Habitat 3 The Philippine National Report

HABITAT III:
THE PHILIPPINE
NATIONAL REPORT
A NEW URBAN AGENDA

Better, Greener, Smarter Cities
In an Inclusive Philippines
May 2016
Table of
Contents
Page
Executive Summary
1
2
2.1.3 Internal Migration Patterns and Metro Manila PeriUrbanization

2.2 Managing
Urban-Rural Linkages
2.2.1 The Rural-Urban Continuum: The Growth of Smaller
Urban
Centers
2.2.2 The
Rural-Urban Migration: The Push-Pull Factors
Persist
2.3 Addressing the Needs of the Youth
2.3.1 Youth Unemployment: A Major Cause for Concern
2.3.2 The Urban Youth and the Growing Risks They Confront
2.3.3 Initiatives for the Urban Youth: Capturing the
Demographic
Protecting
theDividend
Rights of Disadvantaged and
2.4
Vulnerable Groups
2.4.1 Safeguarding the Older Persons
2.4.2 Protecting Persons with Disabilities
2.4.3 Responding to the Needs of Indigenous Peoples
2.4.4 Preventing Child Labor
2.5 Mainstreaming Gender in Urban Development
2.5.1 Global Recognition in Gender Equality
2.5.2 Persistence of Gender Problems Amid Accomplishments
2.6 Challenges Experienced and Lessons Learned
2.6.1 Rapid Urbanization and Its Unintended Consequences
2.6.2 Migration in the Philippines: Spurring Growth,
Urbanization,
and Urban Sprawl
2.6.3 The Philippines' Youth Bulge: Dividend or Bomb?
2.6.4 Protecting the Rights of the Vulnerable and
Disadvantaged
2.7 Future
Challenges and Issues That Can Be Addressed by a
New Urban
Agenda
2.7.1 Investing in People, Capturing the Youth Dividend
2.7.2 Pursuing a More Spatially and Regionally Balanced
Development
2.7.3 More Effective Gender Mainstreaming in Urban
Development
2.7.4 Safeguarding the Vulnerable and Disadvantaged
2.7.5 Developing Improved Capacity for Urban Demography
3
Land and Urban Planning: Issues and Challenges for a New

Urban Agenda
HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT |

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HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT
Introduction
Urban Demography: Issues and Challenges for a New Urban
Agenda
2.1 Managing Urbanization
2.1.1 A Highly Urbanized Philippines
2.1.2 Patterns and Trends of Urbanization: The Continuing
Manila
3.1 Ensuring Sustainable Urban Planning and Design

3.1.1 Shifting to More Strategic and Innovative CDPs and
CLUPs
3.1.2 Harmonizing the Vertical and Horizontal Planning
Development Plans
3.7.1 Boosting Local Capacity for Strategic and Urban

Climate Change Adaption and Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management
3.7.2 Managing Urban Form and Design through Efective
Regional Planning and Development
3.7.3 Generating Livelihoods and Improving Food Security
Agriculture
3.7.4 Shifting to a More Integrated and Inclusive Transport
Planning
3.7.5 Redefning Security of Tenure by Mainstreaming RightsApproaches and Land Use Rights Instruments
4
Environment and Urbanization: Issues and Challenges for a

Agenda
4.1 Addressing Climate Change
4.1.1 Assessing the Climate Change Risks
4.1.2 Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
4.2 Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
4.2.1 Increasing Natural Disaster Risks
4.2.2 Reducing and Managing Disaster Risks
4.3 Battling Traffc Congestion
4.3.1 Traffc Agonies in the Philippines
4.3.1 Initiatives to Reduce Trafic Congestion

May 2016
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3.1.3 Integrating Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk

Reduction and
Management
3.2. Improving
Urban Land Management
3.2.1Addressing the Ineffciencies of the Urban Land Market
3.2.2 Managing Urban Form and Design
3.3 Enhancing Urban and Peri-Urban Food Production
3.3.1 Fostering Urban Agriculture
3.4 Addressing Urban Mobility Challenges
3.5 Improving Technical Capacity for Land and Urban Planning
3.5.1 Building Capacity for Local Urban Planning and
Management
3.5.2 Professionalizing Local Development Planners
3.5.3 Improving Urban Data Quality and Availability
3.5.4 Assessing Vulnerabilities for Natural Disasters ad
Climate Change
3.6 Challenges
Experienced and Lessons Learned
3.6.1 Weaknesses and Constraints Afecting CDP and CLUP
Implementation
3.6.2 Land Market Ineficiencies and the Prolonged Reform
Process
3.6.3 The Challenge of Mobilizing Transport Infrastructure
Finance
3.6.4 The Challenge of Enticing Private Sector Participation
Future Challenges and Issues That Can Be Addressed by a
3.7 Agenda
New Urban
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May 2016
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4.4 Combating Water and Air Pollution
46
4.4.1 Water Quality under Urban Pressure
47
4.4.2 Deteriorating Urban Air Quality
47
4.4.3 Tackling Water and Air Pollution
49
49
4.5.1 CCA and DRRM as a Dynamic, Integrated Process
49
4.5.2 Bottlenecks to the Policy Reform Process and Beyond
50
4.5.3 The Mounting Garbage Problem
50
4.5.4 Defcient Sanitation: Causes and Consequences
51
4.6 Future Challenges and Issues That Can Be Addressed by a
New Urban
Agenda
51
4.6.1 Building the Capacity for a Highly Effective CCA and
DRRMAccelerating Climate Change and Disaster Resiliency
51
4.6.2
52
4.6.3 Greening Solid Waste Management
52
4.6.4 Improving Access to Clean, Safe Water
5 Urban Governance and Legislation: Issues and Challenges for a New
53
Urban
Agenda
5
5.1 Improving Urban Legislation
5
5
5.1.1 The Philippine Urban Governance Legal Framework
5
5
5.1.2 Addressing the Urban Legal Gaps
8
5
5.2 Decentralization and Strengthening of Local Authorities
9
5
5.2.1 Gains on the Decentralization Front
9
6
5.2.2 Taking Bolder Steps for Improved Local Urban
0
Governance
6
5.2.3 Metropolitan Governance: Gaining Momentum in the
1
6
5.3 Philippines
Improving Participation and Human Rights in Urban
2
Development
6
5.3.1 Participatory Mechanisms for Improved Urban
2
Governance
6
5.3.2 A Human Rights-Based Approach to Urban Governance
3
6
5.4 Enhancing Urban Safety and Security
3
6
5.4.1 Curbing Urban Crimes
3
6
5.4.2 Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness and Management
4
6
5.5 Improving Social Inclusion and Equity
5
6
6
6
5.6.1 Strengthening Urban Sector Leadership
6
6
5.6.2 Urban Legal Gaps and Decentralization Reforms
6
6
5.6.3 Constraints to Urban Governance
6
6
5.6.4 Community Participation in Placemaking and Public Space
7
Design
6
5.6.5 Defcient Access to Development Credit Finance
7
6
5.6.6 Correlation between Urbanization and Urban Crimes
8
6
5.6.7 Inadequacy of Data for Planning, Implementation, and
8
Monitoring
6
5.7 Future
Challenges and Issues That Can Be Addressed by a New
8
Urban
Agenda
6
5.7.1 More
Effective Leadership in a New Urban Governance
8
Framework
6
5.7.2 Transparency and Accountability Urban Governance
8
Mechanisms
6
5.7.3 Improving Local Public Financial Management
9
7.1.1 Evolution and Persistence of Slums in the Philippines
89
7.1.2 Approaches to Slum and Informal Settlements Upgrading
91
7.2 Improving Access to Adequate Housing

7.2.1 Constraints to Securing Decent, Afordable Housing
7.2.2 Addressing the Housing Gap
7.3 Ensuring Sustainable Access to Safe Drinking Water,
Basic Sanitation and
Drainage
May 2016
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94
96
100
6
5.7.4 Addressing Urban Safety Concerns
9
6
5.7.5 Enhancing Urban Social Inclusion
9
7
5.7.6 Reinforcing Metropolitan Governance
0
7
6 Urban Economy: Issues and Challenges for a New Urban
1
Agenda
7
6.1 Improving Local Finance
3
7
6.1.1 The Local Finance Supply-Demand Gap
3
7
6.1.2 Continuing Dependence on National Government
4
Transfers
7
6.1.3 Innovations in Local Finance
5
7
6.2 Strengthening and Improving Access to Housing Finance
6
7
6.2.1 The Housing Finance Demand-Supply Gap
6
7
6.2.2 Innovations in Housing Finance
7
7
6.3 Supporting Local Economic Development
9
7
6.3.1 Enhancing Competitiveness
9
7
6.3.2 Support for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises
9
(MSMEs)
8
6.3.3 Government Programs and LED Initiatives
0
8
6.4 Creating Decent Jobs and Livelihoods
0
8
6.4.1 The State of Job and Livelihoods Creation
0
8
6.4.2 Need for Sustainable Job Creation and Livelihood
2
8
6.5 Generation
Integration of the Urban Economy Into National Development
3
Policy
8
6.5.1 In Pursuit of Inclusive Growth
3
8
6.5.2 Updated Approach to Defning and Achieving Inclusive
5
Growth
8
5
8
6.6.1 Lackluster Resource Mobilization at the Local Level
5
8
6.6.2 Persistent Unemployment, Underemployment, and
6
Poverty
8
6.6.3 Inaccessible and Unaffordable Informal Housing Finance
6
8
6.6.4 Facilitating Pro-poor Housing Finance
6
8
6.7 Future Challenges and Issues That Can Be Addressed by a New
6
Urban
Agenda
8
6.7.1 Transforming
Cities into Efective Agents of Diversifed
6
Local
Finance
8
6.7.2 Broadening
and Deepening the Support for Sustainable
7
Local Economic
Development
(LED)
8
6.7.3 Generating More and Better Jobs; Equalizing Access to
7
Improved
Livelihood
Opportunities
8
6.7.4 Integrating the Urban Economy Firmly into National,
7
Sectoral and Local
Development
andIssues
Implementation
7 Housing
and BasicPlanning
Services:
and Challenges for a New Urban
88
Agenda
89
7.1 Slum Upgrading and Prevention
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.3.1 Goals and Accomplishments

7.3.2 Strategic Issues and Constraints
Improving Access to Clean Energy
Improving Access to Sustainable Means of Transport
Challenges Experienced and Lessons Learned
7.6.1 Scaling Up Low Income and Pro Poor Housing
7.6.2 Access and Affordable Basic Services
7.6.3 Growing Problems in Urban Transport and Mobility
7.6.4 Designing Resilient Housing and Basic Infrastructure
Future Challenges and Issues Than Can Be Addressed by a
Communities
7.7.1 Enabling Informal Settler Families to Live In Resilient,
Vibrant and
Connected
Urban Communities
7.7.2 Encouraging
Investments in Spatially Integrated and
Resilient Housing and Basic Infrastructure
7.7.3 Promoting the Shift to a Demand Based, Low Carbon
Transport Sytem
8 A New Urban Agenda: Better, Greener, Smarter Cities in a

More Inclusive
Philippines
8.1 New Urban Agenda 1 Urban Demography: Capturing the
Youth Dividend, A More Spatially Balanced and
Interconnected Development, and Safeguards for the
Vulnerable and Disadvantaged
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10
9
110
111
Agenda 1.1 Invest in people, capture the youth dividend.
Agenda 1.2 Pursue a more spatially and regionally balanced
111
development.
Agenda 1.3 Foster more efective gender mainstreaming in urban
111
development.
Agenda 1.4 Safeguard the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. 111
112
Agenda 1.5 Develop improved capacity for urban demography.
8.2 New Urban Agenda 2 Land and Urban Planning: Effective
Regional Planning and Development, Planning for Climate
Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction, and
Improving Access to Urban Land
Agenda 2.1 Incorporate climate change adaptation
(CCA) and disaster risk reduction and management
(DRRM) in urban planning.
Agenda 2.2 Arrest urban sprawl; manage urban form
and design through efective regional planning and
development.
Agenda 2.3 Generate livelihoods and improve food
security by planning for more sustainable urban
agriculture.
112
113
113
113
Agenda 2.4 Shift to a more integrated and inclusive transport

planning.
113
Agenda 2.5 Redefne security of land tenure
113
through rights-based approaches and land use

rights instruments.
8.3 New Urban Agenda 3Urban Environment: Climate
Change and Disaster Resiliency, Urban Environmental
Infrastructure Improvements, and Developing Green
Cities
114
114
Agenda 3.1 Further boost the capacity for a highly
effective climate change adaptation and disaster
risk reduction and management.
Agenda 3.2 Accelerate climate change and disaster resiliency.
115
Agenda 4.4 Address urban safety concerns by

increasing policy presence and visibility in crime hot
spots and facilitating the climate change adaptive
process and disaster risk reduction and preparedness.
Agenda 4.5 Enhance social inclusion through more
innovative placemaking and public space design in
urban planning and implementation, particularly
involving the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
Agenda 4.6 Reinforce metropolitan governance to
encourage eficient spatial and functional
interrelations between cities, settlements, and their
surrounding areas.
8.5 New Urban Agenda 5Urban Economy: Diversifed
Local and
Housing Finance, Sustainable Local Economic
Development, and Urban
Economy Mainstreaming in Development Planning
Agenda 5.1 Transform cities into efective agents of
diversifed local fnance.
Agenda 5.2 Develop more innovative approaches to
housing fnance including housing microfinance and
the use of rights-based land tenure instruments as
collateral substitutes.
Agenda
5.3
Broade
n and
deepen
the
suppor
t for
sustain
able
local
econo
mic
develo
pment
(LED).
Agenda 3.3 Address the mounting garbage problem

by greening solid waste management.
Agenda 3.4 Facilitate more investments in water supply
and sanitation, sewerage, and septage facilities to
improve access to clean and safe water.
8.4 New Urban Agenda 4Urban Governance: Stronger
Sector Leadership, Effective Multilevel Governance,
Improved Local Urban Governance Capacity, and
Participatory and Transparency Mechanisms
Agenda 4.1 Establish and support more efective
sector leadership in a new urban governance
framework with clear and well defned multi- level
and inter-government relationships.
Agenda 4.2 Use information and communications
technology (ICT) including social networking for a
more transparent and accountable digital urban
governance.
Agenda 4.3 Improve local public fnancial
management, amending the
Local Government Code, where necessary.
Agenda
5.4
Genera
te
more
and
better
jobs;
equaliz
e
access
to
improv
ed
liveliho
od
opport
unities.
Agenda
5.5
Integra
te the
urban
econo
my
frmly
into
nationa
l,
sectora
l and local development planning and

implementation.
8.6 New Urban Agenda 6Housing and Basic Services:
Scaling Up Low Income and Pro Poor Housing,
Affordable, Reliable and Resilient Basic Services, and
Shifting to an Inclusive, Low Carbon Urban Transport
System
115
115
115
116
117
117
117
118
118
119
119
119
120
120
120
Agenda 6.1 Enable informal settler families to live in

resilient, vibrant and connected urban communities.
Agenda 6.2 Encourage investments in spatially
integrated and climate change resilient housing and
basic infrastructure.
Agenda 6.3 Promote the shift to a demand-based,
low carbon yielding urban transport system.
121
121
122
123
Appendix 1: The Philippine National Report and Plan of

Action for Habitat II
Table 2-1: Philippine Population, By Sex and By Age Group: 2010

and
2015
Table
2-2: Philippine Population, By Region and By Sex, 2010
Table 2-3: Distribution of Provinces, Cities, and Municipalities in
Region
Table 2-4: Urban Population and Level of Urbanization, By Region:
2007
Table and
2-5.2010
Population and Density of Metro Manila Cities: 2000 and
2010
Table 5-1: Key Urban Legislation in the Philippines
Table 5-2: Organizational Types and Financing of Metropolitan
Philippines
Table 6-1: Growth and Structure of the Philippine Economy, 20062014
Table 6-2: Gross Regional Domestic Product of the Philippines,
2012-2014
Table 6-3: Sources of Revenues of Philippine Local Governments, in
Percentage,
2014and Employment Statistics of the Philippines, 2009Table 6-4: Labor
2015
Table 6-5: Overview of the National Urban Development and
Housing Framework
2009-2016
Table 7-1: Informal Settler Families in the Philippines, 2011
Table 7-2: Philippines Housing Proclamations, by Region, 2015
Table 7-3: Philippines Housing Need Estimates by Region, 2016
Table 7-4: Number of Housing Units Damaged by Natural Disasters,
2009-2014
Table
7-5: Illustrative Laws and Executive Issuances on Housing and
Development
Table 7-6: Socialized Housing Programs Accomplishment (19962013)
Table 7-7: Socialized Housing Programs Accomplishment (20112015)
Table 7-8: Household Energization Level in the Philippines, 2013
4
4
6
7
9
5
6
6
1
7
1
7
2
7
5
8
1
8
4
9
0
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3
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4
9
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9
6
9
8
9
9
10
1
List of Figures
Figure 2-1: Philippine Urban Population and Urbanization Levels by
Region 2-2: Philippine Internal Migration Pattern
Figure
Figure 3-1: Hierarchy and Interrelationships of Planning in the
Philippines
Figure 4-1: The Philippines' National Framework Strategy on
Climate Change, 20102022
Figure 4-2: National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Framework
8
11
22
40
43
List of Tables
Figure 5-1: Urban Governance Framework of the Philippines
54
Acrony
ms
Asian Development Bank
acquired immune defciency syndrome
Annual Investment Program
AHLP
AKPF
Affordable Housing Loan Program

Abot Kaya Pabahay Fund
AKPF-DLP
ALS
ARMM
Mindanao ASEAN
Abot-Kaya Pabahay Fund Development Loan Program

Alternative Learning System
Autonomous Region in Muslim
Nations ASLR
ATI
AUVs
BAR
Research BCLUP
Use Plan BDA
Agency
BDP
BDIP
BFP
BOD
Association of Southeast Asian

Accelerated sea level rise
Agricultural Training Institute
Asian utility vehicles
Bureau of Agriculture
Barangay Comprehensive Land
Bangsamoro Development
Barangay Development Plan

Barangay Development Investment Program
Bureau of Fire Protection

Biochemical Oxygen Demand
BOT
BP
Build-Operate-Transfer
Batas Pambansa
BSP
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
CALABARZON
CAR
CARAGA
Surigao del Sur
CARP
Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon Provinces

Cordillera Administrative Region
Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands,
BPLS
BuB
CARPER
with
Business Permits and Licensing Systems

Bottom-Up Budgeting
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension

Refor
ms
CBD
CBMS
CBOs
CCA
commercial business district

community-based monitoring system
community-based organizations
climate change adaptation
CCLUP
City Comprehensive Land Use Plan
CCT
CCTV
conditional cash transfers

closed-circuit television
CDC
Clark Development Corporation
CDIP
City Development Investment Program
CDM
Clean Development
Mechanism CDP
Comprehensive
Development Plan CER certifed emission
reduction
ADB
AIDS
AIP
CGAP
CHR
CLUPs
CMP
CNG
CO2
Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest

Commission on Human Rights
local comprehensive development plans
Community Mortgage Program
compressed natural gas
carbon dioxide
CP4D
Development CPH
Housing CPT
Climate
Proofng
for
Census of Population and
CSCAND
Natural Disaster
Collective Strengthening on Community Awareness and
CSOs
Civil Society Organizations
CRPP
CSC
Core Planning Team

Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan
Civil Service Commission
CSIS
Citizen Satisfaction Index System
CV
Crime Volume
DAR
Department of Agrarian Reform
DA
Department of Agriculture
Department
Department
Department
Department
DND
Department of National Defense
DOE
DOLE
DOST
DPUCSP
DRR
DRRM
Department of Energy
Department of Labor and Employment
Department of Science and Technology
Development of Poor Urban Communities Sector Project
disaster risk reduction
disaster risk reduction and management
DITC
Technology
DO
DSWD
DTI
e
ECs
EDSA
EGF
of
of
of
of
Environment and Natural Resources

Education
Housing and Urban Development
the Interior and Local Government
Department of Information and Communications

dissolved oxygen
Department of Social Welfare and Development

Department of Trade and Industry
electronic
electric cooperatives
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue
Environmental Guarantee Fund
EMB
EO
Environmental Management Bureau

Executive Order
EUR
FSTP
Extended Urban Region

Fueling Sustainable Transport Program
GDP
Product GGGI
Index GHG
GIS
GOP
GPS
GSIS
Gross Domestic
Global Gender Gap
greenhouse gas
geographic information system
Government of the Philippines
global positioning system
Government Service Insurance System
HDH
HDMF
HDPI
for ISFs HFA
Action HGC
High Density Housing

Home Development Mutual Fund
High Density Program
Hyogo Framework for
ERB
GAD
GBC
GTC
Corporation
HIGC
HIV
Energy Regulatory Board

Gender and development
Green Building Code
Geomatics Training System
Home Guaranty
Hoe Insurance and Guaranty Corporation

human immunodefciency virus
DENR
DepED
DHUD
DILG
HLURB
HUCs
Housing and Land Urban and Regulatory Board

highly urbanizing cities
HUDCC
Council
Housing and Urban Development Coordinating
ICESCR
Cultural Rights
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
ICT
IDPs
information and communication technology

internally displaced persons
IEC
ILO
Organization IMF
Fund IP
IPRA
Rights Act IRA
Allotment ISFs
Families
JFPR
JICA
JMC
JMP
information, education and communication

International Labor
IFC
International Monetary
Indigenous People
Indigenous People
Internal Revenue
Informal Settler
Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction

Japanese International Cooperation Agency
joint memorandum circular
Joint Monitoring Programme
Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive

Delivery of Social
Services
KSAs
LAMP
LAMS
LCCAPs
plans LCMP
Programs LCPD
LDIP
LED
key shelter agencies

Land Administration and Management Program
Land Administration and Management System
local climate change adaptation
Localized Community Mortgage
liters per capita daily
Local Development Investment Program
Local Economic Development
LGC
Local Government Code
LEED
LEP
LGFBR
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Labor and Employment Plan
Local Government Financing and Budget Reform
LGPMS
LGSP
LGUs
local governance performance monitoring system

Local Governance Support Program
Local government units
LPG
liquefed petroleum gas
LRBs
LRT
LRTA
Low-Rise Buildings
light rail transit
Light Rail Transit Authority
LLDA
LRA
LTFRB
Board
Laguna Lake Development Authority

