CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background Of The Study Poverty is one of the many social problems that have been long entrenched in the society, especially in the Third World countries. One of the most prevalent manifestations of it is the housing crisis. It has been known that employment, income generation and access to housing are highly interrelated. (Adebayo and Adebayo, 2000)

Underdeveloped states are too meager or unstable to permit commitment of scarce resource to housing since most of the expenditures are allocated on other areas of concerns like agriculture, health, education and infrastructure. To an extent, these basic human necessities and income generating activities are perceived to be more pressing than that of housing development that is why they are prioritized instead. (TWURD, 1993) There are initial efforts to address housing needs, however, the combined factors of rapid population growth and migration to urban centers have magnified the challenges faced by city and national governments. (Ibid; Bestani and Klein, 2004; Sayos et. al, 1998; Kohli, 1997; Self, 1964)

At the very least, poverty is likely to produce increased human migration from rural areas to urban centers since the locus of economic development has been concentrated here. Abundance of job opportunities has continued to attract rural settlers to migrate in the cities for better living condition making these urban centers overpopulated and congested. (Ibid; Ibid; Self, 1964) Along with the growing population is the rising cost of housing, particularly that of land and construction costs, as well as rent charges. Under this situation, the informal settlers, primarily those from the provinces who moved into the city due to extreme poverty in the rural areas, are left with no choices but to squat since they have scarce means to get decent units. (Sayos et. al. 1998) Generally, squatters or informal settlers are those people occupying government land and structures, those residing in reclamation areas and danger sites; those affected by the roads widening projects of the government, and those who are squatting in privately owned lands. (TWURD, 1993; Ibid) Contrary to how it has been perceived as less vital relative to the other basic needs, housing problem has practically been the root of other serious social setbacks like poor health and sanitation in overcrowded residential and squatters areas, increasing inter-group friction and urban crimes.

Nonetheless, despite of its seemingly lesser gravity as a social problem, housing crisis should then be prioritized as well. 2

As this problem presently affects different countries, it has been more pronounced in Asia and the Pacific. According to available housing measure, the housing markets in Asia are under more pressure than anywhere else in the world (Bestani & Klein, 2004). For years, there has been a profound insufficient availability of infrastructure services such as water, power, sewage treatment, etc. And despite this situation, little attention has been devoted to this problem. The fund that has been devoted both to improving the enabling environment for housing and to the direct provision of housing is very inadequate (Ibid.). In the Philippines, the problem has been more evident. Urban growth in the country has averaged about 4 percent over the last two decades and is expected to decline only marginally, adding 2.5 million households by the year 2000 (TWURD, 1993). However, this aforesaid growth has not been evenly distributed across all cities and has only been rampant in various urban centers predominantly the Metro Manila area whose primacy is a phenomenon analogous to other cities in the Southeast Asia. In Metro Manila, more than a half of the poor sector lives in shantytowns, beside the railways, under the bridges or near the rubbish. Families work as scavengers and raise their children in an unhealthy and dangerous place. This deplorable living condition of the poor has been aggravated by a number of demolitions and city reconstructions in lieu of continuous development. 3

These increasing demands in housing relative to the poverty that has constantly constrained the people adds more pressure to the already limited financial resources of local and national governments. The government has grappled with such problems coming up with several housing provisions, assistance and innovative programs for their poor beneficiaries, but then has always been inhibited by factors such as inadequate funding, lack of institutional linkages and weak political will that ensures sustainability. (Sayos et. al. 1998) The civil society has also been involved in housing development as they go on supplementing the government actions and sometimes even offering alternative solutions. (TWURD, 1993; Self, 1964) The Urban Poor Institute for Community Building Inc. (UPICOB) is one of the active NGOs involve in housing. It is a non-stock, non-profit and nongovernmental organization that facilitates the holistic process of peoples struggles for empowerment through formation, education, community building and socio-politico-economic development. It was established last August 30, 1991, duly registered by Security and Exchange Commission, duly accredited by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

