Community-driven Land Tenure Strategies: The experiences of the Homeless Peoples Federation of the Philippines Environment and Urbanization October 2009 Vol. 21 No. 2: pp 415-441, Sage Journals, John Iremil E. Teodoro and Jason Christopher R. Co John Iremil €. Teodoro is currently teaching writing and literature at Miriam College and De La Salle University in Metro Manila, Philippines. He was the founding editor (1998-2000) of the Bandillo ng Palawan newspaper published by the Bandillo ng Palawan Foundation, a non-stock non-profit media organization involved in advocacy works on environmental protection and indigenous people's rights. An author of seven books of poetry and essays, he had already won five Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and a ‘National Book Award from the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board. Filipino Department College of arts and Sciences Miriam College, Loyola Heights Quezon City, Philippines iremil@ yahoo.com Jason Christopher R. Co is an alternative lawyer based in Davao City, Southern Philippines. He is part of the legal support desk of the Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives, Inc (PACSII) and the Homeless Peoples Federation Philippines, Inc (HPFPI), both institutions espousing community-led secure tenure initiatives with local and national governments, Prior to PACSII, he served as the coordinator of the Urban Poor and Local Governance Programmes of the Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal - Alternative Legal Assistance Center (SALIGAN-ALAC), a legal resource NGO working with marginalized sectors through the creative use of the law. He also worked as a legal officer and consultant to the Philippine government's Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) in 2001-2003. PACSII Mindanao Office, Door 6, Piore Apartments, San Miguel Village, Matina, Davao City 8000 emails: [email protected] and jace.co@ gmail.com LL INTRODUCTION Hundreds of thousands of urban poor households in the Philippines live on lands that do not belong to them and suffer the constant threat of being displaced. In addition, many live in informal settlements on dangerous sites - for instance in dump sites, along railroad tracks, under bridges and on riverbanks, shorelines, low-lying areas and critical slopes. “The lack of affordable land and housing options for the poor in most Philippine cities means that between one-third and one-half of the urban population is forced to live in informal settlements, in conditions that are illegal, insecure and environmentally degraded, without access to toilets, water supply or electricity and in ever-present danger of eviction. Without secure land, housing and serviced neighborhoods, more and more of the poor’s scanty resources go simply on surviving,People are placed in a cycle of squatting and eviction, which further impoverishes the poor and prevents them from developing themselves. However, solutions are being created by dynamic low-income communities that are part of the Homeless Peoples’ Federation Philippines, Inc. who through self-help initiatives like savings and allied strategies, build their own homes, buy land, improve their livelihoods and negotiate for their place in cities. The core of this paper is on the ways that they have done so. It draws on the authors’ work with the Federation and on interviews with Federation members. Ml, BACKGROUND. ‘The Philippines with its 7,107 islands and limited land area of 300,000 square kilometers is experiencing rapid urbanization.> The rapid increasing urban poor population is at risk from displacement by large infrastructure initiatives and problematic land use, administration and management policies.‘ In addition, the country is impacted by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, regular typhoons and storm surges°. These impact mostly on poorer communities (who tend to be located in high risk or environmentally insecure areas) and the built environment in the form of disasters like landslides, floods and flash floods. There is also a lack of proactive measures and institutional arrangements to reduce disaster risk, particularly in the provision of suitable land and housing for relocating those on sites at risk or resettlement efforts after disasters. ‘The Philippines has urbanized rapidly; current estimates suggest 60 percent of the population living in urban areas by 2010” compared to 30% in 1960. The population living in slums has grown far more rapidly than the urban population.* The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor estimated that by 2004-5, there were 2 million urban poor households. This is likely to understate the scale of urban poverty, as a larger number of urban households lack a living wage of P16,073.00 a month (for a family of 6 for decent food, housing, clothing, education, transportation costs). Further compounding the problem is the fact that urban land values have grown far more rapidly than urban incomes, 2 Vincentian Missionaries Social Development Foundation Inc (VIMSDFI) documentation on the HPFPI, 2001 Sonia Cardomigara, Kabalake Homeowners Association, Rosa Espinosa, Samahan ng mga Negkakisang Relokatis ng Bagong Silangen Neighborhood Association, Mary Bernadette Jocsing, Kabalake Homeoners Association, Chanito Roquero, Kapatiran Sama-sama sa Miraculous Medel, Elisa Silay, Samaban ng mge Nagkakaisang Relokatis ng Bagong Silangen Neigborhood Association, Rosella Tresvalles, Payatas Scavengers Homeowners Association, Inc., Leonor Velleza, Golden Showers Homeowners Phase 2 end Rollie Villanueva, HPFPI Bicol * National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Chapter 4 Housing Construction, Medum Term Piiippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2005-2010. *TLanto, GM and Ballesteros, M (2002), Land Issues in Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Development Agenda: the Phikppines, Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS). * Dugue, Priscilla P, Atty. (2005), Disaster Management and Chiical Issues on Disaster Risk Reduction In the Phaiippines, NDCC-OCD, 31 Oct. §Co, Jason Christopher Rayos (2009), Community-driven Disaster Intervention: Experiences of the Homeless People's Federation in the Philippines, HPFP, PACSII and IIED, Manila and London,70 pages 7 The World Bank (no date), Issues and Dynamacs: Urban Systems in Developing East Asa, East Asia Infrastructure Department § Kamaos, Anna Marie A (2003). Urban Governance and Poverty Alleviation in the Philippines, paper presented to National Conference on Urban Governance, May.‘The Medium Term Philippine Development Plan suggests that 3.75 million housing units are needed between 2005 and 2010 but the target for housing production in these years is only for 1.15 milion households. To make matters worse, displacements of the urban and per+urban poor are on the rise — from infrastructure projects, market development policies, court-evictions and disasters. Data from the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor show that as of 2005, a total of 261 Applications for Certificate of Compliance have been received and 98 were issued Certificates of Compliance affecting 6,304 families (excluding North Rail and South Rail). There are also 277 cases of Court-Ordered Demolitions, For the period of 2005-2010, government shall relocate some 108,358 families affected by the North and South Railway development (80,779 households), the Pasig River rehabilitation (6,802 households), and the canal cleaning program (21,047 households). These displacements are casualties in the development bid to “decongest” Metro Manila and establish an urban industrial beltway.° In addition, tens of thousands of families have been displaced or affected by disasters including those from the Payatas trash slide, Guinsaugon landslide, Bikol mudflow and floods (Typhoon Frank flooding the whole of lloilo and Panay island), and the latest landslide in the Masara Village.” Il, GOVERNMENT LAND POLICIES {i) Inherent state power over land Land policies in the Philippines trace their roots on regalian doctrine* introduced by the Spanish colonizers. Such doctrine is enshrined in the 1987 Constitution which provides: “all lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State, With the exception of agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration, development and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State..(emphasis ours)” ‘As owner of land, the Philippine State can therefore, administer, regulate, and classify the same, in addition to the inherent ownership rights to use, possess, dispose, abuse, recover and have beneficial use of the fruits. From the constitutional provision stems the power to classify / categorize lands into protected areas, alienable and disposable” lands and privately-owned lands. Of the total Philippine land area of 30 million hectares, 15.9 million hectares are forestlands or protected areas and 14.1 million hectares are alienable and disposable lands, 64.8% of which constitute titled and-privately- owned.” Unfortunately the poor who are strongly dependent on access to land or space for their livelihood and welfare, have limited access."