Land Registration Authority
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
LTO
LWUA
Land Transportation Ofice

Local Waterworks and Utilities Administration
MCCT
Transfer MCLUP
Use Plan MCW
MDGs
MDIP
MDP
Modifed Conditional Cash

Municipal Comprehensive Land
Magna Carta of Women
Millennium Development Goals
Municipal Development Investment Program
Municipal
MARINA
Maritime Regulatory Administration
KALAHI-CIDSS
and Integrated
International Finance Corporation
Development Plan MERALCO Manila Electric

Company MFIs
microfinance
institutions
MGB
Mines and Geosciences Bureau
MHS
Ministry of Human Settlements
MIMAROPA
Provinces
Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan
MMC
Metro Manila Council
MMDA
Metro Manila Development Authority
MRFs
material recovery facilities
MRT
Mass Rail Transit
MRTC
Metro Rapid Transit Corporation
MSMEs
micro, small and medium
enterprises MTPDP
Medium Term Philippine
Development Plan MTPIP
Medium Term Public
Investment Program MTSP
Manila Third Sewerage
Project
MW
megawatts
Manila Water Company

Maynilad Water Services Company
NAPCC
NAPOCOR
NCC
National Action Plan for Climate Change

National Power Corporation
National Competitiveness Council
MWSS
NAMRIA
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System

National Mapping Resources Authority
NCCAP
NCDA
NCIP
NCR
NCSO
NDRRMC
Council
National
National
National
National
National
National
Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Council on Disability Afairs
Commission for Indigenous Peoples
Capital Region
Census and Statistics Offce
Disaster Risk Reduction Management
Authority NFPP
Planning
National Framework for Physical
NFSCC
National Framework Strategy on Climate Change
NGAs
Agencies NGO
organization NGP
Program NHA
Authority
NHMFC
NHRA
NIPAS
NISUS
NLEX
National Government
Non-governmental
National Greening
National Housing
NOAH
NSCB
NSO
Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards

National Statistical Coordination Board
National Statistics Offce
NSSMP
Program
NTC
National Sewerage and Septage Management
NUDHF
Framework
National Urban Development and Housing
NWRB
National Water Resources Board
OCL
Omnibus Commitment Line
NDRRMF
National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Framework
NDRRMP
National Disaster Risk Reduction Management
Plan
NEA
National Electrification
Administration NEDA National Economic Development
NREP
OFs
National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation

Natural Hazards Risk Atlas
National Integrated Protected Areas
National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy
North Luzon Expressway
National Renewable Energy Program
National Telecommunications Commission
overseas Filipinos
MWC
MWSC
OFWs
OSY
PAGASA
Administration
PBSP
Overseas Filipino Workers

out-of-school youth
Philippine Atmospheric Geoscience and Astronomical
PCEs
planned city extensions
PCUP
PDIP
Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor

Provincial Development Investment Program
Philippine Business for Social Progress
PDNA
Assessment PDP
Plan PETC
Centers
PEZA
PFPP
Planning PHILVOLCS
Seismology PIDS
Development Studies
PLEDGE
Enhanced
Organizations PPAs
Philippine Economic Zone Authority

Provincial Framework for Physical
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Philippine Institute for
Programme for Local Economic Development through

Governance and Grassroots Empowerment
Project Management Ofice
pre-marital sex
Philippine National
Peoples
Programs, Plans and
Actions
PPACL
PPPs
Philippine Program against Child Labor

Public-private partnerships
PSA
Philippine Statistics Authority
PSP
PSSR
PWD
disability QRF
Fund RA
RBIs
RDIP
RDP
REDD+
Degradation
RFPP
RORO
RPS
RRTS
private sector participation

Philippine Sustainable Sanitation Roadmap
persons with
PPPPs
PRRC
PSF
SBMA
Public, Private, and People Partnerships

Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission
Peoples Survival Fund
Quick Response
Republic Act
recognized rights-based instruments
Regional Development Investment Program
Regional Development Plan
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Regional Framework for Physical Planning
roll-on/roll-off
Rationalized Local Planning System
RORO terminal system
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
SEC
SGH
SGLG
SHFC
Securities and Exchange Corporation

Seal of Good Housekeeping
Seal of Good Local Governance
Social Housing Financing Corporation
SNAP
Strategic National Action Plan

South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani
SIR
SLFs
SLP
SLPBC
Calendar
SOCCSKSARGEN
and General Santos
SPES
SSS
Slum Improvement and Resettlement

Sanitary landflls
Sustainable Livelihood Program
Synchronized Local Planning and Budgeting
Provinc
es
Special Program for Employment of Students
Social Security System
PMO
PMS
PNP
Police POs
Post Disaster Needs

Philippine Development
Private Emission Testing
STAR
STI
TESDA
TSP
Southern Tagalog Arterial Road

sexually transmitted infection
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
total suspended particulates
UAP
Philippines UCMP
Urban Agriculture
Program UDHA
Housing Act UHI
Urban and City Management

Urban Development and
Urban heat island
UHLP
UN
UNFCCC
Change
UNICEF
UNU-EHS
and Human
Unifed Home Lending Program

United Nations
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
United Nations Childrens Fund
United Nations University Institute for Environment
UPOs
UPPI
Securi
ty
urban poor organizations
University of the Philippines Population Institute
UVVRP
VA
VAT
WEPA
WHO
Unifed Vehicular Volume Reduction Program

vulnerability assessment
value-added tax
Water Environment Partnership in Asia
World Health Organization
WIE
workers in the informal economy
YAFS
YEYE
ZIP
ZOs
Young Adult Fertility Study

Youth Education-Youth Employment
Zonal Improvement Program
zoning ordinances
United States Agency for International
USAID
Development
Executive Summary
Over the years, however, it has likewise emerged as

one of the most populous countries in the world with
a population of over 100 million. The country's
population is predominantly young, with the share of
population below 30 years old to 60%. The country's
rapid urbanization has put undue pressures on its
city governments' limited absorptive capacities to
provide affordable, reliable, and quality basic urban
services. The urban reach of Metro Manilawhich
has transformed into a megacityhas engulfed
nearby regions, making it one of the most populous
urban agglomerations in the world. Metro Manila
exhibits a relatively sporadic and unplanned
urbanization which has resulted in poor quality
urban services. Yet, it continues to attract millions of
migrants from all over the country, causing social
exclusion for those unable to fnd gainful
employment and decent living conditions.
The country's archipelagic nature and geographic
location have made it highly vulnerable to the
adverse
impacts
of
climate
change
and
environmental degradation. Climate change in the
May 2016
The Philippines
participated in
Habitat II and 2o
years later appears
to have made
significant
achievements
against most of its
commitments.
In the span of two

decades, however,
the Philippines has
emerged as one of
the most populous
countries in the
world, confronted
by a myriad of urban
challenges, including
capturing a
demographic window
of
opportunity from
youth
dividends.
Philippines has
been acutely felt
in the last ten
years
in
Page
|i
In 1996, the Philippines participated in the Second

World Conference on Human Settlements or Habitat
II. Held in Istanbul, Turkey, the conference
addressed two themes of equal global importance:
Adequate Shelter for All and Sustainable Human
Settlements Development in an Urbanizing World. As
an active member of the United Nations Center for
Human Settlements, now known as UN-Habitat, the
Philippines presented its national report entitled
Shelter And Human Settlements: Philippine Report
and Plan of Action at the conference. The national
report contained the country's 20-year urban
development roadmap which was anchored on three
interconnected strategies: total human development,
global competitiveness and sustainable development.
It also contained the countrys commitments which
focused on infrastructure development in support of
human settlements, pursuit of knowledge and
livelihood, and ensuring physical, economic and
social mobility. Twenty years later and the
Philippines appears to have made signifcant
achievements against most of its commitments under
Habitat II.
increased
temperature,
precipitation,
rainfall,
drought, flooding, and storm surges, rising sea level,
limited water supply, forest fres, and other changing
weather patterns. Metro Manila is at high risk from
cyclones, floods, and earthquakes. Metro Davao, the
largest urban agglomeration in the island of
Mindanao, is also exposed to the risks of cyclones,
floods, and earthquakes. Cebu, Tacloban, and Iloilo
in the Visayas have likewise sustained tremendous
damages from major earthquakes and super
typhoons these past years. National and local
governments have made signifcant strides in
mainstreaming climate change adaptation and
disaster risk reduction and management in local
development and land use planning. But

May 2016
The country's
archipelagic nature
and geographic
location have made
it highly vulnerable
to the adverse
impacts of climate
change and
environmental
degradation.
Despite significant
gains in
mainstreaming CCA
and DRRM in local
development and
land use planning,
institutional and
implementation
challenges
persist.
Page
|i
challenges persist in institutionalizing policies,

systems and procedures and in making sure the
coordination mechanisms among all stakeholders
work.
Urban governance in the Philippines involves too

many institutions with overlapping mandates,
resulting
in
inadequate
vertical-horizontal
institutional coordination and linkages for planning,
implementation, and operation of infrastructure and
services. Although decentralization process can be
deemed a success, there remains a lack of efective
urban governance mechanisms, particularly for
regional and large scale infrastructure projects
involving inter-jurisdictional cooperation. This has
resulted
in
negative
impacts
on
economic
competitiveness, the environment, and the delivery
of reliable, affordable, and resilient urban services.
There has been watershed urban legislations,
particularly the Local Government Code and the
Urban
Development
Housing
Act.
But
the
accelerated pace of urbanization in the Philippines,
combined with its archipelagic nature and
geographic location which makes it highly
vulnerable to climate change call for revisions to the
existing
urban
governance
framework.
Strengthening urban sector leadership, addressing
the urban legal gaps and the much needed
May 2016
Land and urban

planning in the
Philippines
highlight issues
about managing
urban form and
design through the
planned city
extension
approach. Urban
sprawl needs to be
curbed and growth
in the secondary
cities stimulated.
The shape of urban
development in
the country's
peri-urban areas
has to be better
planned,
considering the
transport and
housing needs of a
more
inclusive society.
decentralization
reforms for a
more
efective
urban
governance are
priorities
that
can no longer
be
ignored.
Transparency
and
accountability
through digital
governance are
still inadequate.
Participatory
mechanisms
have been put in
place
in
the
Philippines but
they need to be
more innovative
to result in more
meaningful
Page |
ii
The urban sprawl is evident, caused mainly by the

search for cheaper land outside the metropolises and
the weak implementation of local plans and zonal
ordinances. Most local governments have not been
able to properly guide the direction of urban
expansion. Transport networks and utility service
extensions, by and large, have been used not to
shape and influence the development of direction but
merely to service developments that are already in
place.
Another
undesirable
consequence
of
unplanned urbanization is that open spaces for
public use has not been adequately protected for the
public. Sidewalks, even traffic islands, have been
appropriated for private use. Waterfronts, coastal
zones, mountain ridges, and other visual corridors
that offer excellent views of landscapes and
seascapes have been built over, blocking the public
view.
Even some heritage sites have not been
spared. Urban-rural linkages particularly to fuel
more economic activities and enhance urban as well
as peri-urban food production have not been
adequately considered.
placemaking and public space design to enhance

neighborhood livability and the public's wellbeing.
Philippine cities, particularly Metro Manila and other
highly urbanized cities, have helped to propel the
overall urban economy, which in turn has spurred the
country's sustained economic expansion. However,
many of them are still confronted by a multitude of
urban problems such as congestion, overcrowding,
poor quality of life, and rapidly growing poor urban
communities. There is defcient fnancing available
for urban infrastructuremostly for housing, water
supply and sanitation, solid waste management,
and low-carbon yielding urban
Urban governance
in the Philippines
involves too many
institutions and
suffers from an
under-resourced
sector leadership.
New areas of urban
challenges require
a multi-level
government
response and clear,
effective
intergovernmental
relationships.
Urban legislative
gaps need to be
addressed. Digital
governance has to
be harnessed for a
new urban
governance
framework while
more
innovative
placemaking
and
public space design
has be to be put in
place for a more
participatory
approach
to
planning.
The Philippine
urban economy
faces fundamental
challenges on two
fronts: deficient
financing for
housing, water
supply and
sanitation, solid
waste management,
and low-

May 2016
Page |
ii
The delivery of safe water, sanitation, waste

management, energy, and transport continues to be a
major challenge in the Philippines, particularly with
respect to the creating the conditions necessary for
livability and resiliency in the cities. The strategies
to be employed must consider economies of scale
which in many cases can be achieved by a more
spatially integrated design.
Climate change also
imposes the inclusion of more "greening" features.
Investments can be more rationalized using a cobenefit approach which espouses that projects to be
considered
must have
multiple
benefts in
different sectors or subsectors resulting from one
policy, strategy, or initiative.
On the housing front, the current level of production
represents a very small fraction of the estimated
housing needperpetuating the formation of
informal settlements and slums in Metro Manila and
other urban metropolis around the country. Informal
settler families must be enabled to fnd secure and
better places to livein resilient communities that
are able to withstand climate change and natural
disasters,
vibrant
communities animated
with socio-economic dynamism and quality
urban infrastructure and services, and connected
communities that are linked by transport and
telecommunication to employment, sources of
livelihood, the urban economy, and the rest of the
city.
The country's archipelagic setting combined with the
magnitude of urbanization makes accessibility
between and within the islands costly and time
May 2016
consuming. The
intense
movement
of
people,
materials
and
information
combined with
generally
inadequate
urban transport
systems in the
Philippines
is
causing millions
in
lost
productivity
and
economic
opportunities.
There has been
a bias so far
towards
planning
for
individual
motorized
transport rather
than
accessibility.
This has led to
tremendous
traffic
congestion and
urban
sprawl.
The
"AvoidShift-Improve
Framework"
should
be
promoted
in
planning
subsequent
urban transport
systems.
The
envisioned
outcome is a
successful
transition to a
more inclusive,
greener urban
transport
system with a
lower
carbon
footprint
for
Metro
Manila
Page |
iii
transport.
Moreover,
unemployment
and
underemployment persists despite the sustained
expansion of the overall economy and its record
growth record of late. The highest incidences of
unemployment in the country are seen among males,
workers with higher educational attainment, and the
youth. Meanwhile, underemployment is highest in
the agriculture based regions and in regions more
vulnerable to climate change. The combined
unemployment and underemployment rates account
for the high poverty incidence that lingers in the
country. Growth has, therefore, not been inclusive so
far. More and better jobs, and equal access to
improved livelihood opportunities are needed. The
fast-growing sectors of the economy, including micro,
small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) should be
fully supported.
and other highly urbanized cities nationwide.
carbon yielding
urban transport;
and persistent
unemployment and
underemployment.
Both undermine
sustainable and
inclusive
development,
requiring more
innovative
approaches and
enhanced urbanrural linkages.
Basic infrastructure
and services are
deficient for
livability and
resiliency. A more
spatially integrated
design considering
economies of scale
and more "green"
features is
necessary.
Informal settler
families,
consistent with
the National
Informal
Settlements
Upgrading
Strategy (NISUS)
should be
enabled to live in
resilient, vibrant
and connected
urban
communities.
A shift to a
demand based,
low carbon
yielding urban
transport system
should be
promoted.

May 2016
Page |
iv

May 2016
The Habitat III

Philippine National
Report presents a
New Urban
Agenda. The
theme of the
agenda is Better,
Greener, Smarter
Cities in an
Inclusive
Philippines
reflective of the
aspirations of
millions of
Filipinos for the
future of their
cities.
Page |
v
Against this background, the Philippine Government

began its national report preparation for the Third
World Conference on Human Settlements or Habitat
III to be held in Quito, Ecuador on 17-20
October 2016. Using a consultative, participatory
and
consensus building approach entailing a series of
thematic, regional and multisectoral workshops, the
New Urban Agenda was formulated. The theme of
the New Urban Agenda is Better, Greener, Smarter
Cities in an Inclusive Philippines reflective of the
aspirations of millions of Filipinos for the future of
their cities. Better Cities are globally competitive,
economically vibrant, and livable. Greener Cities are
environmentally sustainable, climate resilient and
safe. Smarter Cities are connected, physically,
spatially and digitally. An Inclusive Philippines is
equitable, participatory, and provides universal
access to quality basic services. It safeguards
children, women, the elderly people, and persons
with disability.
It equalizes access to livelihood
opportunities. And equally important, it enables
informal settler families to transform in the
metropolises, living their lives with more pride and
dignity.
Introduction
Twenty years later and the Philippines appears to have made signifcant
achievements against most of its commitments under Habitat II.1 Over the
years, however, it has likewise emerged as one of the most populous
countries in the world with a population of over 100 million. The
country's rapid urbanization has put undue pressures on city
governments' limited absorptive capacities to provide affordable, reliable,
and quality basic urban services. The urban reach of Metro Manila which
has transformed into a megacity has engulfed nearby regions, making it
one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. Metro
Manila exhibits a relatively sporadic and unplanned urbanization which
has resulted in poor quality urban services. Yet, it continues to attract
millions of migrants from all over the country, causing social exclusion for
those unable to fnd gainful employment and decent living conditions.
Furthermore, the archipelagic nature and geographic location of the
Philippines have made it highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of
climate change and environmental degradation. Climate change in the
Philippines has been acutely felt in the last ten years in the increased
temperature, precipitation, extreme rainfall, drought, flooding, and storm
surges, rising sea level, limited water supply, forest fres, and other
changing weather patterns. Metro Manila is at high risk from cyclones,
floods, and earthquakes. Metro Davao, the largest urban agglomeration
in the southern island of Mindanao, is also exposed to the risks of
cyclones, floods, and earthquakes.
Philippine cities, particularly Metro Manila and other highly urbanized
cities, have helped to propel the overall urban economy, which in turn has
May 2016
Page |
1
In 1996, the Philippines participated in the Second World Conference on

Human Settlements or Habitat II. Held in Istanbul, Turkey, the
conference addressed two themes of equal global importance: Adequate
Shelter for All and Sustainable Human Settlements Development in an
Urbanizing World. As an active member of the United Nations Center for
Human Settlements, now known as UN-Habitat, the Philippines presented
its national report entitled Shelter And Human Settlements: Philippine
Report and Plan of Action at the conference. The national report
contained the country's
20-year urban development roadmap which was anchored on three
interconnected strategies
total human development, global competitiveness and sustainable
development. It also contained the countrys commitments which focused
on infrastructure development in support of human settlements, pursuit
of knowledge and livelihood, and ensuring physical, economic and social
mobility. The country committed to a holistic approach, hinged on
interagency coordination for human settlements development with
poverty reduction, livelihood generation, and environmental protection as
national development thrusts.
spurred the country's sustained economic expansion. However, many of

them are still confronted by a multitude of urban problems such as
congestion, overcrowding, poor quality of life, and rapidly growing poor
urban communities. There is defcient investment in urban infrastructure
mostly for water supply and sanitation, solid waste management, and
low-carbon yielding urban transport. All these reflect the enormity of the
urban governance challenge facing the country despite the relative
success of the decentralization process.
Against this background, the Philippine Government began its national
report preparation for the
Third World Conference on Human Settlements or Habitat III to be held
in Quito, Ecuador on
17-20 October 2016. Using a consultative, participatory and consensus
building approach entailing
See Appendix 1 of this report for a summary of the commitments made by the Philippine
Government under HABITAT II.
Appendix 1 also reports on the achievements made so far against the country's HABITAT II
commitments.
1

May 2016
Page |
2
This Habitat III national report containing the Philippines' New Urban
Agenda consists of 8 chapters. Chapter 2 discusses the urban
demographic issues and challenges for the New Urban Agenda. Chapter
3 summarizes the land and urban planning issues and challenges.
Chapter 4 focuses on the urban environment, addressing climate change
and disaster risk reduction and management as well as the challenges of
air pollution and traffic congestion. Chapter 5 highlights the urban
governance challenges, the lessons learned and how urban governance
reforms in the Philippines should evolve more quickly, going beyond
sectoral policies to promote stronger cooperation among the various
agents of government, the private sector, and civil society. Chapter 6
underscores the urban economy and how it can bolster the cities'
capacity to fully transform into drivers of sustainable local economic
development, employment creation, and wealth. Chapter 7 describes the
issues and challenges in enabling the urban population to access
adequate housing, safe drinking water, basic sanitation, clean energy,
and a more inclusive, sustainable means of transport. Chapter 8 distills
the lessons learned, integrates the challenges identified in previous
chapters, and presents the New Urban Agenda.

