| MANILA: Metro Manila is home to 14 million people, with four out of every 10 residents living in slums.
The Philippine government is trying to relocate these "informal settlers" by 2016 and it is building affordable houses, and having schemes to help them buy their own homes. 67-year-old Ana Arbolante moved to Manila from Quezon province 40 years ago in search of a better life with her husband and one-year-old daughter. Her husband found a job as a cab driver but his pay was not enough to pay for the rental of a 15 square metre apartment, which was US$150 a month. Eventually, they found a spare lot beside a creek and made it their home. "If you're paying rent, you have debt all the time. I'd rather use the rent money to buy food for my grandchildren," said Ana. However, a typhoon in 2009 caused the river to overflow and it flooded their house. That finally convinced Ana to take part in the government's relocation plan for informal settlers. She said: "Our weather now is very unpredictable. I worry every time I go out for the safety of my grandchildren. Whenever it rains, I fear that the water will rise again and there will be landslide and they might be harmed." The Philippine government has allocated US$1.2 billion to relocate some eight million informal settlers by 2016. The priority of the government right now is to remove 100,000 informal settler families living along danger zones especially with the onslaught of the typhoon season. Each family will be given about US$400 to help them in their new relocation sites. The government scheme also helps families to buy their own homes. By paying US$20 a month for 30 years, recipient families will eventually own a 25 square metre house, and the lot that the house occupies. However, the government has said it cannot solve the problem on its own and has asked for private sector help. Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford said: "If a family doesn't have a decent place to live, the children don't stay healthy. If they're not healthy, they don't do well in school. "If they don't get an education, they don't have the chance to lift themselves up, and so we would say that housing is a pre-requisite for families to be able to lift themselves up." Non-governmental organisations, like Habitat for Humanity, help alleviate the problem by offering home ownership programmes, similar to the government scheme. For Justinia Oroque, who has been living in a dumpsite for 30 years, the prospect of having a house to give her children is a dream come true. She said: "People respect us more now and they do not call us squatters anymore. Before, people looked down on us. "Now that we have transferred here, it feels good that people look up to us already and we are not ashamed to say that we live here in our own house." At least 10 housing projects are in progress to accommodate some 6,426 informal settler families in danger areas in Metro Manila. - CNA/fa |
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