* ° Medium Term Philippine Development Plan 2005-2010, and the Metro Luzon Development Agenda for the same sod. PAS illustrated in Co, Jeson Christopher R, 2008, opcit 1A principle in law which means that ell natural wealth - agricultural, forest or timber, and mineral lands of the public domain and all other natural resources belong to the state 22 These are lands of the public domain that are susceptible of being acquired by private interests, based on the Constitution and Commonwealth Act 141 5 Lanto and Ballesteros op cit 1 Llanto and Ballesteros op cit‘Access to land by the poor is affected by the land market. Problems of boundary disputes, illegal occupation of state and forestlands, fake titles, inappropriate land valuation, and lack of commitment to environmental sustainability constrain the efficiency of land markets. These problems arise from: (i) unclear and inconsistent land policies; (i), inefficient land administration infrastructure; (ii) highly politicized tand tax system; (iv) inefficient agrarian reform program; (v) inefficient housing development program; (vi) problematic land use planning.” (ii) Principles underlying land policy, land codes, laws and regulations ‘The 1987 Constitution provides the following principles” relating to property / land that form the basis for Philippine land policy: (i) protection of property; (ii) promotion of social justice and human rights; (i promotion of rural development and agrarian reform; (iv) promotion of the rights of indigenous ‘communities; (v) promotion of a self-reliant and independent national economy; (vi) protection of the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology. On the social aspects of property and land, two sections of the Constitution are relevant: The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good. To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property and its increments (Section 1, Article Xl on Social Justice and Human rights); and The use of property bears a social function, and all economic agents shall contribute to the common good. Individuals and private groups, including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall have the right to own, establish, and operate economic enterprises, subject to the duty of the State to promote distributive justice and to intervene when the common good so demands,(Section 6. Article XII, On National Economy and Patrimony); ‘These sections unequivocally state that property (i.e. land) is imbued with a social dimension and the State reserves the right to regulate its ownership, use and administration in the interest of equitable distribution 5See Llanto and Ballesteros 2003, op cit. 1 Emesto Serote states that proper land use planning and implementation involves the confluence of the aspects of technical, political and underpinned by social philosophy. The reality is that land use planning in cities and ‘municipalities are problematic as they onlybecome technical undertakings that lack the social character and lacks the political backing needed for its proper implementation. See Serote, Emesto M. (nd). “Land Use Planning in the Philippines: Philosophy, Politics and Practice.” School of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Philippines, zon City. Ss Ait Dacian of Prien Sine Polite Secon 51011, 16 19, 21, and 2a ciedby Garin, Aison and Manuel, Marlon, The Legal Frameworks of Access to Land and Tenurtal Secunty in the Phikppines,of wealth. From this social justice policy emerge the Codes, numerous Laws and regulations that pertain to land, classified as follows: (i) land classification, surveying and disposition; (i) land use, planning and management; (i) access to land tenure; and (iv) land titling; (v) land taxation, fees and charges" At least five codes and eleven laws directly affect the utilization and regulation of Philippine land’. All these laws are still effective and enforced by various government agencies. Most of these laws are products of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which include provisions on National Patrimony coupled with Social Justice, The laws that affect access to land can be categorized into four groups. The first are the laws that operationalize the social justice provisions of the Constitution and these include the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 and the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) of 1992. The second are the laws that advocate ecology conservation and environmental protection. The third are laws that advance the development of the country and include the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991. The fourth are the laws with economic goals, such as the Mining Act of 1995, the tourism laws and the Economic Zone laws.” II URBAN LAND REFORM AND HOUSING” (i) Developments up to 1991 ‘The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals which include the target of significant improvement on the lives of at least 100 Million slum dwellers by 2020 provide the over-all framework for development action. These are underpinned by international human rights that attain normative status in the Universal Deciaration of Human Rights which lays down core rights / “entitlements” of every person to: “a standard of living, adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control °. * National Internal Revenue Code, Local Government Code (RA7160), Urban Development and Housing Act (RA 7279), A code is more comprehensive than a law. A code is composed of laws that have the same or related subject matter that are compiled as one. ® Garcia and Manuel op cit * This draws on Co, Jason Christopher Rayos (2006) op cit; this 2006 paper has a much more detailed coverage of this topic. ® The Millennium Development Goals are a set of eight goals and 18 targets to which most international agencies and national governments have committed themselves, The targets include major reductions in poverty, ilthealth and premature death by 2015 and large improvements in provision for schools, health care, water and sanitation. Also significant improvements in the lives of at least 100 milion ‘slum’ dwellers by 2020. * article 26, Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR, December 1948)Recognition and enforcement of international covenants on human rights necessitate their incorporation in Philippine constitutions. Sections 9 and 10, Article Xill on Social Justice and Human Rights of the 1987 Constitution not only echo the Right to Adequate Housing mentioned above, but also that of the corollary Right against Forced Evictions. These sections provide for State mandates to undertake a continuing urban land reform and housing program, and lay down the general policy of aversion to demolitions and evictions. Complementing these mandates are provisions on local governments’ autonomy through decentralizatio having powers to create own sources of revenue and to levy taxes and their having a just share in national taxes and proceeds of national wealth. In addition are the mandates to respect and promote the role of people's organizations in pursuing their collective interests through effective participation in all levels of social, political and economic decision making, But the 1987 Constitutional provisions are not immediately executory, except for the Bill of Rights under Artie Ill and others. This means that specific enabling laws need to be enacted for enforceability and implementation. Urban land reform measures can be traced back to the 1930s and 40s but gained more scale after the second world war when the war torn countryside impelled displaced families to migrate in Manila to seek better lives and access to services. The migrants clustered around the port area in Tondo and in some parts in Quezon City. In 1978, President Marcos promulgated Presidential Decree 1517 known as the Urban Land Reform Decree during Martial Law. With congress padlocked then, this gave urban planners and technocrats the chance to make legislation. PD 1517 claimed in its Declaration of Policy: “q) to liberate our human communities from blight, congestion, and hazard and to promote their development and modernization; b) to bring out the optimum use of land as a national resource for public welfare rather than as a commodity of trade subject to price speculation and indiscriminate Use; ¢) to provide equitable access and opportunity to the use and enjoyment of the fruits of the land; d) to acquire such lands as are necessary to prevent speculative buying of land for public welfare; and e) to maintain and support a vigorous private enterprise system responsive to community requirements in the use and development of urban lands." ‘The decree then introduced in Urban Land Reform Zones (ULZs) or Areas for Priority Development (APDs) innovative ways of planning, land acquisition (land assembly, land banking, land exchange, land consolidation, readjustments and joint-venture arrangements), land disposition (neighborhood ownership, ** Section 2, Article Il, 1987 Constitution where: " The Philippines...adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land. ® Section 9, Article Xill of 1987 Constitution provides: "The State shall, by law, and for the common good undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program for urban land reform and housing ‘which will make available at affordable cost decent housing and basic services to underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also promote adequate employment ‘opportunities to such citizens. In the implementation of such program, the State shall respect the rights of ‘small property owners." Likewise, Section 10, Article XII of the Constitution also provides: ° Urban or rural oor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwellings demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner.residential freeholds, leaseholds, reservation of development rights), land value assessments, taxation and vigorous land development financing scheme.” The Decree provided some measure of secure tenure for tenants in ULRZs or APDs by providing a prohibition from dispossession complementing the land acquisition and disposition schemes mentioned. Finally the decree not only established the physical and land use planning infrastructure with the creation of the Ministry of Human Settlements, it also promoted land use planning to the different local government units. Unfortunately, the APD scheme was discontinued in 1986 under the Aquino government, But before this, subsequent Marcos directives tended to water down the progressive portions of the scheme. While it could have been a scheme to ensure urban lands for housing the urban poor in a more integrated development context, the unseen hand of urban land owners, its perceived regressive effect on land markets, and the political stigma it underpinned impelled its discontinuance.” Moreover, urban tenancy (security of tenure) under the APD frame turned out to be tenuous as land owners circumvented the Decree by either outright offer to sell and evict when no negotiations are achieved, or refusal to sell to the urban poor. Further and more important was the restrictive interpretation given by the Supreme Court for the terms “tenant”™ and “residents who have legally occupied the lands by contract” despite the addition of the term “occupant family” under PD 2016 precisely to include those informal occupants of land without landowners consent; to exclude the very persons the Decree was made to protect. Finally, there was no clear, sustainable funding allocation for the APD framework from which it could have really made a difference. (ii) A Decentralized Framework for Governance, Shelter and Basic Services Delivery: The Local Government Code of 1991 With the failure of centralist governance to spark development, a shift towards decentralization to local authorities took place. In 1991, Congress enacted the Local Government Code (LGC). The city as local government, enjoys a measure of relative autonomy in the Constitution and this finds further support in the LGC. The dual nature of a city as government and body corporate” provides the impetus to govern and provide basic services to constituents via a legal personality to enter into contracts, dispose and acquire property. Thus having relative fiscal autonomy, the mandate to deliver basic services (like mass housing and others); its proximity to urban poor constituents (as compared to national government); and the provisos on democratic participation by organized people\s and civil groups; make the city the logical urban governance and shelter engagement nexus. 