May 2016
Page |
3
a series of thematic, regional and multisectoral workshops, the New

Urban Agenda was formulated. The theme of the New Urban Agenda is
Better, Greener, Smarter Cities in an Inclusive Philippines reflective of
the aspirations of millions of Filipinos for the future of their cities. Better
Cities are globally competitive, economically vibrant, and livable. Greener
Cities are environmentally sustainable, climate resilient and safe.
Smarter Cities are connected, physically, spatially and digitally. An
Inclusive Philippines is equitable, participatory, and provides universal
access to quality basic services. It safeguards children, women, the
elderly people, and persons with disability. It equalizes access to
livelihood opportunities. And equally important, it enables informal
settler families to transform in the metropolises, living their lives with
more pride and dignity.
Urban Demography: Issues and

Challenges for a New Urban
Agenda
The Philippine population grew at an average annual growth rate of

2.34% during the period 19902000. During the period 2000-2010, this rate of growth declined to
1.90%. 5 This growth rate went down further to 1.73% during the period
2010-2015.6 However, despite the slower pace of growth,
the Philippine population continues to increase in absolute numbers. By
2040, it is estimated that the Philippine population will reach 141.7
million by 2040. Projections by the Government also indicate that
population will expand by 9 million more or less every fve years, or by
May 2016
Page |
4
The Philippines, an archipelago of 7, 107 islands in the western Pacifc

Ocean, is the twelfth most populous country in the world. Its population,
estimated at about 101.6 million, is equivalent to
1.37% of the world's total population.2, 3 In Asia, it is considered the
seventh most populous, next
to Japan, and followed by Vietnam.4 The country's islands are
geographically organized into three
major groupsLuzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. Luzon, the largest
island group in the
Philippines, is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago.
It is the economic and political center of the nation and
Metro Manila also called the National Capital
home to Metro Manila,
Region (NCR) is the Philippines' largest urban
also considered the
agglomeration. It comprises the built-up area of
National Capital Region.
the capital city of Manila and the 15 cities and
one municipality surrounding it to form one
About 52 million Filipinos,
contiguous urban area.
more than half of the
Philippines'
total
population, live in the
Luzon
island group. The Visayas, a collection of large and small islands in
central Philippines, is often
described as the cradle of the country's civilization because it is where
Spain began the process of colonization that profoundly shaped the
nations history. Less than a ffth of the country's total population
estimated at 18 million live in the Visayas although its main citiesCebu,
Iloilo and Bacolodhave been experiencing rapid population growth in
the last 10 years. The third island group, Mindanao, is located in the
southernmost part of the country. Regarded as the agricultural basin of
the Philippines, it produces 8 of the top 10 agricultural commodity
exports from the country.
The second biggest island group in the
Philippines, it is home to almost 22 million Filipinos. Davao City, the
largest in the country in terms of land area, serves as its main trade,
commerce, and industry hub.
about 1.8 million every year.7 By 2050, the Philippine population is

projected to reach 148 million, making it the 13th most populous country
in the world, and the 6th in Asia, next to Bangladesh and still followed by
Vietnam.8
Nationwide, the sex ratio is 101.8 males per 100 females (Table 2-1).
This overall ratio was consistent from 2010-2015. However, there were
signifcantly more females in the older age
Philippine Statistics Authority. 2015 Philippine Statistical Yearbook (Quezon City: PSA), 1-27.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015). The
2015 Revision of World
Population Prospects. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/
4
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Afairs, Population Division (2015). World
Population Prospects: The 2015
Revision, Key Findings and Advance Tables, Working Paper No. ESA/P/WP.241 (New York:
United Nations, 2015) 22.
5
2015 Philippine Statistical Yearbook. 1-10.
6
https://www.psa.gov.ph/content/142-million-philippine -population-2045
7
http://www.census.gov.ph/statistics/census/projected population
8
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015). World
Population Prospects: The 2015
Revision, 24-25.
2
3

May 2016
Page |
5
groups, from 59 years old and above where the sex ratios declined to as
low as 55.4 males per 100 females for those aged 80 years old and above.
Table 2-1: Philippine Population, By Sex and By Age Group: 2010 and
2015
2010
2015 (Projected)
Mal
e
(%)
50.
4
51.
4
51.
1
51.
6
51.
4
50.
9
50.
7
50.
4
50.
7
50.
7
50.
5
50.
1
49.
4
48.
3
46.
1
43.
1
40.
2
35.
8
Femal
e
(%)
49.
6
48.
6
48.
9
48.
4
48.
6
49.
1
49.
3
49.
6
49.
3
49.
3
49.
5
49.
9
50.
6
51.
7
53.
9
56.
9
59.
8
64.
2
Males
Per
100
101.8
105.8
104.5
106.8
105.8
103.5
102.8
101.7
103.0
102.7
102.1
100.6
97.
8
93.
4
85.
5
75.
8
67.
1
55.
7
Note: For 2015, numbers used were projections from the 2015 Philippine Statistical Yearbook which
classified those aged 80 and above only in one group.
The country's population is predominantly young, with about 27.6%

belonging to the 15-29 years old age group. An additional 33.4% are
below 15 years old. This brings the share of the population below 30
years old to 60%. With this, the country faces a demographic window of
opportunity from youth dividends which could sustain an annual GDP
growth of at least 7%, enabling the country to attain a higher middleincome status with gross per capita income of USD 4,125 by
2022.9 The countrys total age dependency ratiodefned as the ratio of
dependents or people
younger than 15 or older than 64, to the working-age population aged 1564is 60.5%. This is higher than the overall ratios recorded for Asia
(47.6%) and Southeast Asia (50.1%) in 2010.
Currently, the islands of the archipelagic republic of the Philippines are
grouped into 18 regions
characterized as administrative divisions that primarily serve to organize
the country's provinces.10
In the National Capital Region (NCR) and CALABARZON, the sex ratio is
96.1 males per 100
females, and 99.5 males per 100 females, indicating that in the country's
most urbanized regions, the female population is slightly higher (Table
2-2). Notably, the more urbanized regions namely NCR
(48.1),
CALABARZON (56.2), Central Luzon (56.) and Davao Region (59.5)
posted dependency ratios below the national average.11
Table 2-2: Philippine Population, By Region and By Sex, 2010
(Actual)
Mal
Femal
Males
Age
Both
Both
e
e
Per
Sexes
Sexes
Group
(%)
(%)
10
Philippine 92,097,9
50.
49.
101.8 101,562,3
s Under 5 10,231,6
78
4
6
51.
48.
107.1 00
11,327,3
48
7
3
00
5-9
10,317,6
51.
48.
106.9
10,671,0
57
7
3
00
10-14
10,168,2
51.
48.
105.9
10,283,9
19
4
6
00
15-19
9,676,35
50.
49.
103.2
10,136,9
9
8
2
00
20-24
8,370,39
50.
49.
102.2
9,643,40
8
5
5
0
25-29
7,390,06
50.
49.
101.3
8,332,50
2
3
7
0
30-34
6,744,02
50.
49.
102.8
7,342,00
8
7
3
0
35-39
5,990,10
50.
49.
102.9
6,685,30
8
7
3
0
40-44
5,450,67
50.
49.
102.7
5,916,40
9
7
3
0
45-49
4,664,53
50.
49.
101.9
5,351,20
7
5
5
0
50-54
3,883,63
50.
49.
100.4
4,530,00
0
1
9
0
55-59
2,980,35
49.
50.
97.
3,703,10
0
4
6
4
0
60-64
2,224,10
47.
52.
91.
2,765,50
5
7
3
3
0
65-69
1,495,11
45.
54.
83.
1,978,40
5
4
6
2
0
70-74
1,140,95
43.
56.
75.
1,249,20
1705,977
1
9
7
0870,200
75-79
40.
59.
68.
5
5
0
80 above
664,155
35.
64.
55.
776,000
Sources: 2015 Philippine Statistical
Yearbook,
HUDCC
6
4
4 estimates.
Regio
n
PHILIPPINES
Luzon
National Capital Region
Both
Sexes
92,097,978
Mal
e
46,459,318
11,796,873
5,781,807
Males Per
100
45,638,660 Females
101.
Female
6,015,066
96.
National Economic Development Authority. Excerpted from the Philippine Economic Briefing
Macroeconomic Developments and the
Role Human Capital Development and Infrastructure, September 2015 (Manila, Philippines).
10 A new administrative regionthe Negros Island Region in the Visayaswas created through
Executive Order No. 183 dated
29 May 2015. This report, however, still show statistics relevant to this new region as part of
Region VIWestern Visayas.
11 2015 Philippine Statistical Yearbook. 1-18, 1-21 to 1-25.
9
Regio
n
Region I Ilocos Region
Region II Cagayan Valley
Region III Central Luzon
Region IV-A CALABARZON
Region IV-B MIMAROPA
Region V Bicol Region
Visayas
Region VI Western Visayas
Region VII Central Visayas
Region VIII Eastern Visayas
Mindanao
Region IX Western Mindanao
Region X Northern Mindanao
Region XI Davao Region
Region XII SOCCSKSARGEN
Region XIII CARAGA
CALABARZON = Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,
Mindanao
Both
Sexes
1,611,669
4,743,067
3,225,761
10,118,478
12,583,009
2,731,928
5,411,521
Mal
e
821,042
2,391,548
1,644,710
5,104,434
6,276,619
1,400,061
2,760,551
Female
790,627
2,351,519
1,581,051
5,014,044
6,306,390
1,331,867
2,650,970
7,089,739
6,784,538
4,089,734
3,597,923
3,426,307
2,101,108
3,491,816
3,358,231
1,988,626
3,397,838
4,284,594
4,452,549
4,103,105
2,424,788
3,248,787
1,732,132
2,183,786
2,278,648
2,098,776
1,245,268
1,614,598
1,665,706
2,100,808
2,173,901
2,004,329
1,179,520
1,634,189
Males Per
100
Females
103.
8
101.
104.
0
101.
99.
5
105.
104.
1
103.
0
102.
105.
104.
104.
0
104.
104.
7
105.
98.
Rizal, and Quezon Provinces; MIMAROPA = Mindoro, 8
Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan

Provinces; SOCCSKSKARGEN = South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General
Santos Provinces; CARAGA = Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Sur; ARMM
= Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Source: 2015 Philippine Statistical Yearbook.
2.1 Managing Urbanization

2.1.1 A Highly Urbanized Philippines
Up until the very early 2000s, the Philippines had one of the highest level
of urbanization among its neighboring Asian countries, with
approximately 48% of its total population reported as living in urban
areas. However, in 2003, the National Statistical Coordination Board
(NSCB) approved a new defnition of urban areas following a rigorous
review of the criteria which has been in use since 1970.12 With the new
defnition intended to improve the statistical measurement of urban
areas, a reduced but more
The new definition of an urban area is as follows: (i)
accurate
level
of
If a barangay (Filipino term for neighborhood, village,
urbanization
district or ward) has a population size of 5,000 or
in the country
more, then a barangay is considered urban, or (ii) If a
barangay has at least one establishment with a
was determined.
minimum of 100 employees, a barangay is considered
13
In 2007, as a
urban, or (iii) If a barangay has 5 or more
establishments with a minimum of 10 employees, and
result of the new
5 or more facilities within the two-kilometer radius
defnition, the NSCB
from the barangay hall, then a barangay is
reported that 37.6
considered urban.
Furthermore, all barangays
in the National Capital Region are automatically
million or 42.4% of
classified as urban and all highly urbanized cities
the country's total
would be subjected to the urban-rural criteria in
population were
order to determine its urban-rural classification.
residents of urban
areas, a level of
urbanization that was
signifcantly
lower
than the previously
reported 48%.
From 2007, the Philippines' level of urbanization increased to 45.3% in

2010. In 2014, the proportion of the Philippines' urban population to total
population was estimated by the United Nations to be 44%, still among
the highest in Southeast Asia, but behind countries like Indonesia
The old defnition of urban areas considered population density, street pattern, and presence of
establishments and facilities for basic services. A review of the criteria revealed that some of
them were no longer applicable, leading to the conclusion that there was a need to formulate a
more up-to-date, practical, and realistic defnition of urban areas in the Philippines. The new
defnition was approved and issued through NSCB Board Resolution No. 9, s 2003.
13 The new defnition revised the criteria for classifying a barangaythe smallest administrative
division in the Philippines and the
native Filipino term for a village, district or wardas urban or rural.
12
and Thailand. By 2050, the same UN forecast shows that the urbanization
level of the Philippines will reach 56%.14
2.1.2
Patterns and Trends of Urbanization: The

Continuing Primacy of
Metro Manila
Provinces, not the regions, constitute the primary political divisions in the
Philippines. They are further subdivided into cities and municipalities,
which in turn, are subdivided into barangays. As of June 2015, there
were 81 provinces; 144 cities; 1,489 municipalities; and 42, 029
barangays in the Philippines (Table 2-3).15
Table 2-3: Distribution of Provinces, Cities, and Municipalities in the
Philippines, By Region
Region
Provinces
Cities
Municipalities Barangays
PHILIPPINES
8
14
1,48
42,0
1
4
9
29
Luzon
0
16
1
1,70
6
6
2
75
1,17
6
Region I Ilocos Norte
4
9
11
3,26
6
5
5
4
89
2,31
1
7
14
11
3,10
6
2
5
18
12
4,01
4
1
5
2
71
1,45
9
6
7
10
3,47
7
1
Visayas
5
3
98
3,38
9
3
10
97
2,44
6
6
7
13
4,39
6
0
Mindanao
5
24
10
3,12
5
3
5
9
84
2,02
2
5
6
43
1,16
2
4
5
45
1,19
5
Region XIII - CARAGA
5
6
67
1,31
1
5
2
11
2,49
Mindanao
0
CALABARZON = Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon Provinces; 6
MIMAROPA = Mindoro,
Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan Provinces; SOCCSKSKARGEN = South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan
Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos Provinces; CARAGA = Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat
Islands, Surigao del Sur; ARMM = Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Source:
2015
Philippine
Statistical Yearbook.
Among the administrative regions, the NCR popularly known as Metro

Manila is the most urbanized with a 100% level of urbanization (Table
2-4). Metro Manila's 2010 total population of
11. 86 million 16 actually varies from
daytime to nighttime. At
but swells to 3.2 million in the daytime.17
daytime, its population is
Metro Manila's population density is
much larger because of the
huge
number
of
nonresidents
commuting
to
Metro Manila for work every
day. For instance, Makati
City
the
countrys
fnancial center, has a night
time population of 529,039
As of 2010, Metro Manila's

population has reached 11.9
million, catapulting it to the
world's top 20 megacities
defined as metropolitan areas
with a total population of over
10 million people. Its total
urban area encompassing the provinces in

Regions III and IV has an estimated total
population of 24.6 million in 2015, counting it
among the top five most populous urban
agglomerations in the world.
Sources: Philippines Statistics Authority, HUDCC
estimates.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Afairs, Population Division (2014). World
Urbanization Prospects: The
2014 Revision, Highlights (ST/ESA/SER.A/352). 241 (New York: United Nations, 2014) Annex,
Table 1.
15 2015 Philippine Statistical Yearbook. 19.
16 Philippine Statistics Authority. 2010 Census of Population and Housing: National Capital Region.
17 Comprehensive Land Use Plan of Makati 2013-2030.
14
19, 137 persons per km2. This is 62 times higher than the national
average of 308 persons per km2
(Table 2-5).
Table 2-4: Urban Population and Level of Urbanization, By Region:
2007 and 2010
Regio
n
Urban Population
200
201
Level of
200
201

Provinces; SOCCSKSKARGEN = South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos
Provinces; CARAGA = Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Sur; ARMM =
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Source: National Statistical Coordination Board/Philippine Statistical Authority, 2010.
Figure 2-1 illustrates the varying levels of urbanization in the

Philippines. Growing steadily over
the past two decades, Metro
Manilas
The number of informal settlers in Metro
urbanization has been quite
Manila has reached
556,526
sporadic
and
unplanned,
householdsabout
3.4
million people of which 18% or
resulting in poor services for
around
614,436 people are living in
managing
solid
waste,
disaster-prone
areas.
Households
with
wastewater,
air
quality,
shanties along major riverbanks, creeks and
other waterways in Metro Manila have
transportation, traffic and
been estimated at
other needs of a growing
60,130, equivalent to 360,780
urban population. Its rapid
people.
urban
growth
has
also
Source: MMDA Census,
2011.
resulted
in
the
social
exclusion of a
huge
number
of
informal settler families (ISFs) or low-income families that occupy vacant
lands, whether public or private, even in disaster-prone places like along
esteros18 and riverbanks or under the bridges since they cannot afford to
acquire a decent house. Their informal settlements have become
widespread in the metropolis. They have exploded in number and size
over the decades, that they have become a tremendous challenge in
PHILIPPINES
37,579,591
41,855,571
42.
45.
4
3
Luzon
11,566,325
11,855,975
100.
100.
0
0
298,138
424,771
19.
26.
6
3
520,071
600,945
11.
12.
4
7
268,478
373,407
8.
11.
8
6
4,685,251
5,232,569
48.
51.
3
6
6,404,376
7,256,882
54.
59.
5
7
465,040
612,615
18.
22.
2
3
647,814
831,380
12.
15.
7
3
Visayas
2,205,530
2,446,109
32.
34.
2
7
2,556,309
2,969,340
39.
43.
9
7
222,692
358,405
5.
8.7
7
Mindanao
1,026,456
1,156,754
31.
33.
8
9
1,512,087
1,773,032
38.
41.
3
3
2,254,933
2,649,039
54.
59.
2
3
1,645,509
1,911,253
43.
46.
0
5
Region XIII - CARAGA
731,182
446,246
17.
13.
7
7
569,399
666,849
24.
27.
CALABARZON = Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon Provinces; MIMAROPA
= Mindoro, 5
Mindanao
8
urban management and governance for national government agencies

(NGAs) and Metro Manila local governments.
To address the problem of informal settlements, Metro Manila local
governments have relocated their ISFs to suitable settlement sites in the
urban fringes of the NCR in the nearby provinces of Laguna and Bulacan.
However, the government has embarked on a Resettlement Program for
ISFs living in danger zones, giving priority to building housing units
within Metro Manila instead of embarking on off-city relocation. To
prevent professional squatters from taking advantage
18
Filipino word with Spanish origin used to call an estuary or inlet especially when marshy;
specifically, a tidal channel used as a drainage canal in populated districts.
Figure 2-1. Philippine Urban Population and Urbanization

Levels by Region
of the Government's fnancial aid, ISFs were registered using the

biometric listing/enrolment and registration of informal settler family's
instrument.
Table 2-5. Population and Density of Metro Manila Cities: 2000 and
2010
Region and City
9,932,560 1
1,581,082
1,177,604
472,780
444,867
338,855
278,474
391,170
379,310
230,403
449,811
354,908
505,058
57,40
7
2,173,831
117,680
467,375
485,433
Density
200
0
25
11,855,975
5
16,032
1,652,171
1,489,040
552,573
529,039
353,337
328,699
424,150
459,941
249,131
588,126
669,773
392,869
64,147
2,761,720
121,430
644,473
575,356
63,294
21,104
14,463
20,624
21,569
29,976
18,177
9,54
2
25,772
9,65
9
25,405
10,422
5,52
0
12,660
19,778
10,338
10,324
201
308
0
19,13
7
66,14
0
26,68
5
16,90
3
24,52
7
22,49
1
35,38
2
19,71
0
11,57
1
27,86
7
12,62
9
47,94
4
8,10
7
6,16
8
16,08
4
20,40
8
14,25
5
12,23
6
Source: 2015 Philippine Statistical Yearbook.

Note: Population counts for the cities/municipalities do not add up to the regional total with some numbers
still being disputed by Makati and
Taguig cities.
In addition, the rapid pace of Metro Manila's urbanization has placed too
much pressures on its transport infrastructure. The massive number of
daily commuters plying the roads and bridges of Metro Manila every day,
to go to work or transact business, has caused monstrous daily gridlocks
that cost the economy billions in productivity losses. As a measure to
decongest traffic and reduce the number of illegally operating passenger
and cargo vehicles, the MMDA implemented a Unifed Vehicular Volume
Reduction Program (UVVRP). The program also known as number coding
bans all public and private motor vehicles from plying the major
thoroughfares on weekdays, depending on the last digit of their vehicle
plate number, except during public holidays.
Other urban management problems have also surfaced. Improper solid
waste disposal as a pervasive urban problem is being addressed through
the National Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001. This law
compels all local governments to install infrastructure and facilities that
will promote solid waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. Following the
enactment of the solid waste management law, most cities in Metro
Manila installed their own solid waste management systems, while
sharing the use and management of sanitary landflls in San Mateo, Rizal
Province and Payatas, Quezon City.
However, the management of wastewater and sanitation in Metro Manila
continues to be a challenge. Of the 11.6 million people in Metro Manila,
Philippines
City of Manila
Calookan City
Las Pinas City
Makati City
Malabon
Mandaluyong City
Marikina City
Muntinlupa City
Navotas
Paraaque City
Pasay City
Pasig City
Pateros
Quezon City
San Juan
Taguig
Valenzuela City
Populati
200
201
76,506,928
92,337,852
0
0
only about 15% have access to fully piped sewerage; the remainder relies
on septic tanks or pit latrines; or even practice open defecation. Many of
the septic tanks are generally of poor construction. Many informal
settlements exist along waterways where there are no sanitary facilities
at all, and open defecation is practiced widely. Unserved populations are
still contributing many tons of pollution and pathogens to the surface and
ground waters every day, which fnd their way into drinking water
aquifers, Manila Bay, or the Laguna de Bay. While this is the grim reality
of domestic waste water practices in Manila, the problem is even worse
outside the metropolis. In other cities including fast urbanizing areas,
there
2.1.3
Internal Migration Patterns and Metro Manila PeriUrbanization
Urbanization remains uneven but is veering towards the fringes of Metro
Manilaa phenomenon called peri-urbanization. Proximate to Metro
Manila, the rapidly urbanizing and industrializing regions of
CALABARZON and Central Luzon continue to make the southern part of
Luzon the dominant part of the country. These two regions maintain a
close linkage with Metro Manila, transforming into major sources of
attractions for jobs, small enterprise development, and other livelihood
potential for urban migrants from other regions nationwide. Analysis of
the Philippines' historical internal migration pattern shows that
CALABARZON has become the destination of most urban migrants,
attracting 28%
The
population
distribution
of
the
of the total long-distance
Philippines which has tilted heavily toward
movers during the period
Metro Manila since the 1960s has changed. By
2005-2010with
a
2010, five decades later, the pattern of
signifcantly large proportion
population growth has shifted toward the
southern and northern fringes of Mero Manila.
coming from Metro Manila
Currently, the most populous region in the
(Figure 2-2). About 20%
Philippines is CALABARZON. Located just 70
favored Metro Manila while
kilometers south of Metro Manila, it has an
estimated
population
of
12.6
million,
13%
moved
to
Central
surpassing Metro Manila's 11.9 million. The
20
Luzon.
third largest region is Central Luzon, about
The
rapid
growth
of
100 kilometers north of Metro Manila, which
has 10.1 million.
CALABARZON and Central
Sources: Philippines Statistics Authority, Commission on
Luzon
demonstrates
the
Population.
impact of the development
strategy
to
further
industrialize regions outside
Metro Manila through free
port areas and
special
economic
zones on
urbanization. In Luzon, free ports and special economic zones were
established in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon which
constituted the CALABARZON region, and in Bulacan and Pampanga
which were located in the Central Luzon region.
is virtually no infrastructure for appropriate waste water treatment and

disposal.19 Makati is the only city in the NCR with a modern sewage
treatment plant, although it services only the commercial business
district (CBD) and the residential subdivisions of the city, not the 27
barangays outside the CBD. Quezon City, the largest city in the NCR has
a medium scale on-site septage treatment plant, installed with the
assistance of the private sector-operated water utility company, Manila
Water Incorporated. But the plant is only able to service one or two
barangays. Marikina City has also installed a decentralized wastewater
treatment system which uses DEWATS technology from Germany but
this, too, serves only a few households. The rest of Metro Manila does
not have a sewerage system nor a septage treatment plant for
wastewater disposal, posing serious environmental and public health
risks.
Internal migration from rural areas to the cities has become an important
factor in the Philippines' increasing level of urbanization, particularly in
regions closest to Metro Manila. Based on the 2000
Census on Population and Housing (CPH), the majority of internal
migrants were people in their prime ages, with 52% among those in the
working age 20-29. The female population appeared to be drawn to move
to urban areas in their earlier ages; 33.6% of female migrants in the 2029 age group migrated earlier compared to their male counterparts. In
the Philippines, migration is usually motivated by economic conditions
due to the lack of employment, and income as well as livelihood
prospects. Cases of prolonged and persistent mismatch between
educational attainment and available economic opportunities push more
migrants to the cities. This partly explains why young female migrants
tend to move earlier to the cities. With relatively lesser education and
skills, particularly in relation to agricultural activities, they are motivated
to respond to the high demand
Excerpted from the National Sewerage and Septage Management Program Full Report 2010.
Juan Antonio Perez III. Urban Demography PhilippinesA Presentation During the National
Urban Development and Housing Framework
Scoping Workshop. (Manila: Commission on Population, June 2015).
19
20
Figure 2-2. Philippine Internal Migration Pattern
2.2 Managing Urban-Rural Linkages

