Mobilizing the Community's Endogenous Potentials for Settlement Management: A Countermeasure to the Emergence of Slums

Few days ago, Pope Francis Village Homeowners Association leaders visited Tacloban Northern Barangays to see for themselves the post-resettlement condition of their fellow Yolanda survivors. The activity was meant to serve as an eye opener to HOA leaders of how government permanent resettlement projects are keeping up with massive structural modifications, renovations and expansions done by resettled families since they moved in to their permanent shelters.  A lead-up to the technical planning workshop, this learning activity aimed at providing the HOA leaders with a comparative benchmark of how settlements like the Pope Francis Village should deal with future home improvements without sacrificing the integrity of the whole estate and any structures therein. 

Block per block, leaders noted down their observations and some relevant insights as they interact with family occupants of  the three visited resettlement sites.  In New Hope Village for instance,  families who moved in last year already built permanent enclosures in front of their houses. Shockingly, there were quite a number who altered the entire facade of their units. Those who were lucky enough to be assigned on corner lots have encroached on road easements and extended concrete

fences beyond their designated property lines. That despite clear prohibitions from the contractors and their donor agencies.  The LGU's unreliable garbage collection schedule often leaves a stretch of clogged drainage canal, an inviting spawning ground for mosquitoes.  

The cases of Core Village and Guadalupe Heights are no less different than the former.  Anywhere you turn to, there are just too many improvements going on.  Some are pleasing, others are in such an awful state that if they remain to be so, another slum would sprawl in a potential built-up environment. 

Like many other documented cases,  improvements in resettlement sites usually start with temporary or makeshift structures attached to the core housing unit. 

Over time, families grow in size and so does their space requirement. A shift from one livelihood source to another also dictates the changing pattern of space planning at the household level. Most households that were previously dependent on fishing have switched to pedicab or tricycle driving while others opened small sari-sari stores as practical alternatives. Conversely, use of extra space for these kind of livelihoods has become inevitably necessary.  Not long after, the government's site monitoring team arrives for periodic inspection and... WHAM!

New permanent structures mushroomed at almost any direction and at any vacant space.  Right in front of you are brick walls,  a parking space surrounded by concrete fences and metal studs,  a new mezzanine or a single-storey unit that turned into a two-storey house.  

Testimonies lifted from interviews with some families proved that the absence of policies regulating such improvements and a failure in organizing were  the main culprits for these long-standing social realities, at least in those mentioned resettlement areas.  

"Diri la kinahanglan nga mayda polisiya an usa nga pabalay sugad han Pope Francis Village. An pinaka-importante  an makusog nga partisipasyon han mga HOA Officers hit pag-implementar han mga polisiya" (It's not enough for a resettlement initiative like Pope Francis Village to have a set of policies. What's most important is the active participation of HOA officers in the implementation of these policies), says PFV HOA Secretary Marissa Agote during the post-activity assessment. Mindful of what may possibly happen in Pope Francis Village in the near future if policies relative to estate management are not in place or are not strongly enforced by the HOA, FRANCESCO organized a technical planning workshop together with the HOA leaders last Friday, February 2. The objective of this was to align the HOA's policies concerning home improvements with the minimum housing standards mandated by Philippine laws which govern all resettlement projects. 

"Are we allowed to put-up canopy on our windows? Can we add divisions on the second floor?Can we utilize our rear extension for dirty kitchen? Can the electrical wiring carry the load requirement of our vulcanizing or welding machines? Where should we put-up our laundry area? Can we extend and use the front setbacks for our sari-sari stores? These and many more were on the laundry list of questions of the community, which only reflect their unrelenting desire for continued improvement.   

From my vantage point, a family with access to secure tenure would always aspire for a better living condition and would strive hard to hold some piece of entitlements. These are truly manifested in their persistent desire to accumulate assets or to invest on incremental house improvements. What's important though especially for organized communities is that every planned improvement should never transgress those pre-existing laws and policies,  nor undermine the role of HOA officers as policy-makers and implementers of policies agreed upon by the members. 

This was an overarching message of last Friday's technical planning workshop. Aided by house visualization exercises, HOA leaders revisited the three house designs to familiarize once more the different components of built houses. Inputs from the technical team also trains the spotlight on prescribed design standards adopted in Pope Francis Village as provided by the Socialized Housing law (BP 220), National Building Code and National Structural Code of the Philippines among others. During the workshop session, participants listed all their inquiries and planned improvements in addition to those already documented from previous focus group discussions held with other members of the community. 

One by one, the in-house technical team answered the questions that were categorized according these four design components: architectural, structural, sanitary and electrical.  The output was a list of guidelines detailing the dos' and donts' that each member should keep in mind when making alterations, additions or renovations of their housing units.

This list encompasses vertical and horizontal expansions, use of interior spaces, home furnishings and fixtures like choice of color scheme for interior painting, additional lightings and use of home appliances, type of cooking fuels including the adjustment on space to accommodate home-based livelihood ventures.  

The guidelines will be presented in the scheduled cluster assemblies involving all the 550 member families on February 9 and 10, before the HOA invokes the adoption of said guidelines and as integral part of its covenant with individual members. 

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