2Serote (nd) op cit 2 'Serote (nd) op cit, Lianto and Ballesteros (200 ) op cit 2 Tenant refers to the nightful occupant of land and its structures, but does not include those whose presence on the land is merely tolerated and without the benefit of contract, those who enter the land by force or deceit, or those whose possession is under Ltigeion, Section 3, PD 1517 "Sec. 15. Political and Corporate Nature of Local Government Units. ~ “ Every local government nt created or recognized under this Code is @ body politic and corporate endowed with powers to be exercised by it in conformity with law. As such, it shall exercise powers as a political subdivision of the national govemment and as @ corporate entity representing the inhabitants of its temitory”. In elation to Section 2? of RA 7160 (LGC)(iii) The Shift to Localization, Social Housing and Urban Land and Development: A look at the 1992 Urban Development and Housing Act ‘The Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA), in contrast with PD 1517, was a multisectoral initiated piece of legislation that passed through lobby and advocacy in the post Marcos Congress. The Aquino administration had a different orientation towards urban land reform in that it focused not much jslating secure tenure as in the urban tenancy provisions of PD 1517. The UDHA details and implements Sections 9 and 10 of Article Xl of the 1987 Constitution on urban land reform and housing and the protective mantle of just and humane manner of eviction and demolition. The UDHA refines the local government mandates for low-cost, mass housing provision under Section 17 of the LGC by specifically mandating local governments in urban and urbanizing areas to implement the Socialized Housing Program. The Act also provides for urban renewal and resettlement activities and points to fund sources for operation. Furthermore, Sections 23, 24, 20, and 32 provide bases for organized slum communities to undertake and promote city-wide engagement for secure tenure, as well as for the private sector / NGOs to enter into joint partnerships with the city for social housing. Essentially, the UDHA centers on the following: a) local government unit mandates on urban land inventory, identification, acquisition, and disposition for social housing and urban development planning by local government units to whom the mandate fell; b) the national shelter program on resettlement, community mortgage program and public land proclamations; ¢) protecting underprivileged and homeless persons from unjust and inhumane manner of demolitions; d) strengthening urban poor consultation and participation in shelter issues; and e) provision of enabling milieu for private sector to enter into social housing provision. Hence, under the Socialized Housing Program more pressure is placed on local governments to “step up” in ‘terms of institutional and structural capacities not only for the already complex dimensions of shelter provision, but with the more sophisticated aspects of urban land and development planning and management. A study on 25 leading urban LGUs’ compliance on the UDHA mandates” show that with regard to the mandates of land inventory, identification, land acquisition, disposition of lands for social housing; registration of program beneficiaries; balanced housing development; prohibition and monitoring of eviction and demolition; and establishment of local implementation mechanisms, less than half have fully complied with all the aspects In addition to the social housing program, which should be LGU-led, the UDHA also provides for the National Shelter Program, But this involves a myriad of shelter agencies with different mandates ranging from overall policy and direction coordination (Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council); shelter provision to the lowest 30% of the income decile (National Housing Authority); Land financing and mortgage (National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation/Social Housing Finance Corporation); project development guaranty (Home Guarantee Corporation), housing and land regulation (Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board), and support funding (from private and government social security and mutual benefit, funds). This complex housing administrative machinery based on disparate and even over-lapping charter mandates (and turf wars) proved to be one obstacle that hindered (and still hinders) efficient housing delivery. » Dizon, Ana Mane, et Al (2000), The UDHA Challenge: Monitoring LGU Compliance, Issues end Developments in Local Housing, Usben Poor Associates (UPA) Reseaich end Information Desk, PHILSSA, March 28. The study inwolved 25 citiesNote that despite the change in administration from the Marcos regime, the UDHA did not repeal PD 1517. tt recognized the incentives given to APD and ULRZ beneficiaries and made additional incentives in the form of: a) land surveys and titling at minimal cost; b) liberalized terms on credit facilities and housing loans and ‘one hundred percent (100%) deduction from every homebuyer's gross income tax of all interest payments made on documents loans incurred for the construction or purchase of the homebuyer’s house; c) exemption from the payment of documentary stamp tax, registration fees, and other fees for the issuance of transfer certificate of titles; and (d) basic services like water, electricity, sewerage, and road networks." The concept of equitable and socially responsible land ownership are present in the laws of the Philippines.?* it can be seen in the text of the 1973 Constitution and in the text of the 1987 Constitution that was quoted in section Il, So why are still so many poor and homeless in the Philippines? Serote suggests that “The welfare rhetoric of the Constitution has to be translated into specific statutes before it can be operationalized. Legislative bodies, however, from the national to the local level, are not about to enact those needed legislations with any sense of urgency. That is because legislatures from the local to the national levels are dominated by landed property interests.” ‘As mentioned previously, the UDHA is a comprehensive law that laid down not only programs on housing but also a program for the development of cities and municipalities. Included are the programs of relocation, Community Mortgage Program, slum upgrading, inventory of government lands, identification of legitimate beneficiaries and the role of the local government units in housing, Among the important features of UDHA is the complete process and condition for the implementation of a just and humane demolition.** But government provides limited funding for the UDHA program on housing. There is also a lack of understanding and political will on the part of local officials to implement the law. So here is the challenge to the urban poor and other people's organizations. They should know and understand their rights under the law and make the necessary advocacy to force the local government units to implement the provisions of the law especially those which pertain to security of housing.” IV. THE FEDERATION AS A SOCIAL MOVEMENT FOR SECURE TENURE ‘The Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines is a self-help, community-based federation which promotes savings mobilization as a way of building the financial capability of communities to invest in their ‘own development. As of December 2007, the Federation had approximately 70,000 members from 161 associations and groups in 22 cities and municipalities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.” As a social 3 Section 25, RA 7279 2 See Serote (n.d. op. cit. » ‘See Serote (nd) op. cit, Gatpntan-Bedia, Marlene V. (2002). Kinamatarung sa Pag-angkon sang Puluy-an (Housing Rights). Part of the Human Rights Primer Series published by The Martin de Rada Human Rights Desk atthe Institute for Social Development Issues and Initiatives, Coordinating Center for Research and Publications, University of San Agustin, Iloilo City > Gatpatan-Bedia (2002) op cit Fora more detailed history of Homeless Peoples’ Federation of the Philippines, see Yu, Sandra O. (2002), Documentation of the Experience of the Homeless People’s Federation Phulippines forthe Cities Alliance Project on Pro-Poor Slum Upgrading Frameworks. Homeless People’s Federation Philippines-Philippine Action for Community.10 movement of poor communities espousing people-driven secure tenure initiatives, it responds to this challenge of displacements by organizing and mobilizing households affected by disasters or threatened by eviction to plan, negotiate and manage their land acquisition and relocation efforts. The federation is supported by its non-governmental organization partner, the Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives, inc. (PACSI), which was formed in 2002. PACSII's main purpose is to support the Federation with professional advice, fundraising, logistics, training, learning exchanges, back-up during negotiations, and access to intermediaries in the media, government and funding agencies. ‘The Federation believes in the capacity and skills of communities to drive their own development undertakings. Its origins are in the Payatas community and its development of savings in 1995, encouraged and supported by Fr. Carcellar of VMSDF.” In just a few months, the program could count among its members jeepney drivers, market vendors, tricycle drivers, school children, mothers saving for infant, and the elderly. in one year, the savings program listed 2,000 depositors, and in two years and a half, a total of 5,300 depositors belonging to around 540 saving groups in Payatas alone.” As news of the savings program spread rapidly beyond Payatas, residents of poor communities in Mandaue City, Bicol, General Santos City, lloilo City, and Muntinlupa City started coming to Payatas to learn about the program. Community exchanges became the means of transferring technology to new urban poor groups. The Federation was launched in 1998 and formally registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2001. When a group under the banner of the Federation is organized, the first group project is to save. “Everything we do, we start with savings,” says Sonia Cadornigara, the Federation's Visayas Coordinator. In 2008, it received the Opus Prize, an international Humanitarian Award for Faith-Based Entrepreneurship: V.