2.2.1 The Rural-Urban
Smaller Urban Centers
Continuum:
The
Growth
of
Urban and rural communities are essentially different but they are
interconnected through a continuum where structural shifts occur usually
slowly from rural to urban, as evidenced by the experience of many
developed countries. In the Philippines, the conditions and characteristics
that distinguish an urban from a rural community are clear, particularly
with the change in the defnition of an urban area by NSCB in 2003 (see
footnotes 12). With only 13.6% of total barangays classifed as urban and
urbanization level reduced to 45.3% from the higher rates before 2003,
less than two out of four persons were living in Philippine cities in 2010.
In this context, the movement of Philippine communities along the ruralurban continuum seem to have slowed down.
However, the interlinkages between urban and rural communities appear
to be at work in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, and other major urban
centers in the Philippines. For instance, many workers in these
metropolises are not native residents but are residents of rural
barangays, or of the peri-urban fringes where they live in either
temporary or cheaper accommodations. This migration pattern has
resulted in the growth of smaller towns and peri-urban areas, at rates
higher than the larger cities, transforming them into opportunities for
curbing the ecological and carbon footprints of the larger metropolitan
for domestic female helpers in the urban areas where the pressures of
urban life provide multiple challenges to urban families, prompting
their demand for outside support. Oftentimes, the decision of the
migrant is facilitated by existing social support and system in the
destination cities. Still, others migrate as a result of displacements due
to natural and environmental disasters. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo
in 2001, for example, forced millions of people out of their homes in
Central Luzon into informal settlements in Metro Manila. Others
migrated to other regions, even as far away as Mindanao. More recently
in 2013, super typhoon Yolanda devastated the Visayas regions,
particularly Eastern Visayas,
Migration in the Philippines tend to be
forcing survivors to migrate
selective of persons in the prime ages
to other
(52% among working age
regions.
The archipelagic
20-39). It is also highly selective of females
in the 20nature of the Philippines and
29 age group (33.6% of female migrants).
its vulnerability to natural
Migrants usually move as single or
disasters and climate change,
unmarried (46% of migrants).
Most of
them are at least high school graduate
heavily impacts the
(24%). At least 75% of find jobs in their
country's
areas of destination.
demographic
structure
Source: 2000 Census on Population and
particularly changes
Housing.
through changes in migration
patterns.
areas. They are smaller than the capital towns and the highly urbanizing
cities (HUCs) of the Philippines. These peri-urban areas are developing
into market towns and administrative centers with the potential to
transform into more inclusive, resilient and economically vibrant smaller
urban centers.
Small urban centers in the urban fringe of large metropolitan areas in the
Philippines are becoming a phenomena. These centers are evolving into critically
important venues for facilitating transactions and exchanges between rural and
urban communities. Rural communities depend on them for access to traders and
markets to enable them to dispose their agricultural products and access retail
stores and other facilities like schools, hospitals or even entertainment facilities like
movie houses located in these centers. Examples of small urban centers close to
Metro Manila include Cainta and San Mateo in Rizal; San Jose del Monte in Bulacan;
and Bian in Laguna. There are also examples in the Visayas and Mindanao regions
Tanuan in Leyte and Carcar in Cebu. These intermediate urban centers also
provide employment and small business opportunities for the rural population,
helping to ease migration pressures on the larger urban centers.
2.2.2 The Rural-Urban Migration: The Push-Pull Factors

Persist
It is envisaged that a reinvigorated agricultural sector encompassing not

just production, but processing and marketing as well, will encourage
rural people to stay and pursue farming-related economic activities. The
focus should also be on higher value crops and agribusiness ventures in
dairy, meat processing, fsh packaging, canning, and other related
industries. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) can
also boost the morale of farmers by facilitating cooperative farming and
the distribution agricultural products where the country has a
competitive advantage.
2.3 Addressing the Needs of the Youth

2.3.1
Youth Unemployment: A Major Cause for Concern
Young Filipinos form the base of the countrys population structure.

About 48.8 million or almost half of the total population are below 25
years old. About 30.7 million or 33.4% are below 15 years of age and 18.1
million or 19.6% fall between 15 to 24 years old. However, young people
also constitute 50% of the unemployed, which is estimated at 3.0 million
or 3.3% of the population in
2010. The lack of job and/or entrepreneurial opportunities has resulted in
millions of unemployed
youth. Statistics show that half of the total unemployed youth were
without work not only because of inadequate schooling but because of
lack of employment opportunities or slow entry or re-entry into the labor
market. These youth were either discouraged due to a real or perceived
lack of employment opportunities (i.e., they experienced or believed no
work was available) or they were awaiting the results of previous job
applications. Some of them were also waiting to be rehired by their
previous employers.
Youth unemployment can also be partly attributed to insuffcient
academic preparation due to weaknesses in the education system, such
as inadequate facility, poor instruction and outdated programs or
Development in the country has historically been inclined towards the

urban sector at the expense of the rural areas. This development pattern
has resulted in sluggish rural development, limiting the educational,
employment and residential prospects in these areas, pushing many to
migrate to the cities in search of better opportunities. Environmental
and political factors may also play a role in the decision to move as shown
earlier. This situation aggravated the pull factors which lure many
migrants into the cities in the hopes of improving their socioeconomic
conditions. 21Based on the National Census and Statistics Office (NCSO)
survey in 2008, the rural poor comprising about 42.5% of the country's
total population, outnumber the urban poor by more than double that of
the proportion of the urban poor (19.7%) to total population.
curricula. Of equal concern are high drop-out rate, low cohort survival
rate, high level of out-of-school youth and low achievement rate.22
2.3.2 The Urban Youth and the Growing Risks They

Confront
The key fndings of the 2013 Young Adult Fertility Study (YAFS4)
identified the primary non- sexual risk behaviors and sexual behaviours
confronted by the urban youth.23
Urban Demography PhilippinesA Presentation During the National Urban Development and
Housing Framework Scoping Workshop, 2015.
22 Department of Labor and Employment. Labor and Employment Plan: 2011-2016.
23 The Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality (YAFS) Study is a series of national surveys on the
Filipino youth, conducted since
1982 by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and the Demographic
Research and Development
Foundation.
21
For non-sexual risk behaviors, the YASF4 revealed that the incidence of
smoking, drinking, and drug use is higher in the urban areas, particularly
in Metro Manila, than in the rural areas. There are also signifcantly
more male youth who smoke and drink than the female youth.
For sexual behaviors, the study found that one in every three youth aged
15 to 24 years old has engaged in premarital sex, the number increasing
by more than 14% from almost 20 years ago. This translates to about 6.2
million youth
Prevalence of teenage fertility in females 15
who have engaged in sexual
to 19 years old has worsened, with those
intercourse
who have begun childbearing more than
before marriage. A narrowing
doubling in the past decade. From 4.4% in
2002, the percentage of females 15 to 19
of the gap in the number of
years old who are already mothers has
males and females who have
increased to 11% in 2013. From 1.9% in
engaged in premarital sex was
2002, the percentage of females 15 to 19
years old who are pregnant with their first
also observed: 35.5% of males
child has increased to 2.6% in 2013. From
and 28.7% of females in 2013,
6.3% in 2002, the percentage of females 15
from 26.1% of males and
to 19 years old who have begun childbearing
has increased to 13.6% in 2013.
One in
10.2% of females in 1994.
every three females aged 19 years old has
Metro Manila and Central
already begun childbearing.
Luzon
have
the
highest
prevalence of premarital sex
among the youth with 40.9%
and 39.1%, respectively. The
ARMM region has the
lowest prevalence with 7.7%.
About 78% of those who engaged in
premarital sex for the frst time were unprotected against the risk of
pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted infection (STI). There were 73.4%
of males and 83.8% of females who did not use any form of protection
during their frst sexual acts.
2.3.3 Initiatives for the Urban Youth: Capturing the

Demographic
Dividend
The demographic structure of the Philippines shows that it has a youth
bulgea demographic period in which the proportion of youth in the
population is signifcantly larger compared to other age groups, both
older and younger. In a country with a youth bulge, if the increase in the
The prevalence of smoking among the youth is highest in Metro Manila

(27%) and in the Central Luzon region (25%); and lowest in the ARMM
(12%) and SOCCSKSARGEN (12%) regions. Across the regions of the
Philippines, the prevalence of current drinking among the youth is also
highest in Metro Manila (56%). The Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas
regions follow (43% each). Drug use is less common compared to
smoking and drinking.
The YASF4 also showed a decrease in the
proportion of youth who used drugs in the past ten years. This decline is
more evident among the older rather than younger age cohorts, and
among males rather than females.
number of working age individuals can be fully employed in productive

activities, the level of average income per capita increases. In this case,
the youth bulge translates into demographic dividends. However, if a
large cohort of young people cannot find employment and earn
satisfactory income, the youth bulge may become a demographic bomb,
because a large mass of frustrated youth will likely be a potential source
of social and political instability.24 Earlier, it has been shown that the
country's population is predominantly young, with about 27.6% belonging
to the 15-29 years old age group. An additional 33.4% are below 15 years
old. This brings the share of the population below 30 years old to 60%.
Without suffcient investments in terms of education, employment and
healthcare, the country's vast population of young people will be
unproductive or unemployed. The result will be one big missed
opportunity for the Philippines to reap the potentially sizeable
demographic dividends from its youth bulge.
24
http://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/youth-bulge-a-demographic-dividend-or-ademographic-bomb-in-developing- countries.
Consequently, a number of programs and projects are being implemented

to address the needs of the youth to support their entry into productive
economic activities. First, to curb the increasing trend among rural youth
to migrate in large numbers to the cities, the MDG Fund 1942 devoted
resources on Alternatives to Migration:
Decent
Jobs
for
Filipino
Youth, a
The Alternative Learning System (ALS) is
project which aims to improve
a parallel
policy coherence
and
learning system in the Philippines that
provides a practical option to the existing
implement
youth
formal manner of instruction. It is designed
employment
as well as
to cater to Filipinos who do not have a
migration programs.
chance to attend and finish formal basic
education. It has two major programs, one is
A
most
helpful
the Basic Literacy Program and the other is
education program that has
the Continuing Education Program. Both
been designed for out- ofprograms are modular and fexible, which
school youth (OSY) and
means that learning can take place anytime
and in any place, depending on the
other
interested
convenience and availability of the learners
persons is the Alternative
Source:
Department
of
Learning System (ALS).
Education.
Projects
developed
by
Department of
Labor
and
Employment
(DOLE) that
are directly targeting the youth are the Youth Education-Youth
Employment (YE-YE) Program and Special Program for Employment of
Students (SPES). The project aims to (i) address the needs of the
disadvantaged youth to pursue an academic or technical-vocational, postsecondary course
towards
becoming more
The
YE-YE
is
a
project
that
employable
and
more
addresses the
productive
education-to-employment (E2E) needs of
members of the labor force; (ii)
the youth
which envisions them as educated,
support human capital build-up
endowed
with
proper
work
habits,
by providing the youth some
disciplined
and
highly
employable
workplace experience while
individuals.
studying; and (iii) develop
among the
youth proper work values and ethics through exposure to formal
workplace situations and challenges under responsible adult supervision.
These are to be achieved through apprenticeships and school to work
transition, among others.
The Modifed Conditional Cash Transfer
(MCCT) Program which provides cash grants to street and displaced
families has also been extended to include coverage of the 15- to 18-yearold children of registered households in urban communities.
To increase awareness on reproductive health and sexuality, the
Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (Republic Act
10354) requires age appropriate education to be included in formal and
non-formal education system from Grade Five up to Fourth Year High
School. The following topics are integrated in all relevant subjects: (i)
values formation; (ii) knowledge and skills in self-protection against
discrimination, sexual violence and abuse, and teen pregnancy; (iii)

physical, social, and emotional changes in adolescents; (iv) childrens and
womens rights; (v) fertility awareness; (vi) STI, HIV and AIDS; (vii)
population and development; (viii) responsible relationship; (ix) family
planning methods; (x) proscription and hazards of abortion; (xi) gender
and development; and (xii) responsible parenthood.
A landmark legislation is the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013

(Republic Act 10533) which extends formal education from 10 to 12
years, seeking to harness and hone the Philippines young and highly
trainable pool of human resource. By
The Youth Entrepreneurship Act aims
shifting from the ten-year basic
to
education cycle to
encourage the Youth to go into
the K-12 Basic Education Program and
business
for themselves as alternative to
increasing investments in education,
unemployment and
the country seeks to prepare students
underemployment.
for higher education, middle-level
skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship. Another
milestone is the Youth
Entrepreneurship Act (Republic Act No. 10679) which seeks to instill
business acumen among the youth by introducing entrepreneurship and
fnance subjects in the educational curriculum. It
mandates the development of entrepreneurship and financial literacy

modules for tertiary and postsecondary students. It puts in place
fnancing and grants to provide the necessary support for young
entrepreneurs.
2.4.1
Safeguarding the Older Persons
The aging population of the Philippines is low but slowly growing. In

2010, Filipinos aged 60 and older accounted for 6.8% of the population,
which remained almost unchanged since 2000. In line with the principle
that older persons constitute a valuable and important component of a
societys human resources, the Philippines has instituted policies that aim
to assist older persons to enhance their productivity. These policies are
driven mainly by the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003 a social
protection legislation intended for older Filipinos to provide them with
benefts and privileges such as the grant of 20% discount on medicine,
transportation and other services. The law also exempts them from
paying value-added tax (VAT).
To ensure their right to a proper place in society and to make this the
concern of the family, community and government, the law requires the
public agenda on housing, employment, and health, among others, to
include their interests and well-being.
2.4.2
Protecting Persons with Disabilities
Persons with disability (PWDs) are also protected by the law. In 2010, it
was estimated that 16 persons per thousand of the countrys
population had disability. The National Council on Disability Affairs
(NCDA), the latest iteration in a succession of government agencies
established since 1987, is tasked to formulate policies and coordinate the
activities of all agencies concerning disability issues and concerns. It
monitors the implementation of relevant laws to ensure the protection of
differently-abled persons. Most prominent of these laws is Republic Act
7277 of
1992, known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons. Expanded in
2006, the Magna Carta for
Disabled Persons extended a host of incentives and privileges to PWDs,
similar to those extended to senior citizens such as discounts on medical
and dental services, transportation, and tax incentives. Moreover, the law
penalizes public ridicule and vilifcation of PWDs. Equally important is the
state's commitment to ensure that PWDs are provided with access to
quality education and suffcient opportunities to develop their skills. The
law also stipulates that no disabled person shall be denied access to
opportunities for suitable employment.
2.4 Protecting the Rights of Disadvantaged

and
Vulnerable Groups
2.4.3
Responding to the Needs of Indigenous Peoples
The National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was created in

1997 to implement the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA). The most
recent estimates of NCIP estimate that there are about 12 to 15 million
Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the Philippines.25 They are mainly
concentrated in Northern Luzon (in the Cordillera Administrative Region,
33%) and in Mindanao (61%), with some groups found in the Visayas
area. All through the years, the IPs have felt neglected, claiming that
their existence as cultural communities is continually threatened by
government development projects and by non-indigenous groups who
encroach into their territories. Another law that was
Jacqueline K. Cario. IFAD Country Technical Notes on Indigenous Peoples Issues: Republic of
the Philippines (2012).
https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/0c348367-f9e9-42ec-89e9-3ddbea5a14ac.
25
More than a decade after the implementation of IPRA, there are many
subsectoral and crosscutting issues involving IPs that remain
unresolved. They include the following: (i) protection and sustainable
development of ancestral domains and land and natural resources, (ii)
strengthening of IP's self-determination, (iii) protection and promotion of
their social justice and human rights, and (iv) and the protection and
preservation of their culture, tradition, and institutions. The resolution of
issues is a priority concern of the Indigenous People's Master Plan 20112016.
2.4.4
Preventing Child Labor
An appalling revelation about the youth came from a survey conducted

by the NSO and ILO in
2011. The survey reported that Filipino children were engaged in the
worst forms of child labor, including hazardous activities in agriculture
and domestic service. About 3.1 million children are engaged in child
labor, of which 2.99 million works in hazardous labor.26 The Philippine
Program against Child Labor (PPACL), launched by DOLE in 2007, works
to transform the lives of child laborers, their families, and communities,
towards their sense of self-worth, empowerment and development. It is a
network of mutually enabling social partners, works towards the
prevention and progressive elimination of child labor through protection,
withdrawal, healing and reintegration of child workers into a caring
society.
The PPACL works towards the prevention and progressive elimination of
child labor by: (i) establishing a functional multi-level information system;
(ii) strengthening strategic partnerships at all levels; (iii) improving
access to quality and integrated services such as livelihood,
entrepreneurship, health, education and training programs; (iv)
mainstreaming child labor agenda in development policies and
programs at all levels; and (v) strengthening enforcement and
compliance with relevant laws and policies.
2.5 Mainstreaming Gender in Urban

Development
2.5.1 Global Recognition in Gender Equality
passed to protect IPs is the National Integrated Protected Areas (NIPAS).

However, problems have arisen due to overlapping claims based on the
IPRA and the NIPAS. In 2007, eforts to clarify issues by harmonizing the
IPRA with existing laws on protected areas and ancestral domains were
initiated. The IPRA allows IPs to claim and delineate areas as their
ancestral domains, where they are free to live according to their cultural
traditions. These areas should be delineated in the land use plans of local
governments and accorded certain privileges such as (i) exemption from
real property taxes, and (ii) respect for the right of IP communities to
self-governance and self- determination within such areas.
In the feld of gender equality, the country has achieved remarkable

progress globally. In 2015, it ranked seventh (7th) in the Global Gender
Gap Index (GGGI) of the World Economic Forum and was the only Asian
country to be included in the top ten. It is the only country in the Asia
Pacifc region that has fully closed the gender gap in education and
substantively defied inequality in health, attaining frst rank in the areas
of Education Attainment and Health and Survival (Life Expectancy).
National Statistics Ofice and International Labour Organization. 2011 Survey on Children:
Preliminary Results.
26
2.5.2
Persistence of Gender Problems Amid

Accomplishments
In addition, new laws have been enacted to promote gender equality in

the country which could serve as guide in developing an efective and
gender-responsive urban development agenda. They include: (i) the Solo
Parents Act, (ii) the Anti-Rape and Rape-Victim Assistance and RapeVictim Assistance and Protection Act, (iii) the Anti-Violence against
Women and their Children Act, (iv) Anti-Sexual Harassment Act; (v) the
Anti-Human Trafficking Act; and (vi) Lactating Corners Act, among
others.
2.6 Challenges Experienced and

Lessons Learned
2.6.1 Rapid Urbanization and Its Unintended
Consequences
The Philippines, an archipelagic country in the western Pacifc Ocean,
has continued to rapidly grow and urbanize in the last 20 years,
transforming its national capital region (more popularly known as Metro
Manila) and its peripheries into one of the world's ten most populous
urban agglomerations. About 11. 6 million people or 28% of the urban
population now live in the thriving metropolis of Metro Manila. But its
growth and level of urbanization have also exacerbated the inadequacies
of its urban infrastructure and services, problems with environmental
pollution and congestion, and residential overcrowding visibly manifested
by the proliferation of informal settlements deeply affected by urban
poverty.
2.6.2
Migration in the Philippines: Spurring
Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No.

9710, 2010).
27

May 2016
Page |
18
However, gender issues are still prevalent among Filipino women,

particularly urban womena circumstance which hinders their
productivity and empowerment, and eventually their development. The
Philippine Commission on Women is the government agency that
champions women empowerment and gender equality in the Philippines.
As the overall monitoring body and oversight agency to ensure the
implementation of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW), the commission
ensures that gender is mainstreamed in the political, economic and
societal spheres, and that women are able to actively participate in,
contribute to, and beneft equally with men in the holistic development of
the nation, 27including urban development. Likewise, the Housing and
Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) is mandated by the
MCW to ensure the full participation and involvement of women in urban
development, and to facilitate access to basic services, facilities,
employment, and livelihood opportunities responsive to their needs,
especially to women belonging to the marginalized sectors.
Growth, Urbanization and Urban Sprawl

An industrial-driven growth strategy through the establishment of free
port areas and special economic zones outside Metro Manila has pushed
and pulled many urban migrants into the nearby regions of
CALABARZON and Central Luzon. As a result, these two regions have
become the fastest growing in the Philippines, with a combined urban
population that exceeds that of Metro Manila. Rural-to-urban migration,
while slowing down, continues to be the primary driver of urbanization
and urban sprawl in the country. Young people, both male and female,
mostly in their prime ages, are choosing to move, live, and work in the
cities or at their fringes due to various push and pull factors relating to
employment and income as well as livelihood opportunities.
Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No.