There are two peoples organization (POs) that were organized by UPICOB in its housing activities: the SBHOA and UBMPC. The Sitio Balikatan-Homeowners Association (SBHOA) is a partner peoples

organization of UPICOB on housing construction. It comprises of people living along the railroads of Metro Manila (from Caloocan to Taguig), and is composed of members who are the heads of the family. The other PO, the UPICOB-Balikatan Multi-Purpose Cooperative (UBMPC) is a livelihood cooperative whose members are the families of the members of SBHOA. Together, they work in building houses and livelihood for the community. B. Statement of the Problem The study primarily ventured deeper on the issue of poverty as it takes the NGO-PO coalition in the context of housing crisis. As it attempts to address the main concern of the study, that which are the shortfalls, inadequacies and indefiniteness of the current solutions done by different sectors to resolve or perhaps even alleviate the current situation, it analyzed the response of a particular non-governmental organization and its partner peoples organizations towards housing crisis. The main problem of the study is that: Is the strategy of UPICOBSBHOA-UBMPC a sustainable solution to the housing problem in the selected communities in Metro Manila? In lieu with this, the study answered the following particular questions: 5

1. What is the current status of the housing crisis in Metro Manila? 2. What is the strategy employed by the UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC in responding to the problem? 3. Is the housing strategy sustainable in terms of: a. Institutional arrangements? b. Technical? c. Financial? C. Theoretical Framework NGO Theory of Poverty David Kortens (1990) NGO theory of poverty is derived from his work on the NGO development strategies, wherein he labeled the three modes of action that NGOs undertake for addressing development problems overtime. The development strategies that he identified are as follows: (1) generation one, relief and welfare; (2) generation two, small-scale, self-reliant local development; and (3) generation three, sustainable systems development. The theory basically shows the direction that NGOs take in addressing development issues. It explains how and why they shift from one strategy to another in the course of achieving their goals. According to the theory, the shift in strategy among NGOs is primarily brought about by the realization of the problems underlying causes (Korten 6

1990). Normally, NGOs that are concerned with poverty alleviation begin as relief and welfare organizations or generation one strategy (See Figure 1). They respond to the problem in the most direct and immediate way by providing food, clothing, housing, and health as required (Korten, 1990). These organizations view the entire problem just as how it appears to them, without delving deeper into it. For instance, they view poverty merely as the inability of the poor people to meet their basic needs. And from there they will respond to it by providing them with what they could not afford. In the midst of carrying out their actions in addressing the problem, some NGOs come to a certain point of questioning the underlying causes (Korten, 1990). It is like asking Why are the people poor? From here, they will begin to shift in their strategy. Looking upstream, these NGOs will

FIGURE 1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Generation one: Relief and Welfare

NGO service delivery activity the NGO works operationally as the single actor expertise: logistics

the individual or family

Source: (Tobing, 1989) 8

begin searching for the source or cause of the problem and will end up realizing that the problem is local inertia, a sort of self imposed or self correctable powerlessness resulting from lack of organization, political consciousness, belief in self, credit and basic skills (Korten, 1990). And so they will begin to intervene in the community, not by providing immediate needs that will only be as good as temporary solutions, but will actually intervene with community development programs (generation two strategy). Herewith they will begin to organize the community and enable them to overcome their powerlessness, and be capable of alleviating the solutions themselves. At this point, the community becomes the NGOs partner in achieving their developmental goal (See Figure 2). The shift in strategy to generation three known as the sustainable systems development is brought about by further upstream, which leads to the realization that in large measure the evident powerlessness of the villager is not self-imposed; rather it is externally-imposed and sustained by policies and programs, often originating from the state and funded by foreign agencies, that deprive the poor of access to productive resources and maintain them in a state of dependency (Korten, 1990). With this, NGOs will then adjust their approach accordingly and set about to advocate for changes in critical policies: macropolicy and micropolicy reforms. The macropolicy reforms (see Figure 3.1) are accomplished through preemptive central actions (Korten, 1990). More so, they will begin to work with the government, or at 9