“AMIN ANG BAHAY NA ‘TO” (THIS IS OUR HOUSE): COMMUNITY LAND ACQUISITION INITIATIVES (i) Land acquisition methods This section will discuss three land acquisition methods being used by Federation homeowners associations: Direct Purchase; Community Mortgage Program, and Usufruct. Table 1 lists the places where these are being implemented and the reasons why - the displacement because of mega-infrastructure like the Manila South Railway Development Project and the lloilo Flood Control Project and disasters triggered by typhoons and flash floods. Led Shelter Initiatives, Quezon City, see also Vincentian Missionaries(1998), "The Payates Environmental Development Programme: micro-enterprise promotion and involvement in solid waste management in Quezon City’, Environment and Unbanization, Vol.10, No.2, pages 55-68 and Vincentian Missionaries Social Development Foundation Incorporated (VIMSDF1), Manila (2001), “Meet the Philippines Homeless People's Federation’, Environment and Unbenization, Vol 13 No 2, pages 73-84 Yu, Sandia and Anna Marie Karaos (2004), "Establishing the role of conmmunttiesin governance: the expertence of the Homeless People's Federation Philippines”, Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 16, No. 1, pages 107-120. *'Yu, 2002 op. cit. > Yu, 2002 opt. 2° See HPFP Video Documentary courtesy of the Opus Prize Foundation and Weber Shandwickul Table 1: The locations for land acquisition by the Federation Place Cause of displacement (and need for ind) ‘bay (Bicol Region) Mudlfowand food (Camalig, Daraga, & Guinobatan) Metro Mania (Payatas and Wantinlupa | Payatas—Uash side and ood Railway) Ralivay development - Marila South Railway development project Tio Cty_(1. Benedicto, Jaro; Lapaz | loll Flood Control Project development Floodway Community, & San Isidro, Jaro; 2 Calumpana) Calumpang (Shoreline and Riverbank swelling during typhoons) The direct purchase mode is essentially a contract of sale of land involving a prospective community association and a land owner under agreed terms and conditions like price and installment or lump sum payment. The agreement to buy and sell the land is formalized into duly executed Deeds of Sale that need to be registered as subsequent transactions over the land title The community mortgage program (CMP) is an innovative mortgage finance facility for low-income communities to be able to purchase the land that they occupy or the land that they identified for site and housing development. Organized groups of urban poor can apply for 25 year loans to the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) at a flat interest rate of 6% per annum. The land being bought serves as collateral for the loan to be taken out. The loan/s to be taken out has three levels: land acquisition; site development; and housing development. Table 2 shows the loan amounts available, Table 2: Loan amounts available from the Community Mortgage Programme PURPOSE ATOUNT Wet WaniaOR [Oherareae Tot acauiston * Undeveloped 80,000 P45 000) * developed 80,000 60,000" ‘Site development P15,000 per beneficiary House Construction P40 000 per beneficiary TOAN PACKAGE PIU DOT [ Pr00 000 In contrast with the direct purchase mode where there are only two parties involved (landowner and the community) the CMP involves four entities: the community, the landowner, originator and the Social Housing Finance Corporation, with clear tasks pursuant to program regulations, Among the government's social housing programmes, the CMP has reached the most poor households ing to the housing backlog segment and lowest 30% of the population by income; 138,871 households were reached from 1989 to 2003. The CMP is also the most adopted and supported program by ators); and NGOs (80 NGOs as community organizers and originators. CMP initiatives are also important for social relationships as neighbourhoods formed over the years are essentially retained, and physical dislocation is kept to a minimum. Thus the inhabitants retain proximity and accessibility to existing social services, market, sources of employment and livelihoods. Some CMP projects cultivate community equity formation in the continuing housing process for the poor and this reduces the financing burden of the government by building the parallel social cohesion of the community. During the process of community organizing and origination of some CMP projects, the community builds12 up savings gradually, directed to the pretake out expenses within a minimum period of six months to as long as three years or more, depending on the organization maturation of the community.” For Usufructs, Philippine civil law defines usufruct as a real right, temporary in nature, which authorizes the holder to enjoy all the benefits which result from the normal enjoyment and exploitation of another's property with the obligation to return at the designated time either the same thing or in special cases its equivalent. * The term “usufruct” came from the Latin word “ususfructus” or “usus et fructus” which means “use and enjoyment.” So a usufruct is an agreement that gives to a person called the usufructuary, beneficial use of the land, with the obligation to return the land at a specified period of time. While most would consider usufruct as a kind of lease in terms of the land, it differs from the latter in many ways (see Table 3). Table 3: comparing lease and usufruct Bass UsurRuct Lease Extent Covers aluses asa rule Generally covers only particular or spectic use Nature ofthe right | Ts always a real right (le. enforceable against | Isa real ight only asin he case of lease over the whole world) real property, the lease is registered or is for more than one year, othervise, itis only @ personal right Creator ofthe raght | Can be created only By the owner or bya duly | The lessor may or may note the owner fs when authorized agent, acting on theirbehalt there is a sub-leace or when the lessor is only a usufructuary) ‘Orgin ay be created by law, contract, last wil or | Waybe created as a rule only by contract, and by prescription nay of exception, bylaw Cause The ovner is more or ess passive, and allows | Ouner or lessor s more orless acive the usufructuary to enjoy the thing given in usufuct Repairs Usatracuary Fas the duty to make ordinary | The lessee generally has no duly to pay for repairs repairs Tares Usufractuary pays for annual charges Btaxes | Onner paystorland taxes on fruits Other aspecis Usuiractuary may lease the property to | lessees cant constiule a usufuct on the another propertyleased Source: SALIGAN Urban Poor Unit 2005 (Notes on usufructs, SALIGAN Urban Poor Unit, 2005) ‘Thus, with the exception of the obligations of repairs and the payment of taxes, a usufruct arrangement gives to the usufructuary much flexibility in terms of use and enforceability as against other parties. As a civil law concept, usufruct is already recognized as an important component in the context of attaining secure tenure. In fact, the UDHA even defines secure tenure as the degree of protection against infringement, or unjust, unreasonable, and arbitrary eviction or disposition, by virtue of the right of ** Vertido, Dam C. “Status of the Community Mortgege Program Implementation & Review of its Key Problems and ‘Wesknesses”, Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (Advocacy Agenda 1, April 2005) paticle 562, New Civil Code of the Philippines13 ownership, lease agreement, usufruct and other contractual arrangements." Moreover, the UDHA further champions the usufruct scheme when it showcases it as one of the alternative modes of disposing government-acquired lands and housing for social housing. A former Commissioner of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board cites usufruct arrangements as one of the alternative instruments for securing ‘tenure, together with the horizontal condominium and homeownership association concepts.