9710, 2010).
27

May 2016
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19
2.6.3
The Philippines' Youth Bulge: Dividend or Bomb?
2.6.4 Protecting the Rights of the Vulnerable and

Disadvantaged
Older persons, PWDs, and IPs have rights that must be protected through
appropriate social welfare programs. Children today are facing
tremendous pressures and risks. Out-of-school youth need sustainable
targeted fnancial assistance that will help them with their educational
needs to alleviate the risks they confront with hazardous jobs in
agricultural production and domestic services. Gender mainstreaming as
a process must continue to minimize the risk women face in the urban
setting, particularly in the workplace.
2.7 Future Challenges and Issues That Can

Be Addressed by a New Urban Agenda
The urban demographics of the Philippines pose future challenges and
issues that should provide the cornerstone for a New Urban Agenda.
They are briefly discussed below.
2.7.1 Investing in People, Capturing the Youth Dividend

The New Urban Agenda of the Philippines for the 21st century should
serve as a prominent guidepost for developing the youth, in recognition
of the country's window of demographic dividend. The Filipino people,
particularly the youth, will be instrumental in enabling the Philippines to
achieve a sustainable urban development that can drive its transition to a
higher middle income country. One of the key challenges of the
Philippines is how to build the capacity and life skills of its people,
particularly its relatively young population, on how to become productive
members of a fast modernizing urban economy that efectively links to the
rural sector.
2.7.2 Pursuing a More Spatially and Regionally Balanced

Development
May 2016
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19
The Philippines with about 27.6% of its population belonging to the 15-29
years old age group has a predominantly young population. This youth
bulge offers the Philippines a window of demographic dividend which can
support a sustained annual GDP growth rate that can catapult the
Philippines into a higher-middle income status country. Without the
necessary investment in education, and technical as well as life skills
development for the youth, the country's vast population of young
people will end up becoming unproductive or unemployed. The result
will be one big missed opportunity for the Philippines to reap the
potentially sizeable demographic dividends. Worse, the country can be
confronted by a demographic bomb, with a large mass of frustrated youth
engaged in urban crimes or causing social and political instability.
The distribution of economic development has been uneven so far. This

induces migration toward the faster growing regions, away from the
slower growing ones. The New Urban Agenda needs to facilitate the
formulation and implementation of spatially linked regional and local
urban development strategies that allows a more balanced growth among
the regions, based on their unique regional or local competitive
advantages, and taking into account the archipelagic structure of the
Philippines. These strategies should be supportive of eficient rural-urban
linkages, encouraging trade, connectivity, and mutually benefcial
partnerships.

May 2016
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20
2.7.3 More Effective Gender Mainstreaming in Urban

Development
2.7.4
Safeguarding the Vulnerable and Disadvantaged
Budget support for targeted subsidies that beneft the older persons,
PWDs, IPs, children, and women will continue to be necessary. But they
will have to be supplemented by innovative fnancing mechanisms
involving the private sector and civil society organizations to be
sustained. Gender must be mainstreamed in the area of employment. The
social protection needs of women must also be addressed by establishing
a one-stop mechanism that facilitates their access to social protection
services. Social safety nets and labor market intervention for women are
also necessary, especially for jobs in the urban centers with attractive pay
and benefts. This will reduce the need for them, especially the mothers
of young children, to leave the country and work in high risk jobs.
2.7.5 Developing Improved Capacity for Urban

Demography
The systematic study of urban demography in the Philippines is
constrained by limited resources and capacity. Urban population data are
no longer published as part of the yearly statistics, there are no
mechanisms for monitoring urban population movements, and there
are no recent quantitative studies on internal migration that should feed
into development planning and policy making. The New Urban Agenda
for the Philippines for the 21st century must recognize that accurate,
available and reliable urban population statistics are vital to sustainable
urban development planning.

May 2016
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21
Considering the trend that there are more female rather than male in the
Philippines' highly urbanized regions, there is signifcant untapped
potential for women to play key roles in urban development that has long
been overlooked. Many of the past and present trends in urban planning
and development reflect only the male perspective, regarding the role of
women as mere primary caregivers. Urban infrastructure and the built
environment needs to be designed such that they promote gender
equality and inclusiveness in the use and benefts of urban space.
Womens participation is essential for this endeavor to succeed. 28
Monika Jaeckel and Marieke van Geldermalsen. Gender Equality and Urban Development:
Building Better Communities for All in Global
Urban Development Magazine, March 2006. www.globalurban.org
28

May 2016
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22
Land and Urban Planning:

Issues and
Agenda
The Philippines has a well-defned framework for land and urban

planning. At the national level, the Philippine Development Plan (PDP)
provides the blueprint for formulating policies and implementing
programs to pursue rapid and sustainable economic growth and
development, empower the poor and marginalized, and enhance social
cohesion. Simultaneously, a national framework for
physical
planning
The Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016
(NFPP) shapes the allocation,
adopts a framework of inclusive growth,
use and
which is high growth that is sustained,
management of the countrys
generates mass employment, and reduces
poverty. With good governance and antiland and other
physical
corruption as the overarching themes of
resources.
These
plans
each
and every intervention, the Plan
complement
each
other,
translated into specific goals, objectives,
strategies, programs and projects.
anchored on the shared vision
and principles of pursuing
growth and development.
At the municipal and city levels, the Local Government Code (LGC),
enacted in 1991 and considered a groundbreaking legislation on
Philippine decentralization,29 mandates the preparation of a local
Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). The CDP is a multisectoral plan
embodying the vision, sectoral goals, objectives, and medium-term
development strategies and policies of a city or municipality. It contains
the corresponding actions which form the basis for local investment
programming, as well as the subsequent budgeting and implementation
of identified programs and projects in the locality. 30 In addition to
the CDP, the LGC prescribes the formulation of a Comprehensive
Land Use Plan (CLUP), to be enacted through zoning ordinances, in order
to rationalize the use of land resources in each city or municipality. It is a
ten- year spatial plan that delineates what type of development and
where it should take place. Consistent with the spatial strategy found in
the CLUP, a medium-term and multi-sectoral plan embodying the vision,
goals, objectives and development strategies of a local government unit
(LGU) is articulated in the CDP. It contains the corresponding actions
which form the basis for local investment programming, budgeting, and
implementation. LGUs are required to develop both plans and ensure
these are consistent with the national and sub-national development
goals. Figure 3-1 summarizes the hierarchy and interrelationships of
physical and sectoral planning in the Philippines at the national, regional,
and local levels.
May 2016
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23
In addition, a National Urban Development and Housing Framework

(NUDHF), stipulated by the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA)
of 1992, lays out the national vision and guiding principles as well as
strategic thrusts
The NUDHF 2009-2016 developed in
for
a
sustainable
housing
accordance
and
with UDHA updates the 1999-2004
version.
It
focuses
on
urban
competitiveness and poverty reduction,
housing
affordability
and
delivery,
development
and
management
of
sustainable
communities,
and
performanceoriented governance.
The passage of the Local Government Code of the Philippines, also known as Republic Act No.
7160, was hailed as a major step in decentralization. It paved the way for increased local
autonomy, expenditure responsibility and revenue authority. Under the code, the major
responsibility for the delivery of basic social services were devolved to the local governments.
30
Republic of the Philippines. DILG-NEDA-DBM-DOF Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1
Series of 2007 on Guidelines on the
Harmonization of Local Planning, Investment Programming, Revenue Administration,
Budgeting and Expenditure Management. (Manila,
Philippines), 2.
29

May 2016
Page |
24
urban
development sector. The
NUDHF
is prepared by the
Housing
and
Land
Use
Regulatory
Board
(HLURB)
under the direction
of the
Housing and
Urban
Development Coordinating
Council
(HUDCC), the sector's overall oversight agency, with the participation of

the local governments, the private sector, and civil society organizations
(CSOs). At the local level, CLUPs are prepared in accordance with the
NUDHF as embodied in the guidelines of the HLURB.
Figure 3-1. Hierarchy and Interrelationships of Planning in the
Philippines
Investment
Program
Budget
Implementation
Sectoral
Nation
al
NFP
P
MTPD
P
MTPI
P
Budg
et
PPAs
Region
al
RFP
P
RD
P
RDIP
Provinc
ial
PFP
P
PD
P
PDI
P
Budg
et
PPAs
CCLUP/CD
P
CDI
P
Budg
et
PPAs
MCLUP/MD
P
MDI
P
Budg
et
BCLUP/BDP
BDIP
City/
Municipa
lity
Baranga
y*
PPAs
Budget
PPAs
Source: Corpuz, 2013 * Barangay level added to fully illustrate the actual planning process
followed at the local level. BCLUP = Barangay Comprehensive Land Use Plan; BDIP =
Barangay Development Investment Program; BDP = Barangay Development Plan; CDIP = City
Development Investment Program; CDP= Comprehensive Development Plan; CCLUP =
City Comprehensive Land Use Plan; MCLUP = Municipal Comprehensive Land Use Plan; MDIP =
Municipal Development
Investment Program; MDP = Municipal Development Plan; MTPDP = Medium Term Philippine
Development Plan; MTPIP
= Medium Term Public Investment Program; NFPP = National Framework for Physical
Planning; PFPP = Provincial
Framework for Physical Planning; PDP = Provincial Development Plan; PDIP = Provincial
Development Investment Program; PPAs = Programs, Plans and Actions; RFPP = Regional
Framework for Physical Planning; RDIP = Regional Development Investment Program; RDP =
Regional Development Plan
3.1 Ensuring Sustainable Urban Planning and

Design
The National Government, through the Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG) and the HLURB, works with local governments in
formulating and implementing the CDP and CLUP. Amid the country's
growing population, emerging new demands on land, rapidly expanding
Planning
Physical
cities, and increasing threats from climate change, never have the tasks
of preparing and implementing the CDPs and CLUPs been more pivotal to
sustainable urban development.
3.1.1 Shifting to More Strategic and Innovative CDPs and

CLUPs
Despite the LGC and UDHA stipulations that local governments prepare a
CDP and CLUP, a recent study underscored that too often, most planning
in the Philippines lacks a strategic direction and a long-term vision. Too
often boiler plate plans were produced,31 while the horizon for the CDPs
always seemed too short, seldom incorporating strategic thinking, often
ending as a wish list of unfunded investment projects.32 This can be
traced partly to the 3-year term limit of local
This refers to some LGUs' practice of reusing their old CDPs and CLUPs and passing them
of as the new ones with a few updates and very little substantive changes.
32 ICF International. Developing a National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy for the
Philippines: Comprehensive Assessment Report.
Submitted to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the World Bank.
(Manila, Philippines: 2014), 75.
31
politicians who are tasked to approve the plans. The desire to deliver the
most tangible, easiest to implement projects frst in the least possible
time, with the view to getting re-elected, contributes to this shortsightedness. Against this background and additional concerns pointing to
the limited creativity and innovations in the local plans being produced,
DILG and HLURB are continuously refning and revising the set of
planning policies and guidelines for the CDPs and CLUPs.
In 2013, HLURB revised the CLUP guidelines

further to mainstream
climate
change
adaptation and disaster risk reduction and
the growing demand for the integration of
planning for critical
resources such as
upland,
coastal,
ancestral
domain,
biodiversity
areas,
heritage
and
urban
greening.
Source: 2013 CLUP Guidebook,
HLURB.
CLIP Preparation, Volume

2:
A Guide to Sectoral
Studies
in
the
CLUP
Preparation, Volume 3: A
Guide to Data Management
in
the
CLUP
Preparation,
Volume
4:
Planning Strategically, and
Volume 5: Model Zoning
Ordinance.
For the CDPs, the Rationalized Local Planning System (RPS) Sourcebook
was developed and launched in 2008 by DILG 33 to assist local
governments with more innovative local planning.
To
operationalize the RPS, the DILG also formulated the Enhanced Guide to
Comprehensive Land Use Planning (CDP) for LGUs. As a reference, the
Guide offers procedures, tools and techniques designed to respond to the
varying capabilities of local governments in local comprehensive
planning. It contains four volumes: Volume 1: Organizing and Mobilizing
the Planning Structure, Volume 2: Preparing the CDP, Volume 3:
Implementing the CDP, and Volume 4: Plan Monitoring and Evaluation. 34
In Metro Manila, with the support of the Metro Manila Council members led by the
Mayors, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has spearheaded a
strategic planning process called the Metro Manila Greenprint 2030, which seeks to
address the challenges that impede development of the metropolis and make Metro
Manila cities more competitive, resilient and inclusive in the coming decades. The
Greenprint 2030 will provide metropolitan wide spatial guidance, demonstrate
coordination mechanisms, and identify areas for catalytic investments. It goes
beyond the trees and open spacesGreenprint encompasses eficient transportation,
affordable housing, and more resilient infrastructure. It emphasizes sustainable
urban development as the underlying principle across the three themes of
Planning Strategically was developed by HLURB in 2001 as a guide to

assist LGUs in preparing more responsive CLUPs using strategic thinking
and processes. Intended for use in planning for highly urbanized or
rapidly urbanizing areas, Planning Strategically was envisioned as the
primary tool for facilitating better application of the remaining 10volume HLURB planning guidelines. In 2006, HLURB updated these
guidelines as part of a continuing program to streamline the CLUP
preparation process, integrate environmental guidelines, facilitate crosssectoral integration in the planning process, standardize the formats
used, and incorporate information, education, and communication for
implementation and monitoring. The 2006 CLUP guidelines comprised
fve volumes:
Volume 1:
A Guide to
inclusivity, connectivity, and resiliency.

Source: MMDA
3.1.2 Harmonizing the Vertical and Horizontal Planning

Processes of Local
Development Plans
In a major policy initiative, DILG and HLURB issued Joint Memorandum
Circular (JMC-001 S.
2009) to harmonize the preparation of the CDP and the CLUP by the local
governments. Through
Under Memorandum Circular No. 2008-156.
The issuance of both the RPS and the Enhanced Guide to CDP comes in the context of JMC
No.1 s. 2007 which was signed
by the DILG with NEDA, DBM and
DOF.
33
34
A tool to be introduced in the updated JMC 2 is the CDP Review Guide

which intends to review CDP preparation of the component cities and
municipalities and its linkages to the Provincial Development and
Physical Framework Plan of the province. This will ensure plan
complementation and augmentation thereby promoting the eficient use
of limited resources. Another tool is the Resource Mobilization Plan
Manual which intends to guide LGUs on how they will fund the priority
programs in the CDP and the CLUP. The second JMC will also update the
Synchronized Local Planning and Budgeting Calendar (SLPBC) to ensure
that the plan links efectively to the LGU's budget. The SLPBC helps to
earmark the corresponding budgetary requirements for implementation
continuity
and
sustainability
through the
prescribed
three-year Local Development Investment
Program (LDIP), in addition to the Annual Investment Program (AIP), as
basis for the LGUs Annual Budget Document. The mechanism will
include questions on whether the CDP was anchored on the CLUP and
provincial development goals including the mainstreaming of climate
change adaptation and mitigation and DRRM local plans. It will also
assess whether the Local Development Investment Program (LDIP) and
the Annual Investment Program (AIP) were formulated in accordance
with the CDP. At the national level, the NUDHF guides the entire land
and urban planning process.
3.1.3
Integrating Climate Change Adaptation and

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
The Philippine archipelago is considered one of the most disaster prone

in the world. Based on the United Nations Offce for Disaster Risk
Reduction Report, The Human Cost of Weather Related Disaster Report
1995-2015, the Philippines was fourth in the world among countries hit
by disasters in terms of number of affected people in the last 20 years. An
estimated 70% of cities in the Philippines are coastal and vulnerable to
environmental hazards. Millions of ISFs reside in urban areas along
dangerous coastal zones, landslide- and earthquake-prone areas, and
waterways. As one of the countries located in the Pacifc Ring of
Fire, 35 the metropolitan centers of the Philippines, particularly Metro
Manila with its dense and huge urban population, have become highly
vulnerable to climate change induced natural disasters such as droughts
this efort, the points of convergence of strategies for spatial and multisectoral planning were established. The policy also delineated the
institutional mandate and roles of DILG and HLURB in the provision of
technical assistance to the LGUs and in the issuance of guidelines in the
preparation of their local development and land use plans. The DILG is
currently developing tools to strengthen the vertical and horizontal
linkages of local plans and budget through Joint Memorandum
Circular 2007-01also known as JMC 1 or Guidelines on the
Harmonization of Local Planning, Investment Programming and Revenue
Administrationwhich was issued with the three other oversight
agencies (NEDA, DBM and DOF). A second JMC (JMC 2) for this purpose
is intended to be issued in 2016 with additional updates and tools.
more severe with each El Nio episode, and massive flooding

destructive with each La Nia event.36
more
In response to Ondoy and other disasters, the Philippine Climate Change

Act of 2009 was enacted by the Philippine Congress to create a Climate
Change Commission tasked with formulating, implementing and
monitoring plans to better prepare for and respond to climate change
impacts. Subsequently, the National Framework Strategy on Climate
Change 2010-2022 was approved
The Pacifc Ring of Fire represents the arc around the Pacific Ocean within which volcanoes,
earthquakes, and other natural hazards exist.
36 GHK Consulting Ltd. 2nd Wave: Design Work Socialized Housing and Livelihood Support and
Land Use Planning Components for Taguig
City Building the Resilience and Awareness of Communities in Metro Manila to the Impacts
of Natural Disasters and Climate Change.
Submitted to the Australian Agency for International Development. (Manila, Philippines: 2010),
1-4.
35
paving the way for

the formulation of the
National
Climate
Change
Adaptation
Plan (NCCAP) and
Local
Climate
Change
Adaptation
Plans
(LCCAPs).
The Philippine
Congress
also
passed the Disaster
Risk Reduction and
Management (DRRM)
Act in 2010.
The
National Disaster
Risk Reduction and
Management
Framework and Plan
guides
the
preparation of
local
the National Economic
In September 2009, tropical storm Ondoy (international

code name Ketsana) hit the Philippines. The intense
volume and prolonged duration of its rainfall exceeded
the carrying capacity of Marikina River and Laguna
Lake, generating unprecedented and widespread
fooding in the cities comprising Metro Manila and its
neighboring Rizal and Laguna provinces. Results of the
Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) confirmed the
staggering damage and losses inficted by the two
typhoons, reaching nearly 2.7% of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). The housing sector sufered massively.
The typhoons left about 220,000 homes completely
destroyed or partially damaged by the foodwaters in
Metro Manila and across Luzon. Hundreds of thousands
of people lost their homes and their sources of
livelihood.
Source: Report of Government of the
Philippines.
DRRM programs and plans. In 2012,

Development Authority (NEDA)
issued the Guidelines on Mainstreaming DRRM in SubNational Planning.
Despite the massive gains achieved, Typhoon Yolanda (international

code Name
Haiyan) considered the deadliest Philippine typhoon
recorded in modern historystill caused catastrophic destruction in the
Visayas. Cities were not spared particularly in Samar and Leyte, Cebu,
Capiz, Negros, and Iloilo. According to the National Disaster Risk
Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC), 16.1 million people were
affected,37 with many left homeless. Typhoon Yolanda emphasized the
reality of climate change and its adverse impacts on the Philippines;
accentuating further the need to incorporate CCA and DRRM in local
planning. In 2014, HLURB approved and issued the "The Supplemental
Guidelines on Mainstreaming Climate Change and Disaster Risk in the
Comprehensive Land Use Plans." These guidelines were hailed by the
Philippine Climate Change Commission as the frst planning document of
its kind in Southeast Asia. They paved the way for integrating
appropriate interventions for climate change adaptation (CCA) into
the CLUPs. Understanding the potential risks and vulnerabilities of their
localities allowed the LGU decision- makers and stakeholders to
make more informed
and
meaningful
development.
decisions
about
their
DILG, for its part, issued
Memorandum
local goals, strategies,
Circular 2015-77 which
provided
the
and land use policy
guidelines
formulation
and
The
2014
supplemental
guidelines
issued
by
HLURB for
mainstreaming
CCA and
DRRM in the preparation
of CLUPs established a
deeper understanding of
natural hazards, in terms
of frequency of occurrence and magnitude, as well as

climate change impacts that may affect the local
territory. They facilitated planning to address local
vulnerabilities; and informed on the magnitude of
risks involved in order to identify the pressing and
potential development issues and challenges facing
Philippine cities and municipalities.
Progressive minded local governments have also launched innovative

means to adopt green building technologies, heritage conservation, and
environmental governance as part of their CCA and DRRM initiatives.
Increasingly, they are also asking private sector and civil society groups
to participate more actively in the preparation of CLUPs.
37
Update on the Final Report on Effects of Typhoon Yolanda, November 6-9, 2013.
for Mainstreaming DRR/CCA in the Comprehensive Development Plans

(CDP). Another issuance, Joint Memorandum Circular 2015-01 with DB
and CCC, directed LGUs to tag local expenditures allotted for climate
change interventions.
3.2 Improving Urban Land Management

