered by the UPICOB: Manila, Caloocan, Payatas and
Taguig. These are the places that the network of the UPICOB was able
reach, and where they were able to build communities. Also, these are the
cities where their beneficiaries came from. Thus, the members of the POs
were basically from these locations.
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The time frame of the study was from 1991 up to the present because
this is time when the UPICOB was actually established and began its
operation as an Urban Poor organization concerned on poverty alleviation.
Despite the fact that it was only in 2004 when they formally ventured into
housing, the different programs and trainings they have sponsored and
conducted became stepping-stones to their housing project. More so, they
have foreseen the idea of such endeavor as early as when they had just
started, though the formal concept came about later when the problem
became more pronounced in their chapters through the threats of demolitions
and railroad reconstructions.
This study is one of the few attempts in conducting research on NGO-
PO response to housing crisis. And with this, the study admits to have a
number of inadequacies in its theoretical and methodological framework.
And being limited to only one case suggests the very limitation of the
entire research in terms of deriving a conclusion and generalization.
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