* A current Asian Development Bank supported slum upgrading project (Metro Manila Urban Services for the Poor- MMUSP) that covers upgrading needs across the cities in Metropolitan Manila has adopted usufruct, arrangements as key project components. VI. CASE STUDIES OF LAND ACQUISTION METHODS UTILIZED BY FEDERATION HOME OWNER ASSOCIATIONS Table 4 shows the land acquisition methods being employed by the various homeowners associations. Table 4: Land acquisition methods used by Federation homeowner associations Land Acquisition Method Homeowners Associations Direct Purchase T Camalig Flood Victims Association Incorporated -CAFLOVAS (Camalig, Albay) 2. United Reming Victims Homeless Association Incorporated URVHAI (Daraga, Albay) 3 Saversville Homeowners Association Incorporated - SHAL (Guinobatan, Albay) 4 Payatas Scavengers Homeowners Association Incorporated - PSHAI (Miraculous Hills Subdivision, Montalban, Rizal) 5 Kabalaka Homeowners Association (Calumpang, lloilo} ‘Community Mortgage Program Golden Shower Homeowners Association Phase 1 and 2 Usufruct TSamahan ng mga Nagkakaisang Relocatees ng Bagong Silangan Neighborhood Association - SANAREBAS, INC. (BagongSilangan, Quezon City) 2.Kapatiran Sama-sama sa Miraculous Medal (National Bilibid Prison Relocation Area, Muntinlupa) (i) Direct purchase by the Payatas Scavengers Homeowners Association, Quezon City One of the first Federation organizations that decided to directly purchase their own land was the waste picker members of the core group in Quezon City named Payatas Scavengers Homeowners Association. This was in 1997 after the officers of this core group completed a Paralegal Training on Land Issues organized by Vincentian Missionaries Social Development Foundation Inc, As waste pickers living on and © Section 3 (o), Republic Act 7279, Uiban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA) ® Section 12, Republic Act 7279, Uiban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA) "As cited in Marin, Usuftuct as an Alternat ve Instrument for Providing Secure Tenure, ICICS1 2005, pp. 3-414 around the 30-hectare Payatas waste dump site, they were aware of the constant health, and life threatening hazards to which they were exposed. As members of the Federation, the group was sent to a ‘community exchange program in Mumbai, India and South Africa sponsored by Slum Dwellers International (SD!). In india, the group saw a housing exhibition where people who had recently acquired their own land had developed their own samples of low-cost housing designs. in South Africa, they learned how savings group could be better organized for land and housing along with regular savings group. There they saw the formation of Low Income Housing Groups which could be constituted differently from the regular savings groups, depending on the land acquisition project to which they may belong.® When they came back from this foreign exposure trip, the core group from Payatas started to search for safer land to buy. They found and purchased a 3 hectare plot in San Isidro, Montalban, Rizal, for PhP15O per square metre in 1998. They bought the land for PhP4.5 milion; Caritas Manila provided PhP3.9 million as bridge finance while the remaining amount came from the group’s savings and some money borrowed from tloilo Federation, ‘The purchasing process was not simple. The land that the seller showed them was said to be on a plateau near the national highway. But when payment was already made and deeds were signed, the members of PSHAI were surprised to find that the land they purchased was almost on the top of the mountain and far from the main road. Even today, they only have a very rough road (that looks like a logging road) that gets muddy during the rainy season. Before they were able to build their houses, they encountered problems with getting permits from government offices. For instance, it took two years for the Department of Agrarian Reform to issue the Certification of Non-Tenancy and it was only after the Payatas trash slide in 2000 that the certification was immediately released. The Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was also delayed because the Association was told it had to pay PhP'100,000 and to secure first the Environmental Geological and Geohazard Assessment Report (EGGAR). While Association members were willing to raise the money, they were paralyzed by the uncertain requirements in regard to obtaining the EGGAR. They were advised to execute a Memorandum of Agreement with a government agency which allegedly should pay for the work needed for the EGGAR. As the Quezon City government refused to pay the fees, the application for EGGAR and ECC came to a standstill. However, the administrative order covering EGGAR stated that a proponent or developer can enter into a MOA with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau or else hire a private geologist and this is much less costly. Moreover, as per Memorandum Circular No. 2002-43, a simpler process is now required in lieu of the EGGAR and a technical report is now optional. * Fortunately, Mayor Pedro Cuerpo of Montalban is very supportive of the group. The Municipality of Montalban exempted the group from fees like the Development Permit. In fact, it was the mayor who convinced the group to name their place as Miraculous Hills Subdivision rather than using the name Payatas Scavengers. By June 2008, there are 42 families livingin this subdivision and 28 housing units each of 50 square metres. Each member will pay a monthly amortization of PhP300-500 for three years for the lot and then start paying for the amortization of the house which the total cost ranging from PhP57- 108,000. * Yu, 2002, op cit “yu, 200915 ‘There are problems about paying the amortization, especially after the Payatas trash slide where 270 people died, buried in the mountain of garbage. Sixty families who were members of the Association lost their homes, and eventually, everyone was affected because the dump site was closed. The Association talked with Caritas Manila about their difficulties with paying and Caritas gave them an extension and wrote off the 13% interest of their loans. Association members continued to pay their amortization and to accumulate more savings. After three years of residing in Miraculous Hills Subdivision, Rosella Tresvalles, association President noted “In Payatas we were squatters. Here, this is really ours. We cannot be driven out from here.” (ii) Direct purchase by the Kabalaka Homeowners Association, Iloilo City The Kabalaka Homeowners Association (KHA) of Calumpang have also used direct purchase. Sonia Cadornigara remembered how in 1997 there were many demolitions of informal communities in barangay Calumpang and in other barangays within Miraculous Medal Parish. People fighting demolition were even using floats of Catholic saints statues from the Holy Week procession as shields and as barricades to stop the demolition teams, Cadornigara’s house was also threatened to be demolished. Being parishioners of the Miraculous Medal Parish, the victims asked the help of the Vincentian Parish Priest who then immediately coordinated with the VMSDFI's main office in Quezon City. As well as the very real threat of demolition, many houses in this area were also threatened by typhoons, especially those built on high tide lines and on riverbanks. Thus, there was an immediate need to look for a safe relocation site with tenure security. A group of 11 informal settlers from the Parish (including Cadornigara) was sent on a visit to Quezon City including Payatas. There they learned the rudiments of running a people-led savings initiative from Payatas, residents and on their return, Kabalaka Savings was started with 600 members (it later came to be known as the KHA). At first, members would go to the Parish to deposit amounts ranging from five pesos to 50 pesos or more. After two years, they had saved PhP1 million. Today, the organization expanded into an Area Resource Center Kabalaka with 470 individual savers and by June 2008, total savings of PhP19.6 million. Cadornigara, the first elected president of KHA, told of how a bank employee at Bank of Philippine Istands in Hloilo City almost ignored them when they inquired about opening an account. But the plastic bag carried by Cadornigara and her companions contained PhP 600,000, more than enough to open an account. When the bank employee realized this, he called the bank manager and they and the janitor counted KHA’s money. From that time on, KHA has been one of this bank’s most important clients. The KHA members looked for land. Luckily, there was a Bank of Philippine Islands foreclosed property in Calumpang, just a few meters from the Miraculous Heart Parish. It is a 7,145 square metre property by the river. The Bank was selling it for PhP2.7 million (PhP370 per square metre). The KHA can only afford PhP800,000 but they borrowed PhP2 million from the Federation’s Urban Poor Development Fund (see Box 1) with an annual interest rate of 9 percent on a diminishing balance. Box starts Box 1: The Federation's Urban Poor Development Fund (UPDF) ‘The UPDF was established by the Homeless People's Federation of the Philippines in 1999 in response fo the inadequacy in available institutional shelter finance. Even the innovative communty-morlyage program was marred by slow processing and complex documentary requirements. Landowners wiling to sell land to the Federation offen refused to receive eayment under the16 CMP program and would insist instead on direct purchase. The UPDF provides @ longer-term financing facity for shelter-related purposes. It requires a stake from members (through ther savings) and IT aso leverages contributions from other stakeholders to ‘ridge finance more substantial investments, such as land purchase, site development and housing constuction. The bridge financing facilty is replenished through repayments by borrowers over a longer period of time; eg. five to ten years. So the UPDF is ‘made up of contnbutons from diferent stakeholders, induding low-income households, natonal and local goveriments, donor agencies, multilateral agencies, and the private sector. As of 2002, members’ savings within the Federation was able fo leverage some PhP8S millon (approximately US$1.7 millon) from diferent stakeholders for shellerrelated financing. These incbde ‘multilateral agencies (through Asian Development Bank's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, which account for 60 percent of the funds; national government, which contibuted 18 percent ofthe funds; and Northern donor agencies, which account for another 15 percent) Box ends In August 2001, the Deed of Sale of the Calumpang property was signed between KHA and the Bank; Bank officials came from the main office in Manila to witness the signing because they could not believe that an urban poor organization was able to fulfill a real property deal. The site was divided into 73 lots. KHA members are paying around PhP 1,000 (a little over US$20) monthly for five years. Together they managed to construct a dike to protect their property from the swelling of the river. As of June 2008, KHA had repaid PhP2,259,740 for the land (including the previous savings). (iii) Direct purchase by Federation Associations in Daraga, Camalig and Guinobatan ‘The most recent Federation organizations that made use of Direct Purchase are groups in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region. The region was devastated by flash floods in 2006 when two typhoons hit the country and thousands of Bicolanos