FIGURE 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Generation two: Small-scale self-reliant local development

NGO COs PO PO CD activities through local projects Actors: NGO and POs NGOs expertise: project management and community organizing

PO

target groups: peoples organization (POs) in the village/s

Source: (Tobing, 1989) 10

FIGURE 3.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Generation three: Sustainable systems development

Catalyst for macropolicy reform

different action agencies which constitute the system for a particular sector in development activity catalysts
NGO

cooperates with other NGO and different entities

Source: (Tobing, 1989)

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least with other sectors related, perhaps the private entities and foreign agencies, by forming partnerships and coalitions aimed at reorienting their programs towards the attainment of their goals. On the other hand, micropolicy reforms (see Figure 3.2) entail a social learning process (Korten, 1986) as highly complex and difficult institutional changes are sometimes required for its accomplishment. And as part of micropolicy reforms, NGOs play the role of development catalyst in facilitating the development projects of the government. The theory clearly projects the course of action among NGOs, and explains the reason for the changes and shifts in their developmental strategies. In relation to the study, which aims to determine how a particular NGO-PO, that which is UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC, addresses to the problem of housing in the selected communities in Metro Manila, the theory explained what type of strategy they adapted and why they responded the way they did. This is primarily in line with the purpose of the study, which is to analyze the response of the UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC towards housing crisis.

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FIGURE 3.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Generation three: Sustainable systems development

Catalyst for micropolicy reform action agency COs development project of government

NGO catalyst

project beneficiaries groups

Source: (Tobing, 1989) 13

Sustainable Housing Development In analyzing the sustainability of the housing strategy of UPICOBSBHOA-UBMPC, the research made use of another theory, the Sustainable Housing Development by Lombard and Wyk (2001) from their research entitled The Housing Development NGOs Offering Housing Education and Training Programmes in South Africa. Sustainable Housing Development identifies four pillars (See Figure 4) necessary for sustainable housing development (Lombard and Wyk, 2001).
The first pillar of housing development is the establishment of permanent physical residential structures with secure tenure and all the other physical elements. The second pillar of housing development is the building of the capacity of the participating community at all levels (mentally, socially and technically) to such a level that they are empowered to participate in their own development. The third pillar is to make communities sustainable through the housing development process, is the establishment or strengthening of local community institutions or organizations to such a level that they can maintain developments as well as orchestrate and conduct future developments within the community. The fourth pillar states that for the community to become economically self-sustaining, opportunities need to be created where the community can utilize their inherent and newly developed capacity for local economic development.

This theory has been used to analyze whether the technical capacity of the strategy of UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC is sustainable or not.

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FIGURE 4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Sustainable Housing Development Approach

SUSTAINABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

FIRST PILLAR

SECOND PILLAR

THIRD PILLAR

FOURTH PILLAR

The establishment of permanen t physical residential structures with secure tenure and all the other physical elements

The building of capacity of the participating community at all levels (so-cially, mentally and technically).

The establishment or strengthe n-ing of local community institution s or organizations

Opportuni -ties need to be created where the community can utilize their develope d capacity

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Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) There is another theory that the study employed as a supporting framework to the first two conjectures given. This is the Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) by Jeffrey Pfeffler and Gerald Salancik in their work The External Control of Organizations (1978). RDT begins with the assumption that no organization is able to generate all the various resources that it needs (Pfeffler and Salancik, 1978). Thus, it is impossible that all activities can be performed within the organization to make it self-sustaining. Organizations must be dependent on the environment for resources. Basically, there is a scarcity of resources in the environment essential for an organizational survival. This makes resource acquisition more of an uncertainty for any organization. Thus, organizations are assumed to work towards the goal of maximizing their power, and this not at all possible they will not create internal and external coalitions with other organizations due to the aforementioned lack of resources in the environment. Organizations then will seek to establish relationships with others in order to obtain the needed resources (Ibid). As their dependence on other organizations increase, they tend to minimize it by acquiring control over their own resources so as to make others dependent on them as well.

