300,000 SQUATTERS AND COUNTING

SOMETHING SMELLS!

By Agnes T. Jalandoni

We drive past them every day - shacks in shades of grey, an occasional burst of bright orange or blue, salvaged tarpaulins from the last election to ward off the coming rains. There are people, thousands of them, children, thousands of them, also in varied shades of grey. Grey etched on their faces as they face the daily grind of living in these squatter areas. Living becomes intolerable there especially when the floods come. 

I asked Tia Leticia, one of the applicants for the Gawad Kalinga (GK) sites in Purok Riverside in Banago, what made her decide to put in her sweat equity and join the project. Her family of 5 has never owned a home so they managed to carve out a living as squatters in the same area. During one of the floods, her neighbor’s toilet burst open and feces spilled into their shack. All these years they tolerated the stench of the toilet a foot away but the sight of human waste in her home was the last straw. She signed up for GK. 

In my last article RA 7279, THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING ACT OF 1992 was introduced. This Act provides for a comprehensive and continuing urban development and housing program, establish the mechanism for its implementation, and for other purposes. 

As most of our laws are beautifully crafted by the greatest minds of our country, I will not even contemplate discussing its many provisions. Besides, I am not a lawyer. Instead, trusting that RA 7279 was made for us and our general welfare, I believe, it is first our obligation to know what it is and what it provides, then to see how our local officials have enforced it. For some of us who have our own homes, we owe this much to those who don’t. 

Bacolod’s population is now 499,497 according to the 2007 census. With 60% of our population considered as illegal dwellers and a growth rate of 2.12%, there will be 10,000 more people in 2009 with 60% of the 10,000 illegal dwellers. 6000 more squatters are added each year. Once again, alarming numbers! 

Somehow, people like Tia Leticia managed to survive because staying in a squatter area cannot be called living. 

The law begins with its declaration of state policy and program objectives. Simple enough to understand as it declares that the state will undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a comprehensive and continuing URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING PROGRAM. I will focus on two main provisions since it directly affects our efforts to solve the flooding problem in our city. 

The Act shall: 

a) Lift the conditions of the underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban areas and in resettlement areas by making available to them decent housing 

b) Provide for the rational use and development of urban land... in order to bring about, among others, the reduction in urban dysfunctions, particularly those that adversely affect public health, safety and ecology. 

It details different approaches to achieve the above provision. I will center on relocation efforts of the people found on waterways because they are the ones who are in danger as well as directly cause flooding. Simply put, their houses built on the waterways and creeks block the natural flow of water and are illegal, a major dysfunction since it affects public health, safety and ecology. 

In November 10, 2007, Resolution No. 713 was passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. This was declared as NUISANCE all structures and houses constructed along the rivers, creeks and waterways of Bacolod City. The BAHA (Bacolod Anti Baha Alliance) monitored the efforts of the local government to implement this in key areas affected, mainly in the Banago creek and Mambuloc creek. 

Currently, there are 289 informal settlers on the identified flood-prone areas that are in the priority list submitted by the Bacolod City Flood Control Coordinating Action Team, headed by Councilor Bobby Rojas, and need to be relocated. These homes have been tagged and surveyed by the Bacolod Housing Authority and are just waiting for the city to move. In the last Flood Control Mitigating Committee meeting, where BAHA is a member, the group zeroed in on the lack of enforcement of the City Legal Office. Deadlines have been moved for the final ejection of these squatters. 

Three months have passed since these targets were set. How many postponements are needed? If these people are in disaster/flood-prone areas, they have to be transferred for their own sake. They are breaking the law. A final date, October 9, 2008 was set to cover the first batch. We will see the resolve of this administration to enforce the law. Meanwhile, 300,000 squatters exist and the numbers are growing.*