The flash floods caused by the recent heavy rains which resulted in several traffic standstill situations in the Metro Manila area is a grim preview of the worst that is yet to come, once the typhoon season sets in this year. But it is also a ghastly reminder of the concerned government agencies’ failure, both local and national, to permanently address this recurring problem, even as a large part of affected communities already feel apathetic to the situation out of frustration.
Among the major causes of flooding in Metro Manila is its clogged and silted waterways, aside from its being polluted. And while the responsibility to clear these waterways was initially assigned to local government units (LGU), this has, however, been transferred to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), an apolitical organization. But apart from its limited funds, the MMDA is hardly able to unclog and dredge some of Metro Manila’s choked waterways as they can’t even park their backhoe and other equipment alongside the rivers and creeks because of the shanties of informal settlers along these danger zones.
Squatting aggravates flooding problem
In 2010, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) estimated the number of informal settlers living in Metro Manila at over 2.8 million. An aggregate of over 550,000 families, with over 100,000 of them occupying areas declared by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as danger zones – along railroad tracks, garbage dumps, canals, rivers and creeks.
The continued habitation and increasing number of informal settlers living along creeks and rivers have added to the flooding and environmental woes in the National Capital Region (NCR), according to a research by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). Proof of this is the level of pollution in most of Metro Manila’s waterways. About 35% to 58% of the organic pollution in the waterways of Metro Manila come from domestic sources, both solid waste and sanitation. For instance, all wastes including plastics thrown into rivers and creeks by informal settlers living along waterways are being blamed for causing the water levels to rise as they block the natural flow of rivers and creeks. But plastic waste cannot walk to the rivers themselves, unless these are deliberately thrown into rivers and creeks.
And yet, informal settlers, with some, if not many of them classified as professional squatters so brazenly defy the laws on squatting. Why do some concerned local government units allow this to happen? Why do these LGUs allow their constituents to be exposed to the hazards of living in areas classified as danger zones? Are there people earning from syndicated squatting, or are there political tradeoffs between local government officials and informal settlers?
>There are lots of questions to be answered regarding the country’s squatting problem. But, as we grope for the answers to these questions, Metro Manila residents will have to endure with the floods during the coming typhoon and rainy season.
Laws to protect the waterways and secure the safety of informal settlers
There are more than enough laws to address the country’s problems with informal settlers. There is Republic Act No. 8368, an Act Repealing Presidential Decree No. 772, entitled “Penalizing Squatting and other Similar Acts”. There is also Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act, where Section 27 of the Act defines the actions against Professional Squatters and Squatting Syndicates. Under the law, local government units, in cooperation with the Philippine National Police, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), and the PCUP-accredited urban poor organization in the area, shall adopt measures to identify and effectively curtail the nefarious and illegal activities of professional squatters and squatting syndicates, as herein defined. Any person or group identified as such shall be summarily evicted and their dwellings or structures demolished, and shall be disqualified to avail themselves of the benefits of the Program.
A public official who tolerates or abets the commission of the abovementioned acts shall be dealt with in accordance with existing laws. For purposes of this Act, professional squatters or members of squatting syndicates shall be imposed the penalty of six years imprisonment or a fine of not less than P60,000 but not more than P100,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Community involvement necessary
It’s been observed that despite the many laws against professional squatting, the problem with informal settlers remains unabated as some provisions of these laws are not enforced. Organizing multisectoral monitoring teams in areas near waterways that would be composed of local government officials, business and civic groups and home owners association officials in affected areas, including the MMDA, can be vital in resolving the perennial problem on flooding and squatting.
The team shall monitor the implementation of such laws by the concerned government agencies, as well as to come up with recommendations on how to address the problem with squatters and flooding.
The impact of squatting and pollution
There are many types of water pollution, like nutrient pollution, surface water pollution, oxygen depleting pollution, ground water pollution, microbiological pollution, suspended matter pollution, chemical water pollution and oil spillage. Regardless of the type of pollution, the common effect of water pollution is that it will kill aquatic life in the river. And waterways pollution, as we all know it, is partly caused by the indiscriminate throwing of waste by informal settlers living along the rivers and creeks.
The multisectoral team can then identify and recommend to concerned government agencies down to the “barangay” level, a comprehensive action plan that will address most, if not all, the concerns affecting the environment, safety and economic well-being of their respective communities.
Barangay officials and affected families should look at the program to clear the danger zones along rivers and creeks of informal settlers on a positive light. After all, these initiatives are not just about clearing the areas along crucial waterways of informal settlers, but it is also about improving the health and sanitation of affected communities, protecting the properties of the residents in the area from damaging floods, saving for the government billions of pesos in recurring cost for unclogging and dredging of clogged waterways, and most importantly, getting the informal settlers living in danger zones along rivers and creeks to safer grounds. Moeover, a flood-free community would make healthy lives of its residents, resulting in savings on the costly expense of medication and hospitalization.
But on a more proactive stand, and considering the government’s unrelenting campaign to keep our communities safe, barangay officials, while the relocation of informal settlers living along rivers and creeks in their communities is still being processed, can conduct a census of its informal settlers. Just like the banks where they have the “Know Your Client” (KYC) policy, barangay officials can also adapt its KYC or “Know Your Constituents” policy. They should know where their informal settlers came from, their source of livelihood and their descendants as much as possible, among others. The urgency of doing this is more pronounced these days with the proliferation of illegal drugs and terrorist activities.
If the aforementioned programs and the KYC policy are implemented, we should have healthy, safe and economically vibrant communities. Are these reasons not good enough for our local government officials to fully implement our anti-squatting laws and the aforementioned KYC policy? And, most importantly, will saving for the government billions of pesos in recurring costs for clearing and dredging of clogged waterways also be a good incentive for our government officials to pursue its anti-squatting program? Your answers to these questions could be good as mine. It depends on the political will and commitment of concerned local government officials to fully implement the law.