made homeless. ‘Two Federation leaders, Rollie Villanueva and Jocelyn Cantoria, went to Bicol and organized the typhoon victims to help them rebuild their lives through post disaster reconstruction efforts. But it was difficult to convince the people in evacuation centers to save for theit new homes, given that most of them had lost not only their properties but also their livelihoods. It was made all the more difficult by many government. agencies and politicians visiting the evacuation centers promising free housing, Eventually their efforts paid off and by June 2008, there were 11 savings groups in the three towns belonging to Albay. Their savings program already accumulated more than PhP1.3 million. Since most members wanted their children to inherit their lands, they opted for direct purchase. So members in each town organized themselves into home owners associations and with bridge financing from UPDF, they were able to purchase lands in their towns. But in the title registration and the processing for eventual site development, the communities encountered the stringent requirements for conversion, permits and clearances from various line agencies such as the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Philippine Coconut Authority. Nevertheless, the dreams of the members of these homeowner associations were slowly being realized. {iv) Community Mortgage Program for Golden shower According to Gemma Marin, the CMP “did not prove easy to use and could not be considered as truly successful. While this program was by far the most favored and most successful in terms of affordability and promising security to the poor, its reach was reportedly only 60% of target and awarding of titles was taking a longer time than expected. It could not cope with the complex administrative processes and17 procedures of securing the land (particularly with the Registry of Deeds), non-cooperation from the landowners, and delinquency of beneficiaries in loan repayment.” ‘These problems are the ones besetting the Golden Shower Homeowners Association in Payatas where the Federation sought to use the CMP to acquire land tenure.* informal settlers started residing in the area from the 1970s. Different groups claimed that they owned the land, including government agencies. In 1972, a lawyer claimed that he owned the land owing to a Spanish land title he was holding and he gave out “Authorization to Occupy” to residents. More than ten years later, another group holding the same Spanish title, managed to secure a Temporary Restraining Order against the Association as it negotiated with Manila Remnants, a real estate developer that owned the land. By then, the Association had ascertained that Manila Remnants was the real owner of the land they are occupying. In 1996, the Supreme Court nullified the said Spanish land ttle. In 1991, Manila Remants offered to sell the Association the land for PhP250 per square metre but raised the price to PhP500 in 1995 when the community was not able to make any payments because of delays in its socioeconomic survey. Association officers were also finding it difficult to collect money from members and this also delayed the initial payment — and in 1996, Manila Remnants raise the price again to PhP 750 per square metre This time, the Association was able to collect PhPS,000 from each family and gave PhP274,000 to Manila Remnants as an initial payment so that it would not sell the land to other buyers. But in 1997, Manila Remnants raised the price to PhP1,000 per square metre and it was also negotiating with Quezon City government about selling them the land and they did not accept the second down payment. The local government wanted to build medium-rise buildings but this plan came to nothing Golden Shower was chosen as the site of a project supported by the Asian Development Bank Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The CMP loan application process had also been started. With the intervention of VMSDFI and an assurance of prompt full payment, Manila Remnants brought down the price to PhP 23 million (PhP811 per square metre). The first payment for PhP3 million was released in November 2000, drawing on VMSDFI's project counterpart fund. The Association’s initial payment of PhP274,000 was returned to them by the Manila Remnants. The second payment of PhP17 million was released in August 2001 as bridge finance by the Asian Development Bank and the Department of Social Welfare and Development with the rest paid by VMSDFI's counterpart fund in three tranches up to February 2002. The Golden Shower community then divided into two groups to meet one of the CMP requirements. for land acquisition that home owner associations should have less than 300 members. The National Housing Authority as the “CMP originator” assigned a representative to serve as liaison between the Golden Showers associations and the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation. Despite this, the CMP loan application process was delayed for long because of the difficulties the two Associations had in meeting the technical and financial requirements, including producing an approved subdivision plan. The delay in the release of the subdivision plan was related to the difficulty of the associations in collecting payments from their members. "7 Marin, Gemma (2005). “The Adoption of the Usyftuct Arrangement as Alternative Tenure Instrument for Providing Security of Terure to Urban Informal Settles.” John Carrol Institute on Church and Social Issues, Quezon City, Philippines *°Thas case study draws on (AFI, ICSI, & IPC, AdMU, 2003)18 With the Asian Development Bank funding, many site development projects were undertaken including the construction of concrete roads, footpaths, and drainage facilities. The site was also reblocked. This was not without difficulty because some residents in the area refused to cooperate with this project and a working committee was set up to address this ‘This difficulty in collecting payments from members is the main problem plaguing this project. Many members decided to stop paying their monthly amortization. Many believed that they will no longer be evicted from their land because the owner, Manila Remnants, was already paid. They refuse to understand the concept of paying the amortization so that the PhP23 million used to pay for the land can be recovered by the UPDF and used to help other homeless people's organizations. But Leonor Valleza, president of one of the two associations, believes this can be solved. She, with the help of active officers and members of their Association and volunteer leaders from the Federation are working hard to convince other members to pay their amortization and to be active in their associations again. (v) Usufruct in Bagong Silangan Usufruct, although not an entirely new concept, is the more recently introduced mode of land-tenure acquisition. As noted earlier, the distinct feature of usufruct is the use and enjoyment of all fruits of another's property without actually owning the property, but with the obligation of preserving its form and. substance during the agreed term of use.® ‘The trash slide in Payatas in 2000 triggered the immediate relocation of affected families, VMSDFI offered the land donated by Ms. Amparo Barcelon® to the Congregation of the Mission in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. The Federation and VMSDFI conducted surveys in the high-risk areas in Payatas. The officers of the federation convinced the residents living in the danger zones near the creek or at the foot of the dumpsite to relocate to Bagong Silangan and to participate in the housing project there. Those who were interested were advised by the Federation about savings schemes, policies and procedures in resettling and the different paper requirements to facilitate their relocation. The Federation made it clear that those who wished to participate in the housing project would have to save or pay to be able to stay in the unit for as long as they wanted. The savings would not include payment for the land. Initially, the first 36 resettler households shared 15-newly constructed units. By June 2005, there were 146 families and 159 units. This covered almost 50 percent of 20 blocks in the area. The expansion also accommodated vulnerable groups like the elderly and the disabled persons, Some blocks were used as transient, multi-purpose facilities and offices.** Since in the usufruct scheme, the residents only borrow the land for a specific length of time, clear rules or agreement are needed. In Bagong Silangan, the residents only pay for their housing units and the key provisions for resettlement and house management were: * Savings or payment for the following schemes: down payment of PhP3,000 for the unit and a onetime Federation membership fee of PhP100; regular contributions to the Urban Poor Development Fund *° Marin, 2005, op cit. “A puvate individual who donated five hectares of land situated in Bagong Silangan to the various Catholic congregations for missionary and tax relief purposes in 1991. Ms. Barcelon later formed the family foundation celled (One Real Estate Corporation which formally served as the donor of lend (Marin, 2005) 3 Marin, 2005, op. cit19 amounting to PhP5O.00 every month and compulsory savings of PhP25-250 per week; and after 1 year, contractual savings for housing of PhP250 a month for five years * Voluntary dismantling of their houses in Payatas to prevent new settlers in the high-risk and dangerous areas. The materials salvaged from dismantled houses might be useful for their new house in Bagong Silangan * prohibition of extensions or additions to the unit such as a second floor. The Federation must be informed of any plans of repair or renovation before the beneficiaries could do it. * Prohibition of relatives and friends to live with the family-beneficiary and no sale or transfer of assignment of unit to non-relatives. Any transfer of assignment was allowable only in case of death of the beneficiary and only to children or close relatives. * Maintenance and preservation of the housing unit >? ‘The PhP3,000 down payment proved too expensive for the first relocatees so the Federation allowed a one year grace period in paying for the unit for the 36 households in August 2001. In 2004, 25 families were given