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 The Urban
Poor and Housing desk is ICSI’s biggest and most established program.
Its goal is to help propagate a more sympathetic understanding of the
plight and economic contributions of the urban poor, who are often
regarded as burden to society. The desk’s expertise lies in the analysis
of urban poverty and its principal manifestation, the poor’s lack of
access to humane and secure housing. It regularly conducts research and
advocacy on the issues of urban land use, housing, eviction and
resettlement of informal settlers.
Since 1985, the desk has been actively involved in research, writing and
advocacy on urban poor and urban poor housing issues. During the Aquino
administration, it lobbied for the creation of the Presidential
Commission for the Urban Poor, suspending amortization payments in
resettlement projects and restricting the conduct of forced evictions.
In 1991, it was one of the principal organizers of the advocacy
coalition Urban Land Reform Task Force, which became instrumental in the
passage of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, and
subsequently, the Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act of
1995 and the repeal of the law criminalizing squatting (P.D. 772) in
1997.
 During
the Estrada administration, it was influential in the holding of Senate
hearings on the problems of families relocated from along the Pasig
River to Kasiglahan I or Erap City in Montalban, Rizal. Currently, the
desk provides inputs to legislative committees on the proposed creation
of a Department of Housing, the establishment of local housing boards
and the Magna Carta for the Urban Poor.
The desk also provides consultancy services to NGOs, government and
donor institutions on matters related to urban poor and housing. It has
been involved in such projects as the Batangas Port Expansion Project,
the Pasig River Resettlement Project and the CAMANAVA Flood Control
Project.
This past year, the desk’s research and advocacy efforts have centered
on the Pasig River Resettlement Program and developing housing
approaches, with the help of the Asian Development Bank and the World
Bank, which adopt the principle of on-site upgrading as alternative to
relocation. It also undertook a study on the policy and practice of
resettlement, looking into the experience of two recent relocation
projects, the roles played by government and nongovernment actors and
the conditions of the resettled communities.
This year, the desk’s many projects
include:
- Monitoring the relocation process of
families from the Pasig River bank and from flood-control areas in
Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas
- Working for affordable amortization
schemes for relocated families
- Developing housing approaches which
adopt the principle of on-site upgrading as alternative to distant
relocation
- Organization of a databank on urban
poor issues
- Production of an urban poor
situationer
- Codifying informal sector occupations
and analyzing social fragmentation and ethno-religious segregation in
urban areas
- External monitoring research for the
CAMANAVA resettlement project
- Production of a Slum Upgrading
Guidebook as part of a World Bank-sponsored project
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