3.2.1 Addressing the Inefficiencies of the Urban Land
Market
In the Philippines, land has been the subject of a multiplicity of inconsistent laws,
regulations, processes, and standards, and has been managed by overlapping
institutions with limited collaboration.
Land information, unsurprisingly, has
been neglected such that about 45% of the country's 24.2 million land parcels
remain untitled (of which about 70%, or 7.8 million, are residential). Duplication
of functions impacts almost all components of land administration including
surveying and mapping, land classification, land titling, transfers of title, land
information and records, land taxation, and land valuation. The primary executing
agency is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, especially the
Land Management Bureau, which conducts land classifcation and land titling.
However, other key players include the National Mapping and Resource
Information Authority; the Land Registration Authority, especially the Registry of
Deeds; the Department of Agrarian Reform; the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples; the Courts; the Department of Finance, in particular the
Bureau of Local Government Finance; and the Assessor's Ofce in the LGUs at
provincial, city, and municipal levels.
Source: Building Modern Land Administration Systems, ADB Knowledge Showcases, April 2015. Issue 62.
To some extent, the availability of urban land has been affected by the
need to balance demand with concerns for food security and equitable
land distribution. The peri-urbanization of Metro Manila and the other
HUCs in the Visayas and Mindanao has put pressure on the use of
alienable and disposable land entailing the conversion of large tracts of
agricultural land into urban residential land. But while the LGC
authorizes cities and municipalities to reclassify agricultural lands into
non-agricultural uses, the process can be tedious and time consuming.
HLURB's guidelines clarify that cities and municipalities with approved
The demand for urban land far outstrips supply in the Philippines. Access
to affordable, well located, and suitable urban land has been severely
constrained by several weaknesses in land use policy, administration and
management that adversely affect the eficiency of the urban land
markets. The key constraints include: (i) unclear and inconsistent land
policies; (ii) a weak land administration infrastructure; (iii) highly
politicized land and tax system; (iv) an inadequate agrarian land reform
program; and (v) a defcient housing development program. One of the
main bottlenecks encountered in accelerating the urban land
development process has been the tedious, time consuming, and costly
maze of regulations which developers, including those engaged in
socialized housing, have to surmount. Convoluted titling and registration
processes lacked an eficient mechanism for resolving urban land
disputes and fail to generate reliable information needed by the courts
to hear and settle land cases expeditiously. 38 These shortcomings
compromised everyday transactions in the urban land market, drove up
the costs of land, and undermined confdence in land titling. The offshoot
has been the artifcial shortage of urban landexacerbating the high
cost of land, making housing even more unaffordable to the urban poor
who due to their poverty had low already suffered from low housing
affordable limits.
CLUPs may authorize the reclassifcation of agricultural only when (i) the
land ceases to be economically feasible for agricultural purposes as
determined by the Department of Agriculture (DA); and (ii) when the land
shall have substantially greater economic value for residential,
commercial, and industrial purposes. Agricultural land covered under the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) cannot be reclassifed
and for the purpose of reclassifcation, a certifcation that the land is not
covered by CARP is required from the Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR).39
GHK Consulting Ltd. Urban Land Reform Conference Proceedings: Accelerating Pro-Poor
Housing through Rights-Based Secure Tenure.
Appendix 12 in Final Report. ADB TA 4293 Philippines Capacity Building for Housing
Microfinance. 2009.
39 Memorandum Circular No. 54. Offce of the President. Prescribing the Guidelines Governing
Section 20 of RA 7160 Otherwise Known
as the Local Government Code of 1991 Authorizing Cities and Municipalities to Reclassify
Agricultural Lands into Non-Agricultural Uses. 1993.
38
Source: Department of Agrarian Reform.
Without more alienable and disposable land being made available, the
artifcial shortage of urban land continues to feed land price inflation
and speculation. For the majority of the urban population, specifcally the
urban poor, these contribute considerably to insecure tenure and to the
proliferation of informal settlements occupying public lands, areas of high
risk, and urban fringes such as riverbanks and coastlines, among others.
To expand the pool of available land for the urban poor, the government
has also proclaimed 106 sites comprising about 27,340 hectares of idle
government lands as socialized housing sites. 40 These proclamations
potentially benefts
250,650 informal settlers. Local governments are also mandated under
the UDHA to identify land for socialized housing and resettlement areas,
and to include them in their CLUPs. In addition, UDHA provides for
balanced housing development, requiring developers to allocate an area
for socialized housing equivalent to at least 20% of their total project
area or 20% of their total project cost. From 1994 to 2013, about 485,000
socialized housing units with matching funds of approximately Php 40.3
million have been produced under this balanced housing provision of
UDHA through a menu of options enforced by the HLURB.41
Other policy reforms being considered to facilitate urban land
accessibility and affordability include (i) streamlining titling, transfer, and
land acquisition processes, (ii) rationalizing the use of land resources to
reduce the tension between the conversion of agricultural lands and the
demands of urbanization, (iii) better use of fscal and taxation tools such
as an improved idle land tax, (iv) land banking, and (v) land reclamation.
3.2.2
Managing Urban Form and Design
The search for cheaper land by property developers and the weak
implementation of local plans and zoning ordinances are contributing to
urban sprawl. This is evident in the growing suburban areas in the
country's metropolitan areas and urban centers. Some HUCs have taken
initiatives to control urban sprawl by redirecting growth patterns through
the enforcement of innovative zoning standards and controls such as
allowing mixed-used development, township concept, densification,
transport-oriented condominium projects and in-fll projects in rundown
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, more popularly known as CARP, is a

land reform initiative of the Philippines based on the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (Republic Act No.
6557.
CARP redistributes private and public agricultural lands to help
beneficiaries survive as small independent farmers, regardless of tenurial
arrangement. Among its goals are to provide landowners equality in terms of
income and opportunities, empower landowner beneficiaries to have equitable
land ownership, enhance agricultural production and productivity and
consequently the country's food security, provide employment to more agricultural
workers, and put an end to conficts regarding land ownership. CARPER, or the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms, is the
amendatory law that extended the deadline of distributing agricultural lands to
farmers.
areas within the city. The flaws of the simple subdivision scheme or the
9-lots partitioning, which has been taken advantage of by unscrupulous
entities in the selling of raw lots, eventually result to the proliferation of
illegal subdivisions thereby violating standards of housing development.
The reclassification is limited to a maximum of 15% of total agricultural land for HUCs and to
10%, for component cities and frst to third class municipalities.
40 Executive Order 131 s, 2002. Office of the President. Declaring Open to Disposition for
Socialized Housing Purposes Certain GovernmentOwned Lands Defined under Republic Act No. 7279, Otherwise Known as the Urban
Development And Housing Act of 1992, and Providing for
Disposition Thereof.
41 The options include development of new settlements through joint venture with accredited
developers of socialized housing
projects, contributions to new socialized housing projects of NGOs, slum upgrading, joint
venture with local governments and
housing agencies, and participation in the government's Community Mortgage Program (CMP).
A little over a century after the Spaniards stopped their urbanization

policy, the poblacion remains the visible core in majority of the
Philippines's cities and municipalities.
Urban development, defned
simply as the creation of the built environment occurs in three
morphological types in contemporary Philippines. The frst, and the most
simple, consist of predominantly rural towns with the poblacion as the
only urban sector. The second type is exemplifed by the town with a
much expanded urban area extending beyond the old limits of the
poblacion with the contiguous built up is still confned within the territory
of the town. The third type is characterized by metropolitan sites built up
area expanding into the territory of neighboring towns. With the
exception of the frst type, none of the present urban areas have
benefited from any deliberate effort to shape urban growth. Some argue
that city-and town-building in the Philippines has become a private-led
affair. This has led to many undesirable outcomes.
For one, the production of residential space has been completely
dominated by private developers leaving out a large segment of the
population who have no capacity to pay. This translates to an
unbridgeable gap in environmental quality between two residential
enclaves: the high-end "gated" village on the one hand, and the makeshift
and overcrowded ghettos on the other. Another outcome of free-for-all
urban development is the location of industrial and commercial
establishments. The choice of location is left entirely in the hands of
private investors often resulting in incompatible land use mixes.
Despite state regulation of real estate developments, however, the government
has not been able to efectively infuence the direction and location of
developments. This is due mainly to highly centralized powers and resources. Local
governments have been nothing more than passive spectators to the
developments occurring in their territories resulting from actions and reactions of
the private sector on one hand, and the national government, on the other. Local
governments, for example, have not been able to properly guide the direction of
urban expansion by their failure to extend the poblacion streets towards desired
urban expansion areas. Transport networks and utility service extensions by and
large, have not been used to shape and infuence the direction of development but
merely to service developments that are already in place.
Source: Ernesto M. Serrote. Property, Patrimony, and Territory of Land Use Planning in the Philippines, 2004.
Yet another undesirable outcome of unplanned growth is that open space

for public use and beneft is not protected for the public. Sidewalks, even
traffic islands, get appropriated for private use. Waterfronts, coastal
zones, mountain ridges, and other visual corridors that otherwise offer
excellent view of landscapes and seascapes are built over, blocking the
public view.
Some HUCs have taken
initiatives to redirect
urban
growth
patterns through
the
enforcement
of
innovative
zoning standards
and controls such as (i) adequate
space for streets and an eficient street
network, (ii) densification to
promote sustainable urban growth
and prevent urban

sprawl, (iii)
range
of
The poblacion has, since the Spanish regime,

served as the administrative, religious,
cultural, commercial, and service center of a
town. It is compact in form which is the
inevitable outcome of the gridiron street
pattern prescribed by the King of Spain.
Although diminishing in importance, it is
nevertheless a very useful reference point
when trying to understand the Philippines'
contemporary urban development setting.
UN-Habitat Philippines. Achieving Sustainable Urban Development. Planned Cities Extensions.

2014.
42
compatible land uses and a balanced mix of activities, cohesion and

interaction between diverse socio-cultural and economic groups, and (iv)
limiting single-function blocks.42
3.3 Enhancing Urban and Peri-Urban Food

Production
Most of the food consumed in the cities come from rural areas. The food
security policy of the government targets a 100% staple food selfsuffciency and a decreased food subsistence incidence from 10.8% in
2009 to 8.3% of the population by 2015 (PDP, 2011-2016). These targets
are to be achieved through strategic agriculture programs and projects.
3.3.1
Fostering Urban Agriculture
Urban Agriculture Philippines (UAP) was formally adopted as a national

program in 1998 by the Department of Agriculture (DA). 43 The UAP
Program, which also involved the Bureau of Agriculture Research
(BAR), LGUs, and government academic institutions targeted urban
agricultural activities at three levels: (i) at the household level, such as
backyard and container gardens, (ii) at the community level, such as
gardens and farms jointly managed by local informal groups, and (iii) at
the institutional level, such as farms managed by schools, civic, and
religious groups and cooperatives. In particular, the program helped to
negotiate the use of public and private lands for the use of urban farming
groups, conducted training in crop management, provided planting
materials and access to fnancial support for needed inputs, mobilized
resources to set up support infrastructure, and undertook monitoring and
evaluating. By December 2000, the program had supported the
cultivation of about 129,410 m2.44
In 2000, DAR initiated the fve-year Inter-Regional Integrated Research
Development and Extension Program on Urban Agriculture (IIRDEP). An
Inter-Agency Core Planning Team was formed and given the task of
formulating a program for research, development, and extension. The
CPT identified three key problem areas for urban agriculture in the
Philippines: (i) low production and productivity; (ii) weak marketing
system, and (iii) environmental degradation. These eforts led to the
establishment of the National Integrated Research and Extension
Program for Urban Agriculture. The program was initiated to conduct
research on appropriate technologies for
urban
farming
and
to
support the
department's
pilot
program
in
subdivisions, public lands, and
Quezon and Lipa
individual homes. Doable and
cities.
Later in the year, a more
single
technologies
like
comprehensive urban agriculture
receptacle farming, urban and
program was launched targeting the
human waste composting, home
urban poor in Metro Manila with
energy
possible expansion in Metro Cebu
and
Metro
Davao.
It
was
implemented in coordination with the
Metro Manila LGUs and civic
organizations in schools, vacant lots,
and
backyards
including
The "Joy of Farming Program is a

successful initiative in urban agriculture to
help cultivate
vegetable
gardens
in
the communities and
schools in Quezon City. Supported by the
DA, the Department of Education (DepED),
and the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) as well as civil

society, it has been instrumental in
developing
34 farms in public
elementary schools, 42 communitybased farms and rooftop gardens
including a demonstration farm.
production, and simple food processing, packaging and

marketing were adopted.
Pedrito S. Nitural. Urban Agriculture in the Philippines: Its Beginning and Status, 2001.
Duldulao, Gulayan, at Bulaklakan: A Component of the Governments Urban Agricultural
Program, 2001.
43
44
The Agrikulturang Pilipino or Agri-Pinoy followed and currently serves as

the overall strategic framework of the DA. Since 2011, the DA has helped
established urban farms in 164 communities in Metro Manila and trained
22,266 households in basic vegetable production. Through the
Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), the DA has also conducted training
that promotes urban farming technology, tunnel type nursery
establishment, and management for vegetables. It also
discusses container gardening, edible landscaping, vertical/horizontal

gardening, composting, hydroponics, small scale chicken, and quail
production among others.
On the policy front, there are bills proposed in the Philippine Congress
to institutionalize urban gardening and vertical farming in the cities.
3.4 Addressing Urban Mobility Challenges

The countrys transport infrastructure system was designed to support
the decentralized pattern of development by providing opportunities for
growth, especially in regions and areas adjacent to Metro Manila.45
Transport systems in Philippine cities are almost entirely road-based,
with the exception of Metro Manila where electrified rail-based mass
transport systems are in place. Transport services consist mainly of
privately owned and operated jeepneys as public utility vehicles, buses,
Asian utility vehicles (AUVs), and taxis. Filcabs,46 tricycles, and pedicabs
are also available, but are restricted to serving local areas to provide a
feeder service to the larger-scale public transport services.
Consistent with the objective of accelerating the provision of safe,
eficient, reliable, cost-efective and sustainable infrastructure, regional
connectivity was planned and pursued through major infrastructure
projects from 2004-2010. The completion of expressways linking the
North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to Central Luzon provinces and the
construction of the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) Expressway
in the Southern Luzon Corridor have paved the way for the development
of the industrial belt outside of
Metro
Manila.
Other
Philippines is losing $2.4 billion in
infrastructure projects in
potential income because of the
other parts of the country have
amount of time people spend in
been either completed
or
heavy traffic instead of spending it
initiated
including
at work. Big-ticket transportation
the intermodal
roadinfrastructure,
RORO
terminal system
nonetheless,
(RRTS) connecting Luzon, Visayas,
remains
and Mindanao.47
concentrated in
Luzon.
Interconnectivity
At the local level, initiatives for
more eficient planning for urban
transport and mobility are being
implemented. In Metro Manila,
where traffic congestion has made
a turn for the worse, programs to
relieve the worsening traffic
bottlenecks and facilitate travel
are being planned including the
Metro Manila Urban Transport
Integration
Project
and
the
Integrated Bus Terminal Plan.
According
to
NEDA,
the
development
of
agriculture,
manufacturing
and
services,
avoidance
of
urban
sprawl, development of
regional growth centers, strengthening
of
connectivity,
and
improvement
of
public
transport
services and logistics. At the Metro
Manila level, they include planned and
guided expansion of urban areas,
affordable
housing and
improved
living environment for low
income groups, retrofit existing urban
areas
in
integration
with
public
transport,
multi-modal
public
transport
network
and
services, and traffic and demand
management.
Philippine Development Plan, National Economic Development Authority: 2011-2016.

Also found in the Philippines although more in Cebu rather than in Metro Manila, the flcab also
called the "mini-jitney" is
essentially a four-wheeled motorcycle that can carry up to 11 passengers.
47 Terminals for RORO (roll-on/roll-of) vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as
automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks,
trailers, and railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a
platform vehicle, such as a selfpropelled modular transporter.
45
46
The cost of traffic in Metro Manila will

likely increase to Php6 billion a day
from Php2.4 billion today if there
are no appropriate intervention by
2030, according to a 2014 study
conducted
by
the
Japanese
International
Cooperation
Agency
(JICA) and the National Economic
Development Authority (NEDA). The
study presents a road map to a
modern, affordable,
and
a
well-coordinated
and
integrated
transport system for the Metro Manila
extended urban region by 2030. The
study
proposes
key
development
strategies both at the regional and at
Metro Manila level. At the regional
level,
they
include
balanced
Beset by fiscal constraints in the past, the Philippines has in fact become
one of the pioneers of private sector participation (PSP) in major
infrastructure projects. The Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law of the
Philippines, enacted in 1990, was the frst of its kind in Asia. Amended
later to introduce many variations including Public-Private-Partnerships
(PPPs), it enabled investments from the private sector and generated
positive results benefting road infrastructure and other development
projects. Over the years, BOT-PPPs have become a key source of capital
in sectors such as electricity, water distribution, toll-ways, airports, ports,
mass transport systems and expressways. From 1990 to 2008, the BOT
program generated capital investment of more than US$19 billion by
leveraging private fnancing and expertise. Recent BOT-PPP awarded
projects include: the Daang-Hari-SLEX Link Road, NAIA Expressway
Project, LRT Line1 Cavite Extension, Mactan-Cebu International Airport
Passenger Terminal Project and School Infrastructure Building Project.
Nonetheless, urban transport and mobility issues persist. Despite the
many initiatives pushed by Government and the private sector,
fundamental issues remain unresolved. These include: (i) weak land use
and transport planning and implementation, (ii) reactive rather than
strategic planning, (iii) inadequate landside infrastructure, 48 and (iv) lack
of integrated regional planning which magnifes logistics costs and traffc
problems in metropolitan areas.
3.5 Improving Technical Capacity for Land and

Urban
Planning
Local governments, because of the powers and responsibilities devolved
to them by the LGC are expected and compelled to deliver basic urban
services, manage their environment and fnancial resources, and provide
an environment conducive to broad-based and sustainable economic
growth. This necessitates that they acquire or build the competencies
required for them to function eficiently and efectively. Acquiring or
building the capacity for land and urban planning constitutes one of the
critical frst steps for LGUs to perform eficiently and efectively in the
Philippines' rapidly urbanizing environment.
between major urban centers in Mindanao remains challenging. It is

difficult and time-consuming for the people of Mindanao to converge or
transact business within the region because of poor connectivity. There is
no regional railway system and airfare costs are prohibitive. It is more
costly to fly to Mindanao from Manila than to several neighboring
Southeast Asian countries. However, urban transport infrastructure
requires huge capital and operating costs making it diffcult for local
governments to fnance them on their own. Facilitating connectivity in
the
Philippines
through
integrated
public
transport
systems
complemented by carefully planned urban expansions requires not only
the support of the national government but the private sector as well.
3.5.1 Building Capacity for Local Urban Planning and

Management
DILG is the primary agency tasked with developing and scaling up the
capacities of local governments. Through the years, DILG has been
working in partnership with the Local Government Academy (LGA), the
various leagues of local governments, academic institutions and service
providers, as well as international development agencies to improve local
government capacities. In the area of land use and urban planning, the
DILG has institutionalized initiatives to harmonize capacity building with
performance oversight and access to incentives. They include (i)
enhancing LGU capacity in the preparation and updating of their CDPs
taking into consideration the mainstreaming of emerging sectoral
and thematic concerns such as
Landside infrastructure are aimed at expanding the airports capacity to handle passenger and
freight.
48
CCA/DRRM, gender sensitivity, and conflict-sensitivity among others; (ii)

encouraging the use of the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS)
which is an organized and automated way of gathering household-level
information; and (iii)
policy
guidelines
for
addressing urban governance challenges particularly in metropolizing
clusters of cities through the Metropolitan Governance Framework.
HLURB complements DILGs initiatives by providing LGUs with technical
assistance to prepare their CLUPs and Zoning Ordinances (ZO). Recent
initiatives by HLURB emphasize the importance of adopting a more
strategic and forward looking approach to preparing the CLUPs. In
addition, they have as earlier discussed issued guidelines for
mainstreaming CCA/DRRM in the CLUPs. HLURBs guidebook to CLUP
preparation contains new measures and performance standards for
responding to urban issues, hazards and risks, urban design, and area
conservation.
For Metro Manila, the MMDA and HLURB jointly conduct technical
reviews of the proposed/updated Comprehensive Land Use Plans and
Zoning Ordinances (CLUPs/ZOs) of the
17 LGUs before they are approved by their respective Sanggunian
Panglunsod (or city councils). After this, the CLUPs/ZOs are presented to
and approved by the Metro Manila Council (MMC) which then endorses
them to the HLURB for ratifcation.
3.5.2
Professionalizing Local Development Planners
To further enhance the planning capability of LGUs, the Civil Service

Commission (CSC) has mandated that all City and Municipal Planning
and Development Offcers shall be licensed Environmental Planners by
2018. City and municipal planning officers without urban or city planning
background have to undergo special training and pass the licensure
examinations conducted annually.
3.5.3
Improving Urban Data Quality and Availability
In terms of geo-spatial information, there has been signifcant progress.

Through the Collective Strengthening of Community Awareness for
Natural Disaster (CSCAND) Project, government agencies such as the
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS),
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA), Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and
the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)
have been capacitated through competence development and change
readiness that resulted in the preparation of multi-hazard maps such as
flood-prone area map, storm surge map, ground rupture map, ground
shaking map, liquefaction map, earthquake induced landslide map,
tsunami map, volcanic map, and fault line map, among others.49 As of
2010, PHILVOCs has mapped approximately 90% of
on-land stretch of the Philippine
The Project NOAH is the response of DOST to the
need for a
more accurate, integrated, and responsive disaster

prevention
and mitigation system, especially in high-risk areas
throughout the Philippines. The Project will harness
technologies and management services for disaster
risk reduction activities ofered by the DOST
through PAGASA, PHIVOLCS, and the DOSTAdvanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI),
in partnership with the UP National Institute of
Geological Sciences and the UP College of
Engineering.
Fault Zone identifying

high seismic risks
posed by fault zones
which are needed for
seismic
hazard
mitigation.
Ready II Project Mid-Term Review Report on Hazards Mapping and Assessment for Effective
Community-based Disaster
Risk Management, UNDP, 2010.
49
In 2010, DENR through

the
MGB,
completed
the
geohazard
assessment
and
mapping
of all the 1,634 municipalities and cities of the Philippines using a scale
of 1:50,000. For Metro Manila, 1:5,000 scale geo-hard mapping has been
accomplished in 2012.The availability of geographic information system
(GIS) technology is also being increasingly used in planning particularly
in map preparation and overlaying of several variables resulting in better
empirical analysis and interpretation of data.
The DILG as part of the rationalized planning system has also mandated
LGUs to prepare an ecological profile which contains information on the
social, economic, infrastructure, environment, and institutional sectors of
their localities. The information collected serve as the basis for assessing
the city or municipality and can be used for future planning purposes as
well as integrated into the GIS mapping. As part of their CLUP
preparation, HLURB also conducts GIS training for LGUs.
3.5.4 Assessing Vulnerabilities for Natural Disasters and

Climate Change
To support local planning for climate change adaptation, vulnerability
and impact assessment tools are being made available to local
governments to help them evaluate their vulnerabilities against increased
climate uncertainties and extreme weather events. The Climate Change
Commission has prepared a compendium of these tools which can be used
by LGUs in addressing CCA and DRR concerns in their localities. The
compendium is guided by the development thrusts set in the National
Climate Change Action Pan 2011-2028, PDP 2011-2016 and other related
sectoral plans like the Draft Climate Change Research and Development
Agenda. It contains 35 tools/studies developed by Filipino and foreign
experts.
3.6 Challenges Experienced and Lessons

Learned
A globalizing economy and urbanization require cities to be more than
competitive. A well- formulated city development plan and comprehensive
land use planincorporating CCA and DRRMand supported by an
integrated transport infrastructure plan can guide cities toward their
desired urban growth path, resulting in the development of inclusive
communities. As early as
1960,
the
problems
associated
with
rapid
and
unbridled
urbanizationslums, informal
settlements, traffic congestion, environmental degradation, ineficient
The institutionalization of Geospatial Information Management in the diferent

agencies in the country, not only for the purpose of land and urban planning, has
been constrained largely not just by the cost and budgetary requirement but also
by the lack of proper education and training. In line with this, NAMRIA operates
and manages the Geomatics Training Center (GTC) which provides training on
information, communication and technology. (ICT) courses including Geospatial
Information Management. Low cost and open source GIS software like QGIS,
including computer hardware, have also become more available.
transport facilities, inadequate and unreliable basic infrastructure and

services, and morehave increasingly been experienced not only in
Metro Manila but also in other HUCs throughout the country. Much has
been accomplished in the Philippines toward formulating policies,
programs, and knowledge products geared towards improving land and
urban planning. In the process, difficult challenges have also been
encountered and lessons learned.
3.6.1
Weaknesses and Constraints Affecting

CDP and CLUP Implementation
Despite the vast powers and legal mandates of the local governments
vested in them by the LGC, many of them are weak at implementing
their CDPs and CLUPs. Contributing factors cited are
inadequate resources and lack of technical competencies, exacerbated by

inconsistent and contravening policies of some national government
agencies (NGAs). The weak synchronization in the implementation of
national programs and local plans is often discussed as another reason.
Land Market Inefficiencies and the Prolonged Reform

Process
3.6.2
Despite the policy gains of the past 10 years, land regulation in the
Philippines remains fragmented and outdated, with formal judicial
proceedings required to efect even the most simple property transaction.
This makes the conveyance of freeholdthe most commonly known and
preferred type of secure tenurea lengthy, complex, and costly process
which disadvantages the urban poor the most.50
From a legal
perspective, there is a need to legislate the separation of the right to
ownership of land from the right to develop and occupy the land. Tools
such as transfer of development rights and land value capture should be
explored in order to increase the supply of urban land especially for
socialized housing and the public space.
3.6.3 The Challenge of Mobilizing Transport Infrastructure

Finance
Most local governments in the Philippines do not generate adequate local
revenues to finance the urban infrastructure and services required by
their fast growing urban population. They rely heavily on transfers and
subsidies from the national government.
Integrated
public
transport infrastructure, meanwhile, require huge capital outlays making
it difficult for local governments to fnance them on their own. Additional
development guidelines may be adopted for specifc areas such as
planned city extensions (PCEs), public spaces, and road networks.
3.6.4 The Challenge of Enticing Private Sector

Participation
To complement eforts of the national and local government in planning
and implementation, private sector participation through Public, Private,
and People Partnerships (PPPPs), can be used more to mobilize adequate
resources and cooperative programs for urban transport infrastructure.
The implementation and sustainability of local plans are also affected

often adverselyby the weak political support for an efective and
eficient implementation. The three-year term of elected local officials
does not help, often leading them to choose projects that can be
completed within their terms. The preferred projects have been generally
small, providing short term solutions to critical urban problems which
unfortunately, often require long term implementation if they were to
appropriately respond to the LGUs' urbanization challenges.

