Singapore is one of the countries that effectively addressed the issue of housing and urban development. Its public housing program, managed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), is one of the most admired, if not emulated, in Asia. It is hard to believe that “In 1947, the British Housing Committee Report noted Singapore had “one of the world’s worst slums – “ (Wikipedia). In the ‘60s, it had to contend with hundreds of thousands of informal settlers.
Now, Singapore has become a sustainable nation. Its transportation system is efficient and accessible. Bike lanes, parks and trees abound. Eighty-five percent of the residents live in HDB flats. Its well-planned self-contained communities are accessible to transportation, schools, offices, hospitals and hawkers centers.
Recently, some friends and I had the wonderful reunion with former senator and Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Joey Lina. He is one of the very few legislators with the privilege of having a law named after the sponsor. The much-misunderstood Lina Law, RA 7279, comes to the mind.
Lina shared that when he was still studying, he spent a portion of his life living in Tondo. He knew how the informal settlers felt when demolition crew would execute orders. It was this experience that inspired him to craft RA 7279.
RA 7279, The Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, was enacted to “Uplift the conditions of the underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban areas and in resettlement areas by making available to them decent housing at affordable cost, basic services, and employment opportunities”, “Provide for the rational use and development of urban land”, “Reduction in urban dysfunctions, particularly those that adversely affect public health, safety and ecology”, “Adopt workable policies to regulate and direct urban growth and expansion towards a dispersed urban net and more balanced urban-rural interdependence,” among other laudable purposes.
Local government units (LGUs) are required to make an inventory of government owned lands and identify suitable sites for socialized housing, where availability of basic services, proximity to work and economic opportunities are considered.
Section 8 of RA 7279 provides that:
Sec. 8. Identification of Sites for Socialized Housing. — After the inventory the local government units, in coordination with the National Housing Authority, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, the National Mapping Resource Information Authority, and the Land Management Bureau, shall identify lands for socialized housing and resettlement areas for the immediate and future needs of the underprivileged and homeless in the urban areas, taking into consideration and degree of availability of basic services and facilities, their accessibility and proximity of jobs sites and other economic opportunities, and the actual number of registered beneficiaries.
RA 7279 likewise requires basic services and facilities for socialized housing such as potable water, power and electricity and an adequate power distribution system, sewerage facilities and an efficient and adequate solid waste disposal system and access to primary roads and transportation facilities.
Section 21 provides that “The provisions of other basic services and facilities such as health, education, communications, security, recreation, relief and welfare shall be planned and shall be given priority for implementation by the local government unit and concerned agencies in cooperation with the private sector and the beneficiaries themselves.”
If projects are situated far from the place of work, or from schools, and transportation system, they become a white elephant and a waste of taxpayers’ money, as some have turned out to be.
Among the innovative features of the Lina Law is the balanced housing development program, as follows:
Sec. 18. Balanced Housing Development. — The Program shall include a system to be specified in the Framework plan whereby developers of proposed subdivision projects shall be required to develop an area for socialized housing equivalent to at least twenty percent (20%) of the total subdivision area or total subdivision project cost, at the option of the developer, within the same city or municipality, whenever feasible, and in accordance with the standards set by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and other existing laws.
Are lLGUs and stakeholders monitoring the due implementation of the aforesaid program? With so many housing development projects in the country, one wonders why public housing shortage is still a huge problem.
The law was intended and could have been the blueprint for our cities to be sustainable and livable, had it been fully implemented two decades ago. It has provisions for urban renewal, action against professional squatters and squatting syndicates, procedures for eviction and demolition, resettlement and prohibition against new illegal structures and accessible transportation systems.
It is another law that requires the LGUs “to coordinate with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in taking measures that will plan and regulate urban activities for the conservation and protection of vital, unique and sensitive ecosystems, scenic landscapes, cultural sites and other similar resource areas.”
Unfortunately, the Lina Law became highly controversial and still to-be fully implemented, especially on the part of the government. But Lina feels vindicated since court decisions are favorable to the law’s implementation. He now goes around the country explaining the law and how it is so relevant at this time when displacement from flooding and calamities are dramatically increasing and the need for comprehensive development plans that incorporate pressing social and ecological issues need to be addressed.
It is best to take another hard and objective look at the Lina Law and to let it work.
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Typhoon Ofel left the Philippines, with around 24 people dead and more victims of flooding, drowning and sea mishaps, aside from the estimated 13,000 people stranded in ports and terminals. In Cebu, a driver died as a result of a landslide in Jaclupan, Talisay City. A few weeks ago, a landslide occurred in the area.
I wonder if the officials of the local government units of Talisay City and other LGUs had studied the geohazard maps available online and shared them with the constituents as a tool for planning and affecting disaster risk reduction and management programs in their locality. If residents are made aware of their vulnerabilities, adopt a climate change action plan and government prioritizes a well-planned socialized housing program, displacement would have been less of a problem as it is right now.
More than ever, Barangay Development Councils (BDC) should be activated as they serve as the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in each barangay. Without a functioning BDC, deaths, injuries and destruction will most likely happen.