PhP10,000 each by a contractor of the controlled dumpsite to facilitate their relocation. This enabled these families to immediately pay the down payment of PhP3,000 for a unit ‘The Quezon City government under (Mayor Ismael Mathay) facilitated the exemption from taxes, licenses and permits for the socialized housing project. The City Hall also donated three housing units To help the Federation in monitoring compliance of the savings schemes and the housing project as a whole, the community association in the area called SANAREBAS was organized. Officers were elected every year and regular meetings were conducted. The association assisted in the daily collection of savings. It conducted other programs like the Children’s Rehabilitation Program which included a feeding program, a health desk, and tutorial program. Members were required to pay PhP10 a month for the regular expenses of the association. (Marin, 2005) Recently, the association opened formally their Daycare Center ran by volunteer para-teachers. Elisa Silay, treasurer of SANAREBAS noted that “As long as we are paying our dues, as long as we are following the rules, we are free to stay here. We are safe here. Unlike in Payatas that when rain comes, we are already nervous because before we knew it, the flood water is already up to our neck. “And we will not be driven away from here” added Rosa Espinosa, Vice president of SANAREBAS (vi) KASAMME: South rail usufruct In Muntinlupa City, the Manila North and South Rail Project is going to displace around 13,000 families living each on side of the rail tracks. This includes the 400 members of the Kapatiran Sama-sama sa Miraculous Medal (KASAMMI) that bellows to the Federation. The group started as a parish-based organization in the Miraculous Medal Parish in Muntinlupa ‘The North Rail Relocation Project had been initiated in 2001 and although the relocations were planned to be completed by October 2005, it was only in February 2005 that the relocations begun. Many were Varin 2005 Swalling, Mark (2007). “Bowling with the Mayor: Overiew of the Context, Work and Significance of the Homeless People’s Federation of the Plalippines. ” Sustainability Institute, School of Public ‘Management and Planning, Stellenbosch University, South Affica20 relocated in Balagtas, Bulacan and San Pedro, Laguna but many others along each side of the railway tracks have nowhereto go. ‘The NHA together with the local government of Muntinlupa City, and the various people's organizations including the Federation was able to convince the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) to lend five hectares of its property to the people to be relocated. With the intervention of Vice President Noli de Castro, the housing czar of the country, the usufruct scheme was made possible. Starting July 2008, the railway informal settlers that include the members of KASAMMI are relocating to their new homes on this site. The row houses are made of concrete materials and measure 32 square metres each. The total cost for the materials and labor of each house is PhP65,000 while the development cost (that includes the roads and drainage system) is PhP75,000 for each house. This is payable in 30 years and with a one year moratorium (in recognition of the expenses during relocation). There are 2,500 houses available on this site. An interview with Charito Roquero, president of KASAMMI and Federation coordinator for the region highlighted now relieved she was that they will be transferring in a house that is their own with secure tenure- although she is aware that the land is only being lent to them by the government. Roquero and her members are busy developing livelihood projects to ensure that they will be able to meet the amortization of their houses and for them to continue saving, Some of their livelihood projects are sewing rugs and curtains, balut vending, and operating small neighbourhood (sart-sari) stores. They are also organizing their transport cooperative. A company making multicabs (small jeepneys used for public transportation) is offering 15 units to KASAMMI for PhP 150,000 each for three years. The group will manage this fleet of little jeepneys, providing publictransport linking their community with Muntinlupa City. While the legal implications of using usufruct for community-driven efforts to access security of tenure for their houses are stil to be fully studied and established, profound philosophical grounds can be readily realized. The negotiated usufruct scheme in market-dominated urbanization contexts is a way of giving back to land its social value rather than just its monetary value within the market. With usufruct, land itself setves as a vital resource for building decent shelter, building human and social capital and creating opportunities to improve urban livability. The still evolving usufruct scheme helps challenge development thinking in terms of “space” for human and social capital formation among slum dwellers rather than in terms of finance and market-driven asset building, Restoring the social value of land implies social responsibility, particularly for the landed. it also encompasses principles of social justice and stewardship and so facilitates maintenance of sound nature human interface.** VI. LESSONS LEARNED Table 5 summarizes the schemes and processes of the three different forms of land acquisition described above. Bemardo, Joel C-M (2004). “Usytuct Contracts: Unlocking the Social Value of Land.“ HPFPI end PACSII, Quezon City, PhilippinesTable 5: Summary of Land Acq n Processes PROCESS! | Direct Purchase Community Mortgage Program | Usufruct ‘SCHEMES ‘Social Pre Land Acquisition Mobilization ‘*Community organizing and mobilization: community consultations, socio-economic surveys, - orientations, organizational development, exchanges, savings orientation, book-keeping ‘*Registration of the group with the SEC OR Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board as a Homeowners Association (HOA) to gain corporate personality and BIR ‘orientation workshops on savings, organizational development, land and housing laws, paralegal and para engineering ‘* Community savings and UPDF ‘For the CMP), Meeting with National Housing Authority and Quezon City (originators) for the loan documentation ‘establishment of community volunteer working committees ‘sconduct land research on the tiles ‘emeetings and negotiations with landowners Tand *+ Savings Groups organize into HOAS ‘Acquisition + HOAs scoutforland to buy (t ] » HOAs Tinks with govemment | "HOAs Tinks with LGUs, maybe the on-site land) agencies for a mortgage | Govemment Agencies or ‘+ HOAs process papers and | program (NHA-SHFC) private entities and NGOs to permits in buying land + HOAs scout for land to buy (it | negotiate for borow lands to ‘+ Executed the Deed of sale | maybe the on-site land) be leased or used under over the land + HOAs process papers and | usufruct + HOAs subdivide and | permits in buying land “HOAs with partner agencies develop land + Executed the Deed of sale over | Process legal usufruct the land agreement + ‘HOAs subdivide and develop | "HOAs subdivide and develop lend land Waintaining | PostLand Acquisition (maintaining the organization) Organizations ‘* Registration of the sale with the Registry of Deeds and the issuance of a new title, payment of appropriate taxes * obtaining required site development permits, clearances, certifications from national and local government * site development and housing construction * attending regular cty, regional core group meetings of HPFP, * exchanges * livelinoods to improve income Engagements with local | Engagements with local government and techni government and tech me (maintaining the organization)Direct purchase: * Direct purchase when compared with CMP, does not require much compliance with technical aspects and details for a loan take out PRIOR to negotiations with the landowner. Documentation and technical aspects will come to play during the registration of the agreement, title and the processing for site development. + Direct purchase fits better with most communities’ organizational capacities; a CMP process demands a well prepared community able to cope with the rigid documentary, financial and technical requirements * Crucial role of community organizing and mobilization to build self-reliance and, for post-disaster responses, move the inhabitants away from assuming that government will address their problems ‘* Savings leveraged with UPDF support for land acquisition + Site and housing development regulations and documentary requirements are set up for conventional developers applications, not self-help groups of low income communities which do not have the needed resources for immediate compliance; It can be argued that some of these documentary requirement should be relaxed, possibly through making use of existing and recent legislation like the UDHA, Anti Red Tape Law, Executive Order 45, series of 2001, the use of alternative building technology and tenurial arrangements like usufructs to fast track documents processing; * Technical and legal know-how on land transactions obtained through training and hands-on work saves time and resources; ‘© Maximize linkages with national government housing agencies for the issuance of endorsements to facilitate documents and clearances processing in local agencies ‘Regular inter-community assemblies and exchange visits to share and learn from each others’ land tenure initiatives; + Early assessment of site suitability, classification, etc, for housing and hazard profile through land research and certification with Mines and Geosciences Bureau informs land negotiations; ‘* Need to factor in the future site development cost to inform land negotiations and community planning; Versatility of community savings and enumeration surveys as disaster mitigation/ preparedness tools in line with obtaining safe land in hazard prone Bikol; ‘+ Forge institutional links with technical institutions and government for the provision of support to land initiatives; ‘* Information and access for safe land: review local government hazard maps if these are available and lobby for municipality or province to integrate geo-hazard mapping in their land use and development planning + Integrate post disaster reconstruction and pre-disaster