Land and urban planning in the Philippines highlight a few challenges
and issues that should be considered in formulating a New Urban
Agenda. They are briefly discussed below.
50
Freehold involves the conveyance of permanent and absolute property rights which allow the
owner to exercise full acts of dominion. Freehold may also be delayed, with ownership or title
made conditional until payments have been completed.
3.7.1
Boosting Local Capacity for Strategic and Urban

Planning, Incorporating Climate Change Adaption
and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
The land and urban planning guidelines must also be updated to reflect a
more inclusive approach, eliminating obsolete and overly Western
standards that work to discriminate against the urban poor and other
marginalized groups in society including women, children, PWDs, and
IPs.
3.7.2 Managing Urban Form and Design through Effective

Regional
Planning and Development
To guide urban development and control the current sprawl, the New
Urban Agenda can stimulate growth in the secondary cities to redirect
population movements and economic developments to these areas and
ease the burden on major urban centers. The thrust of the national
transportation and infrastructure plans should likewise be reoriented to
include secondary cities. Adopting an infrastructureguided development
policy can be a potent, strategic tool for managing uncontrolled urban
growth. Additionally, the shape of subsequent development in the periurban areas manifesting urban sprawl has to be planned carefully,
considering the transport, communication, and housing needs of all
including the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups as well as the
associated investment costs that go with them.
Overall, reforms may be undertaken to ensure regional plans take on a
greater role as being the administrative basis for approval of the national
agencies' regional budgets and PPAs. Furthermore, and as mentioned
earlier, LGUs must be encouraged to adopt the "Planned City Extension"
approach to curb sprawl and direct urban growth and development to
pre-planned locations. These plans should include a network of collector
roads as well as a system of public open spaces and parks. The latter
should, in fact, establish the framework for area development.
3.7.3
Generating Livelihoods and Improving Food Security
through Urban
Agriculture
Cities in the Philippines are generally dependent on agriculture
producing provinces and towns for their food supply. When disasters
The DILG and HLURB continuously update and revise their policies and
guidelines for formulating CPDs and CLUPs and detailed guidelines for
specifc areas like PCEs and PUDs. The New Urban Agenda needs to
promote mechanisms for how local governments can adopt a more
strategic and spatially interlinked approach in urban planningenabling
them to promote economic competitiveness, environmental resiliency,
and social inclusiveness. Particularly within the Philippines archipelagic
setting, the guidelines must promote integration and connectivity.
strike cutting of the supply of food from the rural areas, prices go up as a
result of supply shortage. The New Urban Agenda should promote
sustainable urban agriculture to help reduce the over-reliance of cities on
the rural areas for their food security, especially during disasters. For the
urban poor, urban agriculture also presents livelihood and income
generation opportunities.
3.7.4
Shifting to a More Integrated and Inclusive
Transport Planning
In addressing transport mobility issues, the New Urban Agenda must
underscore the need to rethink the country's transport policy planning
approach to make it more integrated and inclusive. Integration will
facilitate connectivity and accessibility. On the other hand, the essence of
inclusive urban mobility transport is public transport modes that can
transport more people, making the system work for the poor and
vulnerable.
3.7.5
Redefining Security of Tenure by Mainstreaming
Rights-Based
Approaches and Land Use Rights Instruments
As policy reforms move toward improving inefficiencies in land

management and land valuation in the Philippines, HUDCC has
spearheaded the move to alleviate the diffculties of ISFs in accessing
rights over the land they occupy, facilitating secure tenure. As a result,
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued Memorandum Circular No.
M-2008-015 and recognized rights-based instruments (RBIs) or other
forms of secure tenure instrumentssuch as usufruct, other lease
variants, and right to occupy or buildto serve as collateral substitutes.
The New Urban Agenda should acknowledge that by designing these
instruments to exhibit validity, integrity, security, negotiability, and
bankability, RBIs can be an eficient way of addressing the remaining
inefficiencies in land management, including land valuation, in the
Philippines. RBIs offer a less costly approach to providing secure tenure
to segments of society unable to secure freehold titles, particularly the
urban poor.
Environment and
Urbanization:
Issues
and Challenges for a New
Urban Agenda
Cities around the world serve as the engines of economic growth

creating jobs and stimulating investments as well as innovations. In the
process, however, they have also become the primary contributors to
unprecedented levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, loss of
biodiversity, water scarcity, and various forms of environmental pollution.
Most climate scientists agree that the current global warming trend
stems from the urban-driven human expansion of the "greenhouse efect."
Carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases act like a blanket,
absorbing infrared radiation and preventing it from escaping into outer
space. The net efect is the gradual heating of the Earth's atmosphere and
surface, a phenomenon popularly referred to as global warming.51 The
long-term offshoot of global warming is climate changedefned as the
broader set of changes that accompany global
warming,
including
changes
in
been
weather patterns,
the world's water systems,
and ecosystems.52
Uncontrolled
and
rapid
urbanization have also been
consistently
linked
to
environmental
degradation,
the deterioration
of the
environment through
depletion
of
natural
resources such as air, water
and soil; the destruction of
ecosystems;
and
the
extinction
of
wildlife.53
Environmental degradation is
a signifcant factor that
reduces the capacity of
societies
to
deal
with
disaster
risk
in
many
countries around the
world. Environmental
destruction on a global scale
has increasingly become a
direct
threat
to
human
beings. Where slopes have
interdependent: The urban environment is a

resource to reduce poverty and improve
health conditions, while poverty reduction can
have positive efects on the environment. The
environmental impact of cities goes beyond
the impact on the health and well-being of
residents. Cities have a strong infuence on
the environment at the national, regional and
global levels. The urban dimension of climate
change,
water,
energy,
biodiversity,
chemicals, wastes, trans-boundary air and
river pollution, and pollution of coastal areas,
is becoming more and more evident.
Source: Towards Sustainable Development, UN-Habitat
and UNEP.
deforested and where protective reefs, mangroves and wetlands have

degenerated or even completely disappeared, the forces of nature hit
with more impact increasing the risks and consequences of disasters,
particularly in the densely populated urban areas. Unplanned
urbanization and industrialization have caused water, air, and sound
pollutionjeopardizing not only the environment and the economy, but
public health and urban lives as well. 54
The archipelagic nature and geographic location of the Philippines make
it highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and
environmental degradation. Without concerted eforts on how its cities
can better adapt to climate change, reduce their carbon footprints and
shift toward a greener economywhile living more eficiently within
the country's fair share of ecological
Marc Lallanila, "What is the Greenhouse Efect?" Live Science, January 28, 2015,
accessed November 25, 1015, http://www.livescience.com/37743-greenhouse-efect.html.
52 Climate Change Impacts. https://www3.epa.gov/climate change/impacts/
53 Swati Tyagi, Neelam Garg1 and Rajan Paudel. Environmental Degradation: Causes and
Consequences, accessed December 5,
2015
http://www.academia.edu/7235669/Environmental_Degradation_Causes_and_Consequences .
54 World Risk Report, 2012.
Presented by German Alliance for Development Works (Alliance),
United Nations University
Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and The Nature Conservancy.
51
Today, three billion people, half

of the worlds population, live in
cities.
One
billion
urban
residents
live
in
slums,
condemned to a life of poverty
and ill health, because they are
exposed to air pollution and are
denied
clean
water,
basic
sanitation and adequate shelter.
There can be no social and
economic development in cities
without a healthy environment,
especially where it concerns the
urban poor.
Environment and poverty are
resources55,56the urban challenges the Philippines will face in the

medium- and long-terms will escalate. This will have monumental
negative consequences to its economy and its people.
4.1 Addressing Climate Change

4.1.1
Assessing the Climate Change Risks
The lives and livelihoods of more than 100 million Filipino people will be
affected by what is doneor not donein urban areas to respond to
climate change in the next fve to ten years. The appalling condition of
the country's natural resources due to overuse, inadequate livelihood
opportunities in natural-resource-dependent communities, and high
population densities along coastlines exposed to natural disasters warn of
significant environmental degradation further made worse by climate
change.
Climate change in the Philippines is evidenced in seasonal temperature
changes in temperature and rainfall, extreme temperature and extreme
rainfall events. Recently, it has been acutely manifested by the rise in
temperature, precipitation, extreme rainfall, drought, flooding, storm
changing weather patterns. Typhoon Yolanda (international code name
Haiyan) which hit Tacloban and other parts of the Visayas region in 2013
is a concrete local example. Even before this, there was the excessive
flooding brought about by typhoon Ondoy (international code name
Ketsana) in Metro Manila, and that of Typhoon Pablo ((international
code name Bopha) in the city of Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao. The
country ranks among the top 10 countries whose economic activity is
most at risk from intensifcation of storm surges. It also counts three
cities among the top 25 cities whose population is at risk of being
affected by storm surges (Manila is ranked frst; Taguig, 23rd; and
Caloocan, 25th). Out of a sample from the 327 largest coastal cities worldwide most at risk of storm surges, the Philippines has, by far, the largest
number of cities at
Accelerated sea level rise (ASLR) is one of the
most certain outcomes of global warming. With
a coastline of 34,000 km, the Philippines has
taken a serious view of the potential efects of
and possible responses to ASLR.
An early
joint study conducted by PAGASA, NAMRIA and
DENR showed that areas along the Manila Bay
coastal area if inundated by a 1 m sea level rise
would include barangays from 19 cities or
municipalities of Metro Manila, Bulacan, and
Cavite. The physical efects would include
submergence of low-lying wetland and dryland,
erosion, saltwater intrusion, increased risk of
fooding, and storm damage.
These physical
changes may cause substantial socioeconomic
losses and ecological damages.
Source: Rosa T. Peres, et.al. Climate Change Impacts and
Responses in the
Philippine Coastal Sector in Climate Research, Vol.12:
91-107, 1999.
risk with 48 cities, followed by

Indonesia with28
cities.
The
population
in
these at-risk
Philippine cities account for 18.3% of the
global in-cities population at risk.57
from cyclones, floods, and

earthquakes. Four other
large coastal cities in Asia
are at a similarly high risk,
including
Davaothe
largest
urban
agglomeration
in
Stephen Hammer, et al, Cities and Green Growth: A Conceptual Framework, OECD Regional
Development Working
Papers 2011/08, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5kg0tflmzx34-en, 14-17.
56 Michael Wackernagel, et.al. The Ecological Footprint of Cities and Regions: Comparing
Resource Availability with Resource Demand. In
Environment and Urbanization. (International Institute for Environment and Development,
2006).
57 Susmita Dasgupta, et.al. Climate Change and the Future Impacts of Storm-Surge Disasters in
Developing Countries. Center
for Global Development: Working Paper 182. (Washington DC, 2009) 10-15.
55
Metro Manila one of the largest urban

agglomeration in the world is at high risk
Mindanao which is also exposed to the risks of cyclones, floods, and
earthquakes. Over the past
fve years, the Philippines had in fact experienced more intense
tropical cyclones, changes in rainfall patterns, sea level rise, and
temperatures. These developments have adversely impacted
the country's natural ecosystems; in turn, affecting food security, water

resources, human health, and human settlements. The damages caused
by Tropical Storm Sendong (international code name Washi) in the cities
of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in 2011 and the worst devastation ever by
Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 in Tacloban City and other parts of the Visayas
are demonstrations of severe climate change impacts that will be felt in
the Philippines for years to come.
4.1.2
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
To mitigate the efects of climate change, the Clean Air Act of the
Philippines (Republic Act 8749) was enacted in 1999. The law which
aimed to control GHG emissions and to reduce air pollution was part of
the governments commitment to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol of the United
Nations. Furthermore, through the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol,
the Philippine Clean Development Mechanism or CDM paved the way for
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Adaptation Fund which was established to fnance adaptation projects
and programs in developing countries. The CDM allows emissionreduction projects in developing countries to earn certifed emission
reduction (CER) credits that can be traded and used by industrialized
countries to a meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the
Kyoto Protocol. In June 2004, the DENR was designated the national
The
urban
heat
island
The urban heat island (UHI) efect is the
(UHI)
efect
has
also
observed higher temperature that cities or
urban areas experience compared to the
become
unmistakable
in
surrounding rural areas. It is caused by
major Philippine cities. The
urbanization, a process of land cover change
surface of a city, the
where natural land and vegetation are replaced
by built surface materials such as asphalt,
materials and shapes of its
cement, brick and stones. The presence of
structures
affect
the
buildings in cities not only prevents the surface
distribution
of
heat,
heat from escaping into the upper atmosphere
but also causes friction, hampering heat loss
and building
through advection or movement of cool air from
materials like asphalt
the rural areas.
and concrete absorb and
Source:
trap the heat from the sun.
http://www.urbanheatislands.com.
Built with such materials,
Metro Manila and other
HUCs in the Philippines
have become urban heat
islands (UHIs). Pollutants
in the atmosphere also block the rise of heat from the surface to the
atmosphere. This explains the distinctly warmer temperatures prevalent
in these cities even during the evenings compared to their surrounding
rural areas.58 Heatstroke, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, and heat cramps
are some of the documented adverse health impacts of UHIs. A wide
number of diseases may also become worse, particularly among older
persons and young children. The incidence of respiratory and lung
diseases has also been shown to be positively related to high ozone levels
induced by heat events.59
authority for CDM. Since then, CDM projects have supported climate
change mitigation through the reduction and/or avoidance of GHG
emissions which in turn contributes to the achievement of sustainable
development objectives because of the environmental, economic, and
social co-benefts they generate. Two additional relevant legislations
were subsequently passed: (i) the Biofuels Act of
2006 (Republic Act 9367), and (ii) the Renewable Act of 2008
(Republic Act 9513).
In 2009, the Climate Change Act was approved through Republic Act
9729 to mainstream climate changein synergy with DRRinto the
national, sectoral and local development plans and programs; establish
the Framework Strategy; and create the Climate Change Commission
(CCC). The CCC was tasked with the formulation of the Framework
Strategy and program. In 2010, the
58
M. Tiangco, A.M.F. Lagmay, and J. Argete. ASTER-based Study of the Night-Time Urban
Heat Island Efect in Metro Manila.
International Journal of Remote Sensing. I-First Article. 2008. 1-20.
https://www.academia.edu/506496.
59 http://www.urbanhe atislands.com .
National Framework Strategy

approved by the Offce of the
Preside
nt.
on
Climate
Change
(NFSCC)
was
The NFSCC provided the basis for the national program on climate
change also known as the National Action Plan for Climate Change
(NAPCC). It identified key result areas to be pursued in key climatesensitive sectors in order to address the adverse effects of climate change
through the synergy of adaptation and mitigation supported by cross
cutting strategies. The framework was based on the fundamental
principles of sustainable development and its three pillarseconomic,
environmental and socialwhich aspire to fulfll human needs while
maintaining the quality of the natural environment for current and future
generations. It envisioned a climate risk-resilient Philippines with health,
safe, prosperous, and self-reliant communities, and thriving and
productive ecosystems (Figure 4-1).
Figure 4-1. The Philippines' National Framework Strategy on Climate
Change, 2010-2022
National
Framework
Strategy on
Climate
Change
(NFSCC)
CLIMATE PROCESS
DRIVERS Energy,
Transport, Land Use
Change and Forestry,
Agriculture, Waste
CLIMATE
CHANGE
Increasing Temperatures, Changing
Rainfall Patterns,
Sea Level Rise, Extreme Weather
Events
VISIO
N
A climate risk-resilient Philippines with
healthy, safe,
prosperous, and self-reliant
communities, and
thriving and productive
ecosystems
IMPACT AND
VULNERABILITY
Ecosystems (River
Basins, Coastal & Marine
Biodiversity), Food
Security, Water
Resources, Human
Health, Infrastructure,
Human
Society
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Goal: To build the adaptive capacity of
communities
and increase the resilience of natural
ecosystems to
climate change, and optimize
mitigation
opportunities towards sustainable
development.
Society
Environment
Econom
y
MITIGATI
ON
Energy Efficiency and Conservation,
Renewable Energy,
Environmentally Sustainable Transport,
Sustainable
Infrastructure, National REDD+
Strategy, Waste
Manageme
nt
ADAPTATIO
N
Enhanced Vulnerability and Adaptation,
Integrated
Ecosystem-based Management, Climateresponsive
MEANS OF
IMPLEMENTATION
Multi-stakeholder Partnerships, Financing,
Valuation,
Policy, Planning and
Mainstreaming
In 2011, the Climate Change Act was amended by Republic Act 10174 to
establish the People's Survival Fund (PSF) to finance CCA programs and
projects. At least Php1 billion to be sourced from the national budget has
been allotted to the PSF. This allocation may be augmented by other
funding sources such as the LGUs, the private sector, and individuals
supportive of adaptation initiatives. The PSF will finance eligible
adaptation activities such as water resources management, land
management, agriculture and fsheries, and health. It can also guarantee
the risk insurance needs of farmers, agricultural workers and other
concerned stakeholder groups.
CROSS CUTTING
STRATEGIES
Capacity Development, Knowledge
Management, IEC and
Advocacy, Gender Mainstreaming,
Research and
Development, Technology
Transfer
Agriculture, Water Governance &

Management, Climateresponsive Health Sector, Climate-Proofng
Infrastructure,
Disaster Risk
Reduction
In addition, the PSF may also be used to establish regional centers and
information networks and to strengthen existing ones to set up
forecasting and early warning systems against climate-related hazards
and to support institutional development such as preventive measures,
planning, preparedness, and management of impacts relating to climate
change, including contingency planning for droughts and floods.
A reinvigorated National Greening Program (NGP), initiated in 1978, is

likewise being pursued as a key strategy for climate change mitigation
and adaptation. Executive Order 26 (EO 26) declared the NGP as a
government priority program to reduce poverty, promote food security,
environmental stability and biodiversity conservation, and enhance
climate change mitigation and adaptation. Under the program, 750
million to 1.5 billion trees will be planted on about 1.5 million hectares of
land in suitable land all over the country from 2011 to 2016. A total of
396 million seedlings and saplings have already been planted on almost
685 thousand hectares of land from
2011
to
2013. 61
Aside from being a reforestation initiative, the NGP was also formulated as a
climate change mitigation strategy as it seeks to enhance the countrys forest
stock to absorb carbon dioxide, which is largely blamed for global warming. It
has also been designed to reduce poverty, providing alternative livelihood
activities for marginalized upland and lowland households in seedling production
and in the care and maintenance of newly-planted trees.
Source: National Greening Program, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Notable eforts have been undertaken to mainstream CCA into the

national, sub-national and local-level planning, investment programming,
and budgeting. In 2014, HLURB approved and issued the "The
Supplemental Guidelines on Mainstreaming Climate Change and Disaster
Risk in the Comprehensive Land Use Plans." DILG, for its part, issued
Memorandum Circular 2015-77 which provided the guidelines for
Mainstreaming DRR/CCA in the Comprehensive Development Plans
(CDP). In another issuance, Joint Memorandum Circular 2015-01 with
DBM and CCC, DILG directed LGUs to tag local expenditures allotted for
climate change interventions.62
In education, modules to integrate climate change adaptation and
On a related front, to pursue more vigorously the country's commitment

to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the
Philippine Government issued Executive Order 881 (EO
881) in 2010. The executive order appointed DENR as the operational
head of the UNFCCC's
program on the conservation and sustainable management of forests and
the enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries also
known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
(REDD+). This initiative is expected to reduce emissions by
approximately 38.5 million tons of CO2 from 2011 to 2030. 60
disaster risk reduction in the college curriculum are being developed. In

the government sector, DENR has been undertaking activities to
mainstream climate change in its programs as well as climate proof other
major government programs. A training toolkit on climate proofing for
developmentthe CP4D Toolkithas also been prepared and published.
A key result area of the NSFCC is the transition towards lower GHG
emissions for sustainable development. This requires energy eficiency
and conservation which entails the development and enhancement of
clean energy sources. There is also a need to realize the full potential
of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Forest Management Bureau. The
Philippine National REDD-plus
Strategy. www.unredd.net/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download.
61 http://www.gov.ph/2011/05/18/briefer -on-the-national-greening-program-may-18-2011.
62 For more on this topic, see Chapter 2, Land and Urban Planning: Issues and Challenges for a
New Urban Agenda, 4-5.
60
countrys renewable energy capacity so as to further contribute to energy

security and promote low-carbon growth in the energy sector. Reducing
carbon footprint through energy-eficient design and materials for public
infrastructure and settlements is also vital.
Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has

been formulating a Green Building Code (GBC) in pursuit of sustainable
building regulations that will reduce GHG emissions and enable
electricity and cost savings in new buildings. The proposed GBC will
follow the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
certification standards, a rating system for the design, construction,
operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes and
neighborhoods all over the world. When approved and implemented
properly, the GBC is expected to generate up to Php35.2 billion (or
US$800 million) savings among businesses and consumers by 2030,
placing the Philippines at par with other developing countries.64
4.2 Disaster Risk Reduction and Management

