The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) was established to be the direct link of the urban poor to the government in policy formulation and program implementation addressed to their needs.
The PCUP said the urban poor referred to individuals or families in urban areas with incomes below the poverty line as defined by the National Statistical Coordination Board.
They are the underprivileged or homeless sector of society — the unemployed, underemployed and the irregularly employed, or who are incapable of meeting the minimum basic needs, and who live in slums, squatter and resettlement areas, sidewalks, dumpsites, road right-of-way, cemeteries, unoccupied government or private lands or along danger zones like railroad tracks, esteros, riverbanks, high tension wires or other places in urban areas.
PCUP was created by virtue of Executive Order (EO) No. 82 signed on Dec. 8, 1986, by then President Corazon Aquino. Its mandate was reinforced on Jan. 30, 1989, by Administrative Order No. 111, directing concerned government departments, agencies and offices to coordinate with PCUP and actively participate in activities concerning the urban poor.
In 2004, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued EO 364, transforming the Department of Agrarian Reform into the Department of Land Reform (DLR) and placing the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the PCUP under the supervision of the DLR.
In 2012, then President Benigno Aquino III signed EO 69, placing the PCUP under the supervision of the Office of the President. —MARIELLE MEDINA, INQUIRER RESEARCH
Sources: Inquirer Archives, PCUP website