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In much simpler terms, resource-dependence model takes into consideration the ways in which organizations interact with others in the environment in order to get their needed resources, which they themselves lack. This means that resource dependence model can be though of as an inter-organizational resource dependence model since resources are deemed to come from other organization as well (Pfeffler and Salancik, 1978). Thus, it is impossible for an organization to stand on its own, entirely isolated from the rest in the environment since there are needs that it cannot produce on its own without cooperating with others. This theory has been used in analyzing the sustainability of the financial aspect and institutional arrangement of the Balikatan Self-Help Housing Project of UPICOB and its partner POs, the SBHOA and the UBMPC. D. Conceptual Framework In the attempt to respond to the housing problem in the country, specifically the selected communities in the Metro Manila area, the Urban Poor Institute for Community Building (UPICOB) organized two partner peoples organization, the Sitio Balikatan Home Owners Association (SBHOA) and the UPICOB-Balikatan Multipurpose Cooperative (UBMPC). These three organizations work and cooperate with each other and ventures into housing development called the Balikatan Self-Help Housing Project (See Figure 5).

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In this study, the housing strategy of the said NGO and its partner POs was analyzed whether it is a sustainable solution to the housing problem of the selected communities in Metro Manila. In doing so, the current housing situation in the Metro Manila was presented, and then the response of UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC was laid down and analyzed. The last part assessed the housing strategy whether it is sustainable or not based on the given indicators in the study. To further elaborate on the first part, the root causes of the problem were analyzed here using the quantitative data from government researches and projections. The factors considered here were the Philippine population, population count per region, and the population of Metro Manila together with that of the cities comprising it. Land area was also taken into consideration since the population density is vital in determining whether Metro Manila is already jammed and overcrowded. Income brackets of Metro Manila households were also considered since this is significant in understanding why there has been housing problem in the aforesaid urban center. Most importantly, the projected housing need and backlog in Metro Manila was presented as well as the total number of depressed households relative to the totality of the families in the area. These data were taken into consideration in lieu with the goal of presenting the current housing condition in the Metro Manila area.

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Upon knowing the condition or the problem that exists, the study presented in details the response of UPICOB-SBHOA-UBMPC. First, the organizational background was laid down. Then their different programs as well as the approaches employed in addressing the housing problem were presented. Given the kind of programs and the approach they used, the strategy of the NGO and its partner POs was determined. This has been done using the following strategy indicators: actors, activities and expertise. The last part analyzed the sustainability of the housing strategy using the sustainability indicators institutional arrangements, financial aspect and technical capacity. This is to assess whether the said strategy employed is sustainable solution to the problem.

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FIGURE 5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Housing Problems in Metro Manila

current housing situation, responses of the government

SBHOA
(PO)

UPICOB
(NGO)

UBMPC
(PO)

Balikatan Self-Help Housing Project

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E. Objectives of the Study The prime objective of the study was to assess how the UPICOB and its partner POs, the SBHOA and UBMPC respond to the housing problem in selected communities in Metro Manila. The specific objectives on the other hand are the following: 1. To illustrate the current status of the housing crisis in Metro Manila and at the same time the different sectors involved in it; 2. To determine how were the UPICOB and its partner POs, the SBHOA and UBMPC responded to the housing problem; 3. To analyze whether the housing strategy used by UPICOB-SBHOAUBMPC in addressing the problem is a sustainable solution. F. Significance of the Study This study tends to contribute a more in depth knowledge and information on housing crisis, and how different sectors like the government, the private entities, and the civil society respond to it. This is to fill in the gap found in the literatures and studies both on NGO-PO relations and housing crisis and development. The need for shelter is a primary need of every individual, and so housing is a serious problem that needs to be addressed, and a complex issue that should be subjected to further studies. Despite the countless housing projects and programs of the National Government in their serious 21