Among the major causes of flooding in Metro Manila is its clogged and silted waterways, aside from its being polluted. And while the responsibility to clear these waterways was initially assigned to local government units (LGU), this has, however, been transferred to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), an apolitical organization. But apart from its limited funds, the MMDA is hardly able to unclog and dredge some of Metro Manila’s choked waterways as they can’t even park their backhoe and other equipment alongside the rivers and creeks because of the shanties of informal settlers along these danger zones.
Squatting aggravates flooding problem
In 2010, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) estimated the number of informal settlers living in Metro Manila at over 2.8 million. An aggregate of over 550,000 families, with over 100,000 of them occupying areas declared by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as danger zones – along railroad tracks, garbage dumps, canals, rivers and creeks.
The continued habitation and increasing number of informal settlers living along creeks and rivers have added to the flooding and environmental woes in the National Capital Region (NCR), according to a research by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). Proof of this is the level of pollution in most of Metro Manila’s waterways. About 35% to 58% of the organic pollution in the waterways of Metro Manila come from domestic sources, both solid waste and sanitation. For instance, all wastes including plastics thrown into rivers and creeks by informal settlers living along waterways are being blamed for causing the water levels to rise as they block the natural flow of rivers and creeks. But plastic waste cannot walk to the rivers themselves, unless these are deliberately thrown into rivers and creeks.
And yet, informal settlers, with some, if not many of them classified as professional squatters so brazenly defy the laws on squatting. Why do some concerned local government units allow this to happen? Why do these LGUs allow their constituents to be exposed to the hazards of living in areas classified as danger zones? Are there people earning from syndicated squatting, or are there political tradeoffs between local government officials and informal settlers?
>There are lots of questions to be answered regarding the country’s squatting problem. But, as we grope for the answers to these questions, Metro Manila residents will have to endure with the floods during the coming typhoon and rainy season.
Laws to protect the waterways and secure the safety of informal settlers
There are more than enough laws to address the country’s problems with informal settlers. There is Republic Act No. 8368, an Act Repealing Presidential Decree No. 772, entitled “Penalizing Squatting and other Similar Acts”. There is also Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act, where Section 27 of the Act defines the actions against Professional Squatters and Squatting Syndicates. Under the law, local government units, in cooperation with the Philippine National Police, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), and the PCUP-accredited urban poor organization in the area, shall adopt measures to identify and effectively curtail the nefarious and illegal activities of professional squatters and squatting syndicates, as herein defined. Any person or group identified as such shall be summarily evicted and their dwellings or structures demolished, and shall be disqualified to avail themselves of the benefits of the Program.
A public official who tolerates or abets the commission of the abovementioned acts shall be dealt with in accordance with existing laws. For purposes of this Act, professional squatters or members of squatting syndicates shall be imposed the penalty of six years imprisonment or a fine of not less than P60,000 but not more than P100,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Community involvement necessary
It’s been observed that despite the many laws against professional squatting, the problem with informal settlers remains unabated as some provisions of these laws are not enforced. Organizing multisectoral monitoring teams in areas near waterways that would be composed of local government officials, business and civic groups and home owners association officials in affected areas, including the MMDA, can be vital in resolving the perennial problem on flooding and squatting.
The team shall monitor the implementation of such laws by the concerned government agencies, as well as to come up with recommendations on how to address the problem with squatters and flooding.
The impact of squatting and pollution
There are many types of water pollution, like nutrient pollution, surface water pollution, oxygen depleting pollution, ground water pollution, microbiological pollution, suspended matter pollution, chemical water pollution and oil spillage. Regardless of the type of pollution, the common effect of water pollution is that it will kill aquatic life in the river. And waterways pollution, as we all know it, is partly caused by the indiscriminate throwing of waste by informal settlers living along the rivers and creeks.
The multisectoral team can then identify and recommend to concerned government agencies down to the “barangay” level, a comprehensive action plan that will address most, if not all, the concerns affecting the environment, safety and economic well-being of their respective communities.
Barangay officials and affected families should look at the program to clear the danger zones along rivers and creeks of informal settlers on a positive light. After all, these initiatives are not just about clearing the areas along crucial waterways of informal settlers, but it is also about improving the health and sanitation of affected communities, protecting the properties of the residents in the area from damaging floods, saving for the government billions of pesos in recurring cost for unclogging and dredging of clogged waterways, and most importantly, getting the informal settlers living in danger zones along rivers and creeks to safer grounds. Moeover, a flood-free community would make healthy lives of its residents, resulting in savings on the costly expense of medication and hospitalization.
But on a more proactive stand, and considering the government’s unrelenting campaign to keep our communities safe, barangay officials, while the relocation of informal settlers living along rivers and creeks in their communities is still being processed, can conduct a census of its informal settlers. Just like the banks where they have the “Know Your Client” (KYC) policy, barangay officials can also adapt its KYC or “Know Your Constituents” policy. They should know where their informal settlers came from, their source of livelihood and their descendants as much as possible, among others. The urgency of doing this is more pronounced these days with the proliferation of illegal drugs and terrorist activities.
If the aforementioned programs and the KYC policy are implemented, we should have healthy, safe and economically vibrant communities. Are these reasons not good enough for our local government officials to fully implement our anti-squatting laws and the aforementioned KYC policy? And, most importantly, will saving for the government billions of pesos in recurring costs for clearing and dredging of clogged waterways also be a good incentive for our government officials to pursue its anti-squatting program? Your answers to these questions could be good as mine. It depends on the political will and commitment of concerned local government officials to fully implement the law.