mitigation / preparedness as part of municipal development and shelter planning that considers more active community participation (savings, ete); * On financing: Counterpart savings through UPDF, donor funds, local government development funds and even calamity funds to be used to acquire safe land and fund housing development therein.Community Mortgage Program ‘* Plus factors for CMP are: a) its offer of up to P120,000 or P100,000 for a total land, site dev't and housing package, sometimes in a single application; b) its affordable and long amortization terms (2 years to pay at 6% per annum) ‘The difficulty with CMP is in the need for a high level of community readiness to comply with the various documentary, technical, financial and organizational requirements * while there is a measure of certainty that the loan will come upon compliance with the requirements, this may take a long time and the land owner may not be willing to wait for the take out of the loan; * a strong, established community savings mechanism and governance in addition to forward financial technical planningis needed ‘+ may be possible to leverage bridge finance funds from various sources like community savings, UPDF, etc to support ongoing CMP processing so as to lock up the price and gain immediate secure tenure; ‘+ the efforts in complying with the rigid documentation and technical aspects for loan take out will pay off as these are intended to cover all the bases for eventual site and housing development. Usufructs*: ‘+ Usufruct is a viable option for obtaining immediate secure tenure, especially on very dense and high value central city land; ‘Proper consultation and orientation complements the evolving nature of the Federation usufruct, scheme which results in more participation among the families and vouchsafes more appropriate responses to emerging needs; ‘* While the evolving nature of the Bagong Silangan usufruct scheme constitutes its strength, there is the need to set the general parameters and conditions once all stakeholders have adequately discussed the options. ‘* The Federation's experience highlights the advantage of site proximity and ready access to institutions and services. The Bagong Silangan site is in the middle of the Quezon City residential zone where basic services, institutions and access to the main roads are present. Further, site development in the area has sought to provide for the basic amenities; + Presence of a strong community association complemented by strong intermediary institutions’ support, help ensure more meaningful secure tenure partnerships ‘* The Federation’s usufruct scheme in Bagong Silangan paved the way for government to concretize its investment to the housing project. it also showed that the usufruct scheme paves the way for an emerging community-led mechanism for housing that other urban poor groups can draw on. It is primarily meant to promote and establish communities’ influence and involvement in city development processes particularly in addressing the dilemma of slum-dwelling and securing immediate access to decent shelter beyond finance and land markets constraints, Six points in favour of usufruct: ‘This is drawn from Co, Jason Chuistopher R 2006 op cit,4 1: The existing legal framework broadly supports usufructs arrangements. While more support and detail are needed, present laws already lay the basis for promoting usufruct arrangements. The usufruct scheme realizes the constitutional declaration on the social value of property and provides a counterpoint to the commodification of property that adversely affects the poor. 2: Usufruct arrangements provide immediate secure tenure and access to basic services. Less than land title transfer schemes approximating key elements of usufructs have succeeded in providing immediate secure tenure to low-income households who are victims of disasters and those in dense urban areas with high land values. 3: There is substantial social acceptability of the scheme by those directly affected. While title transfer is still the preferred scheme, there is a growing acceptance among the urban poor for less than title transfer secure tenure arrangements like usufructs as long as: © the terms are clear and they are part of the process; © the site is located near their source of livelihoods and with ready access to basic social services; © there is community management and other stakeholders support; © the scheme is more affordable, as the issuance of title to beneficiaries entails greater expense and effort than the grant of usufructs; 4: Usufruct arrangements reflect the evolving transitional and incremental modalities of self build and sustainable communities. The UDHA recognizes that usufruct is a transitional mode of securing tenure. It needs support in the forms of legislated incentives (tax or otherwise) to get buy-in by private and corporate landowners and developers. For instance, UDHA incentives for social housing could be used such as transfer tax exemptions, real property exemptions and fast-tracking of land and housing permits. Usufruct arrangements also need to initiate responsive community development and livelihood programs to not only increase family incomes, but to prepare them for eventually accessing land and housing under more formal arrangements (in cities with more urban land/ space); 5: Usufruct arrangements constitute viable tools or schemes for urban land development and management that city governments can use, if they retain ownership over residential lands rather than disposing of these to UDHA beneficiaries through sale. When coupled with restrictive covenants on disposition to non- beneficiaries, the city can better control the “gentrification” or “downraiding” that plague many local government social housing programmes (and that defeat the very purpose of such programmes by not prioritizing those who cannot afford housing). It is also a more effective check on violators and opportunists. Awardees will hesitate to sell their rights because they are not owners and buyers cannot claim good faith as the seller has no document to show ownership. The government can easily cancel awards and take possession of the property without goingto legal processes;”* 6: Usufructs emphasize the social aspects of property and show that title transfer is not the only means of securing tenure. ‘The three community-driven strategies for land tenure discussed in this paper form options for the urban poor. While each have their own strengths and constraints, all have proved to be viable methods to obtain access to land or secure tenure. All three are affected by inefficient land markets, skewed development Co, Jason Christopher R, 2006 op cit25 policies, rigid and numerous regulatory requirements and institutional limitations in line and regulatory agencies; also by the availability (or not) of housing finance. ‘The cases described above also show the important role of strong, empowered communities and savings in combination with meaningful collaboration with networks of people's organizations, local government and technical support. Key points to consider in promoting enabling policies and implementation: ‘+ more participatory measures to build capacities of community organizations in technical aspects of land transactions, and managing their finances; ‘+ measures to create the space for these organizations to participate and negotiate for allocation of land in local governance, particularly in land and development planning of their cities; ‘* more equitable city-level land use and management planning and implementation that considers the housing, upgrading and disaster risk needs of its constituents; ‘+ fullimplementation of existing laws and regulations (Anti-Red tape law, Exec Order 45) to fast-track clearance and permits processing; and work for reducing regulatory standards for land and housing activities without compromising safety and environmental impacts + incentives to promote the participation of private sector, academe, professional groups for provision of technical and financial support to communities; + establishment of an alternative finance facility involving multiple (community, local, national and international) fund sources, that operates through mortgage finance, guarantees, and / or targeted subsidies to support community housing or upgrading. VI CONCLUSION “There is no doubt that the most important actor in the housing sector are the communities and their organizations. Community-initiated housing solutions are more often not only better suited to the needs and capacities of communities but they are also easier to sustain because of the built-in participatory processes they entail'®” ‘The operative phrase here is “built-in participatory processes” as seen in the case studies presented earlier. In organizing themselves, and with the help of NGOs like PACSII, community organizations were able to gather their meager resources in order to secure housing with security of tenure for their families. Of course there were also organizations like the Golden Shower Homeowners Phase 1 and 2 where “buil participatory processes” failed to develop — but here, federation community organizers are working overtime to re-solicit participation. ‘The most important lesson from the experiences narrated in this paper is that the urban poor can attain their dream of owning a house if they can organize and do things together. Of course, the government should also show its commitment to a an enabling, just and socialized housing environment. Simplifying housing permits acquisition especially for people's organizations would be a good step forward. ‘Anna Marie Karaos, Executive Ditector of John Carol Institute on Church and Social Issues (ICICSI) based at the ‘Ateneo de Manila University.26 ‘The individual stories of Federation member organizations are stories of personal and collective struggles of poor people in organizing themselves and driving their own development agenda. tt is a continuing struggle. There are no short cuts and easy ways. They will still have to pay amortization for years before their houses and/or lands become legally theirs. But for now they can say with pride, “Amin ang bahay na ‘to.” This house is ours. A house that is safe from demolition and disasters. The nightmare of being displaced, a thing of the past