attempts to solve this aggravating crisis, the situation continues to degenerate. It is undeniable to a certain extent that this kind of problem is hard to attend to since housing is not a single entity; it is for a fact a heterogeneous item. (HUDCC, 2006) Thus, entering into such a venture is definitely costly. Perhaps these are the reasons that made it difficult for housing crisis to be solved. The difficulty however should not discourage the national government, the local government units, private firms and most especially, the civil society to be disillusioned. Rather, this problem should be confronted and studied thoroughly. There should be a constant search for better strategies in house building, in financing these projects in order to alleviate it from its worsening status. In the bulk of literature regarding housing, it is always the government that is being taken in the studies. Thus, there is a pressing need to conduct more researches that will also take the civil society, who has already taken the cudgels in this undertaking. Most specially the non-governmental organizations, there are very few researches on housing that were done in the NGO perspective since studies about NGOs usually focus on agriculture, education and health. (Etemadi, 2000; Mitlin, 2001; Agoncillo, 1996; Barredo, 2001; Patriarca, 1992; Subhan, 2004; Tobing, 1989)

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This suggests the need to conduct a study regarding housing which will be taken on a different angle, that which is on the standpoint of these nongovernmental organizations. The study basically analyzed how these NGO-POs relations responded to the housing crisis in Metro Manila. Further, this study is significant for the following reasons: 1. The study will contribute to the development of the UPICOB and its partner POs relations in their plight to address the problem of housing in Metro Manila; 2. This will help the organization itself, in this case the UPICOB, to improve their internal structure, so as to be better agents of change in the society; 3. The findings of the study will furnish a partial source of strategic schemes in responding to the housing crisis that will either supplement to the current solutions being done, or can be an efficient alternative; 4. The case study will serve as a guide and basis for other NGO-POs involve in housing development in improving their strategies; and 5. The study will also benefit future researchers delving on NGO-POs and housing crisis as well as other researchers of related fields.

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G. Scope and Limitations of the Study This study is intended to determine how NGO-PO responded to the housing problems in Metro Manila. Thus, the study focused only on housing crisis as an aspect of the more general concept of poverty. Housing is a serious urban problem that often branch out to many other setbacks. Thus, this should be of prime concern among the policy makers, local officials and researchers as well. As this problem needs immediate solution, it nonetheless requires a good study and analysis to back up every action. There should be a constant search for innovative solutions to this crisis, as conventional ones are deemed to be lacking in effect. One more thing, this research is one case study of an NGO-PO coalition, comprising of one NGO and two POs. This single case was purposely preferred so as to be able to study the organization better with all its specificities. This allowed the research to delve deeper into the coalition, the strategy, and study it more accurately. The study only focused on selected communities in Metro Manila area those that are covered by the UPICOB: Manila, Caloocan, Payatas and Taguig. These are the places that the network of the UPICOB was able reach, and where they were able to build communities. Also, these are the cities where their beneficiaries came from. Thus, the members of the POs were basically from these locations.

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The time frame of the study was from 1991 up to the present because this is time when the UPICOB was actually established and began its operation as an Urban Poor organization concerned on poverty alleviation. Despite the fact that it was only in 2004 when they formally ventured into housing, the different programs and trainings they have sponsored and conducted became stepping-stones to their housing project. More so, they have foreseen the idea of such endeavor as early as when they had just started, though the formal concept came about later when the problem became more pronounced in their chapters through the threats of demolitions and railroad reconstructions. This study is one of the few attempts in conducting research on NGOPO response to housing crisis. And with this, the study admits to have a number of inadequacies in its theoretical and methodological framework. And being limited to only one case suggests the very limitation of the entire research in terms of deriving a conclusion and generalization.

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