4.2.1
Increasing Natural Disaster Risks
The 5th annual Natural Hazards Risk Atlas (NHRA) assessed the natural
hazard exposure of over
1,300 cities, selected for their importance as signifcant economic and
population center in the
coming decade. Of the 100 cities with the greatest exposure to natural
hazards, 21 are located in the Philippines, 16 in China, 11 in Japan and 8
in Bangladesh. The analysis considered the combined risk posed by
tropical storms and cyclones, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, severe
storms, extra-tropical cyclones, wildfres, storm surges, volcanoes and
landslides. The Philippines extreme exposure to numerous natural
hazards, according to the report, is reflected by the inclusion of eight of
its cities among the ten most at risk globally. These cities include
Tuguegarao (ranked 2nd), Lucena (ranked 3rd), Manila (ranked 4th), San
Fernando (ranked 5th) and Cabantuan (ranked 6th). Port Vila in Vanuatu
May 2016
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42
Current initiatives towards lower GHG emissions are directed towards

creating a market-based environment that is conducive to private sector
investment and participation while encouraging technology transfer and
research and development. Fiscal incentives promote renewable energy
technologies and projects that are environmentally sound. Renewable
energy is foreseen to account for at least half of the country's energy mix
by 2030, when demand for energy is forecast to exceed
30,000MW, more than twice todays 12,000MW. Leveraging on its
geological assets, the
Philippines has strong capacity in hydropower and geothermal power,
which together make up
5,274MW of its total capacity of 16,163MW, or about 30% of the total.
But other renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and biofuel,
make up only 117MW of the total, indicating great potential for growth. 63
(ranked 1st) and Taipei City in Taiwan (ranked 8th) are the only cities not
located in the Philippines to feature in the top 10.65
4.2.2
Reducing and Managing Disaster Risks
In 2010, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Act (Republic Act 10121)
was issued to deal specifcally with reducing and managing disaster risks.
The law integrated the principles of disaster risk reduction and
management (DRRM) into the various levels of development planning, as
well as prescribed the institutional structures for ensuring disaster
preparedness and eficient government response during calamity events.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/18/philippines-sees-slow-take-up-ofrenewable-energy.
64 http://www.asiagreenbuildings.com/8536/philippines -dpwh-crafting-green-building-code-reducegreenhouse-emissions
65 Natural Hazards Risks Atlas, 2015. https://maplecroft.com/portfolio/newanalysis/2015/03/04/56-100-cities-mostexposed-natural-hazards-found-key-economies-philippines-japan-china-bangladesh-veriskmaplecroft
63

May 2016
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42
NDRRMC is guided by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and

Management Framework (NDRRMF) which provides for a multi-sectoral
and community-based approach to DRRM (Figure 4-2).66 The framework
indicates the country's paradigm shift towards a proactive approach to
disaster management. It emphasizes that resources invested in disaster
prevention, mitigation, preparedness, and CCA will be more effective
towards attaining the goal safer, adaptive, resilient communities
Figure 4-2. National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Framework
Safer, adaptive,
resilient Filipino
communities toward
sustainable
development
Preparedness
Prevention
&
Mitigation
Rehabilitation
& Recovery
RISK
FACTORS
Hazards
Exposures
Vulnerabili
ties
Capacities
Mainstream
ing DRR and
CCA in
Planning
and
Implementa
tion
Preparedness
Response
Preventio
n&
Mitigatio
n
Rehabilitation
& Recovery

May 2016
Page |
43
It required all local governments to install disaster-risk reduction

measures (DRRM) in their CLUPs and to create task forces at the
barangay and city levels to efectively implement them. It also created
the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC)
with the Department of National Defense (DND) serving as chair. Four
other agencies were also tasked as vice-chairs to coordinate eforts in the
following key areas: (i) the DILG, with its supervisory function of LGUs,
for disaster preparedness; (ii) the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) for disaster response eforts such as the provision
of relief goods during calamities; (iii) the DOST for disaster prevention
and mitigation, and (iv) NEDA for disaster rehabilitation and recovery.
66
This diagram is based on the original version of the NDRRMF which was signed on June 2011.
In the original diagram, the quadrants containing the DRRM aspects were colored as follows: (i)
prevention and mitigation was green to show care for the environment; (ii) preparedness was
blue for to show alertness and readiness; (iii) response was red to show the emergency status
and immediate action for the afected people; and (iv) rehabilitation and recovery was yellow to
show hope. The upward motion indicated by the spiraling arrows represented a bottom-up
participatory process, enhanced level of awareness, strengthened multi-stakeholder
partnerships, and pooling of resources.

May 2016
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44
Since LGUs have primary responsibility as frst disaster responders,

regions, provinces, cities, and municipalities are all mandated to create
Local DRRM Councils and Offces and to prepare specifc Local DRRM
Plans for their localities. Republic Act 10121 enables LGUs to fulfll their
DRRM duties through the Local DRRM Fund which can be used for predisaster preparedness programs, such as training and purchasing of
necessary supplies and equipment, and post-disaster activities. No less
than 5% of an LGUs estimated revenues is set aside for the Fund, 30% of
which is allotted as a Quick Response Fund (QRF) in order to normalize
as soon as possible emergency situations in areas affected by calamities
or disasters. This facility expands the coverage of the Calamity Fund of
LGUs originally provided for LGUs through the Local Government Act
(Republic Act 7160), which previously could only be used for responding
to calamities in their localities.
Integration eforts and initiatives on CCA and DRRM at various level of
governance have been put in place but will need to be enhanced in order
to ensure efective and eficient delivery up to the household level.
International experience points out that integrating and coordinating
CCA and DRRM at the local level have corresponding governance
implications.
4.3 Battling Traffic Congestion

4.3.1 Traffic Agonies in the Philippines
Inadequate transport planning and inefective traffic management are
evident in most Philippine cities and towns. Nationwide, urban public
transport is dominated by jeepneys, taxicabs, and tricycles, providing
door-to-door service. Unfortunately, they contribute to severe traffic
congestion, particularly around transit terminals and public markets due
to ineffective franchising and enforcement practices. Buses are common
in Manila but not in the smaller urban centers. An urban light rail transit
services Metro Manila but it is heavily subsidized. The Manila Metro Rail
Transit System, also known as the MRT Line 3, MRT-3, or Metrostar
In fulflment of its mandate, the NDRRMC has prepared the National

Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan (NDRMMP) based on the
NDRRMF to guide local governments in undertaking their primary
responsibilities in DRRM. The NDRMMP has four components: (i) disaster
prevention and mitigation, (ii) disaster preparedness, (iii) disaster
response, and (iv) post- disaster management. To support local planning
for disaster-preparedness, the NDRRMC makes available geo-hazard
assessments and maps prepared by DENR. To support local planning for
disaster-preparedness, the NDRRMC makes available multi-hazard
assessments and maps prepared by CSCAND agencies (MGB, NAMRIA,
PAG-ASA, and PHIVOLCS). These maps are essential in identifying hazard
areasa critical element in avoiding loss of lives, damage to properties
and economic loss.
Express, is a rapid transit system in Metro Manila and is composed of a

single line that runs in the general direction along the north and south
lanes of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA)the main thoroughfare
passing through six of the capital region's 17 local governments. EDSA is
the longest and the most congested highway in the Philippines, stretching
some 23.8 kilometers.
The number of vehicles in the Philippines continues to grow rapidly. In
2012, the total registered vehicles were 7.5 million units, almost 4.5
times the total number of vehicles registered in 1990. Of these registered
vehicles, more than 50% were motorcycles/tricycles with most (27%)
found in Metro Manila. The average growth per year in the number of
vehicles from 1990-2012 is 2.99% for cars, 5.01% for utility vehicles,
16.18% for sports utility vehicles, 4.54% trucks, 3.11% for buses, 11.47%
for motor tricycles, and 3.53% for trailers. The vehicle to population ratio
has also tripled over the span of 22 years.
In Metro Manila, about 70% of commuters take the public transport while
30% use private transport. However, the share of road space in Metro
Manila is only 20% for public transport vehicles while private vehicles
occupy 80%. In other cities or towns, it is estimated that 80% take the
public transport.
4.3.2 Initiatives to Reduce Traffic Congestion

In a recent global survey conducted by Waze, a GPS-based navigation
app, Metro Manila topped the poll for the longest time spent commuting
from home to office with an average time of 45.5 minutes. With the public
outcry, the Philippine Government directed the Highway Patrol Group of
the Philippine National Police to untangle traffic, opened up alternate
routes dubbed as Mabuhay Lanes, and is now in the process of
constructing modular steel bridges in selected areas.
A number coding scheme
The Philippines is the fifth country in the
world with the worst traffic conditions,
formally known as Unifed
according to the online database Numbeo.
Vehicular Volume Reduction
The Philippines had a traffic index score of
Program has been operational
201.31 based on Numbeos Traffic Index for
Country 2015 Mid-Year Report. The Trafic
since 2003 to curb the high
Index is a composite index of time
volume of vehicles plying
consumed in traffic due to job commute,
Metro
Manila
city
roads
estimation
of
time
consumption
dissatisfaction, carbon dioxide
specifcally during the peakconsumption estimation in
hour traffic. Sidewalk clearing
traffic, and overall inefficiencies in the
traffic system. Egypt topped the worst
operation
is
also
done
traffic list with an index of 284.51, followed
regularly
by
MMDA.
by South Africa (215.34), Thailand (211.86),
Emergency bays have been
Iran (202.90), the Philippines, Turkey
(198.61), Russia (195.51), India (195.02),
constructed to provide safe
Brazil (194.29) and Argentina (186.46).
space for motorists who may
have minor car problems
and
to troubleshoot
without worry of being towed.
Other current initiatives to
reduce volume of
vehicles are being initiated. Road emergency stations are being designed
to enable traffic personnel to immediately act on vehicular accidents and
Among the major issues and concerns in traffic and transportation

management are vehicle volume reduction, elimination of road
obstructions and illegal structures, the need to improve traffic flow, a
rationalized public transport system, lack of road safety, poor law
enforcement and motorists' lack of education. The Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) is the agency tasked with the regulation
and supervision over the delivery of metro-wide services within the 16
cities and one (1) municipality in its jurisdiction, without diminution of
the autonomy of the local government units concerning local matters.
MMDAs functions include clearing all roads in Metro Manila from all
types of obstructionsillegal vendors, structures encroaching traffic,
side-street pedestrian accidents, and vehicle-pedestrian conflicts.
to remove all forms of obstructions within ffteen (15) minutes using

emergency equipment. The rotunda scheme using U-turn slots mitigates
angle collision accidents that happen mostly at intersections.
MMDA is also trying to rationalize the public transport system in Metro
Manila by developing an EDSA-North road rail terminal, improving
loading/unloading bays, and creating an EDSA organized bus route
program. It has constructed footbridges, installed see-thru fences,
pedestrian signages and facilities for safer mobility of pedestrians and
faster flow of vehicle traffic as well as better pedestrian/road access by
PWDs and senior citizens. To improve law enforcement and motorists'
education, MMDA has established the Traffic Academy and provides a 24hour access to complaints and queries through MMDA Metro Call 136
and regular airings of MMDA programs at radio stations. With regard to
reducing red tape and corruption, the MMDA uses CCTVs for traffic
ticketing and non- physical contact apprehension.
In Metropolitan Cebu where traffic is also worsening, new initiatives

being explored include (i) the construction of alternate roads to service
the heavily populated areas, (2) educating drivers better on how to use
the roads, (3) stricter enforcement of traffic rules and drivers' licensing
requirements; and (4) intensifcation of campaign against illegally parked
vehicles.
4.4.1
Water Quality under Urban Pressure
Water quality is poorest in the urban areas, the main sources of pollution
being untreated discharges of industrial and municipal wastewater, says
the report. 67 The depletion of groundwater resources is likewise an
increasing problem particularly for Metro Manila and other HUCs due to
reduced aquifer recharge and saltwater intrusion.
There are about 85,000 manufacturing industries in the Philippines, with
Metro Manila as the prime industrial region. The discharge of domestic
and industrial wastewater and agricultural runof has caused extensive
pollution of the receiving water-bodies. This effluent is in the form of raw
sewage, detergents, fertilizer, heavy metals, chemical products, oils, and
even solid waste. Nearly 2.2 million metric tons of organic pollution are
produced annually by the domestic sectors: (48%), agricultural (37%),
and industrial (15%). Moreover, uncollected garbage ends up mostly in
rivers, esteros,68 and other water bodies, clogging the drainage system
and leading to floods and the pollution of major water bodies.
According to government reports, the Biochemical Oxygen Demand
(BOD) levels of 10 rivers (Bocaue, Anayan, Malaguit, Paniqui, Calapan,
Iloilo, Luyang, Sapangdaku, Cagayan de Oro and Balili) are within the
normal standard with BOD levels of these rivers improved. However,
waterways in major urban centers, especially esteros, are unft for human
activities, despite recent clean-up eforts. At least six rivers in the NCR
and in the CALABARZON and Central Luzon regions have failed in terms
of both dissolved oxygen (DO) and BOD. These are the Paraaque, San
Juan, Marikina, Pasig, Meycauayan, and Ylang-Ylang rivers.
Meanwhile, access to clean and adequate water remains an acute
seasonal problem in urban and coastal areas of the Philippines. Metro
Manila, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, and Central Visayas
with the highest urbanization levels in the country are the critical
regions in terms of water quality and quantity. The Governments
monitoring data indicate that: (i) only
36% of the countrys river systems are classifed as sources of public
water supply; (ii) 58% of
groundwater sampled is contaminated with coliform and needs
treatment; (iii) approximately 31% of illness monitored for a five-year
period were caused by water-borne sources; and (iv) many areas are
experiencing a shortage of water supply during the dry season. In fact,
4.4 Combating Water and Air Pollution
urban water coverage even decreased from 95% in 1990 to 87% in 2004.
The adverse impact of water pollution costs the economy an estimated Php67
Billion annually (more than US$1.3 Billion). The government continues its fight
against worsening water pollution by espousing and including among its priorities,
environment policies, legislation, and decrees that address the growing need to
control water pollution. In the last few years, the government has employed
economic instruments such as pollution fines and environmental taxes.
Source: Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016.
Asian Development Bank. Asian Water Development Outlook 2007. Manila, Philippines.
An estuary or inlet especially when marshy; specifcally, a tidal channel used as a drainage
canal in populated districts.
67
68
4.4.2
Deteriorating Urban Air Quality
Air pollution in Metro Manila, as measured in total suspended particulate

(TSP),70 has reached 130 microgram per cubic meter (ug/Ncm) in 2015,
up from 106ug/Ncm in 2014. Although this has been the lowest so far in
the past 9 years, this is still higher than the acceptable level of 90ug/Ncm
set by DENR. The total direct cost of the efects of particulate matter on
respiratory health due to exceeding the air quality guidelines in Metro
Manila alone has been estimated at Php368.8 million and Php400 million
in 2004 and
The World Health Organization (WHO)
2007,
estimated
71
respectively.
that air pollution by sources ranging from
cooking
fires to auto fumes contributed to about

At the national level, four out
seven million deaths worldwide in 2012. The
of the ten leading causes of
biggest air pollution-related killers were
morbidity identified by the
heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease
and lung cancer. The hardest-hit regions of
Department of Health (DOH)
the globe were what the WHO labels
can be traced to air pollution.
Southeast Asia, which includes India and
Indonesia, and the Western Pacific, ranging
These are (i) acute respiratory
from China and South Korea to Japan and
infection, (ii) acute lower
the Philippines. Together, they accounted
respiratorytract
infection
for 5.9 million deaths.
and
pneumonia,
(iii) bronchitis, and (iv) TB
respiratory
diseases.
Acute respiratory
infection remains the leading cause of death in the Philippines, with a
total of 2.79 million cases or a rate of about 2,900 per 100,000
population. 72
4.4.3
Tackling Water and Air Pollution
The Philippine Government continues to fght against worsening water
Air pollution in the urban areas remains high despite government's

efforts. Air pollution in Metro Manila and other HUCs come from (i)
stationary sourcesany building or immobile structure, facility or
installation which emits any air pollutant like factories and power plants,
(ii) mobile sourcesany vehicle/machine propelled by or through
oxidation or reduction reactions such as motor vehicles, airplanes,
locomotives, and other engines and equipment that can be moved from
one location to another; and (iii) area sourcesrelatively large areas of
specifc activities that generate signifcant amounts of air pollutants such
as burning forests and dumpsites. About 43.4% of air pollution in the
country comes from mobile sources, while area and stationary sources
account for 38.17% and 18.43%, respectively. In the case of Metro
Manila, mobile sources account for a considerably large share of air
pollution, registering 80% on account of the large number of vehicle
traffic in the region which averages around 2.2 million daily. Area
sources contribute only
17%; stationary sources,
only 3%.69
pollution by giving priority to environment legislation, policies, and

programs that address the growing need to rein water pollution. In the
last few years, the government has employed economic instruments such
as pollution fnes and environmental taxes.
The Clean Water Act of 2004 (Republic Act 9275) aims to protect the
countrys water bodies from pollution from land-based sources including
industries
and
commercial
establishments,
agriculture,
and
community/household activities. Under this law, the water supply and
sewerage facilities and/or concessionaires in Metro Manila and other
HUCs are required to connect to existing sewage line subject to
sewerage services charge/fees. It also established an Area Water
Department of Environment and Natural Resources. 2009 National Emissions Inventory.
Total suspended particulate (TSP), which is a measure of the mass concentration of
particulate matter (PM) made up of a
number of components, including acids such as nitrates and sulphates, organic chemicals,
metal and soil or dust particles.
71 Estanislao, Manapat, Pabila, et.al. 2011. Respiratory Disease and Varying PM2.5 and PM10
Concentrations in Metro Manila from 20002007. http://www.citytransportemissions.org.ph/national-situation-externalities-airpollution.html.
72 Department of Health. The 2013 Philippine Health Statistics.
69
70
Management Fund for the maintenance and upkeep of water bodies.

Furthermore, an Environmental Guarantee Fund (EGF) was established
to fnance the conservation of watersheds and aquifers, and the needs of
emergency response, clean up or rehabilitation.
In accordance with the Clean Water Act of 2004, several programs were
implemented including: (i) DOHs SALINTUBIG Program, Water Safety Plan Project,
and National Search for Barangay with Best Sanitation Practices; (ii) the Water
Security Legacy Roadmap of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
(MWSS), and (iii) the Provision of Potable Water (SALINTUBIG) Program jointly
implemented by DILG and the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA). The
MMDAs Estero Blitz Program, an intensified clean-up of selected esteros, was also
launched entailing dredging, declogging, and desilting of the capital region's
waterways. From 2011 to August 2015, the program has covered 155 esteros and
has removed and disposed 30,697 m3 of garbage (equivalent to 4,278 truckloads).
In terms of air quality management, the Philippines has issued laws and
policies aimed at improving air quality in areas of concerns such as
health, climate change, energy management, the environment and
sectors in the transport, manufacturing, and construction industries that
affect air pollution directly or indirectly. The Clean Air Act of 1999
(Republic Act 8749) has, to date, been the most important legislation
passed. The law mandated the reduction of air pollution in all urban
centers by limiting TSP to within acceptable standards. It focused
primarily on preventing air pollution rather than controlling it, as well as
on the applications of the "polluters pay" principle. Consistent with this,
the DENR has initiated the Linis-Hangin Program (Clean Air Program
which launched the BantayTambutso (Carburetor Watch), the
BantayTsimineya (Chimney Watch), and the "BantaySunog" (Fire
Watch). It has also issued a number of administrative orders on air
quality management such as the Amended Guidelines and Procedures for
the Monitoring of Accredited and Authorized Private Emission Testing
Centers (PETC) and the LTO Emission Testing Activities.
The DOE, for its part, has been implementing an environmental
management program with the following components: (1) Fuel
Conservation and Efficiency Program, (2) Electricity Conservation and
Efficiency Program, (3) Renewable Energy Program, and (4) Clean Coal
Technology Program. It is likewise actively engaged in ensuring a low
carbon future through the promotion of clean and alternative fuels such
as (i) the Auto-LPG, and
the use of Compressed Natural
communication
campaigns;
Gas, (ii) and support for mass
designation of attainment and nontransport including the E- Trike,
attainment
areas; 73
and
Pinoy CNG buses, and the Electric
strengthening
the collaboration
Light Rail Transit.
with local governments and other
concerned agencies on plans to
Other initiatives
include
address pollution.
continued implementation
of
industrial
enforcement programs for
stationary
sources;
intensive
information,
education
and
With its commitment to reduce GHG

emissions and improve air quality, the
Philippine
Government
has
been
promoting the use of electric vehicles
across the country, including as a form
of public transportation. Executive
Order 488 (s. 2006) was issued to
support
the
manufacturing
of
evehicles, as well as to further reduce
the countrys fossil fuel consumption. In
Metro Manila, major cities have started
The Clean Air Act of 1999 and its implementing rules and regulations, requires the
designation of airsheds for effective management of the country's air quality. The designated
airsheds around the country have been classified by DENR into "attainment area" for places
that were not polluted, and "non-attainment areas" for those which were polluted. An airshed
referred to areas with common weather or meteorological conditions and sources of pollution
such as industries or vehicles afecting the interchange or diffusion of pollution in the
atmosphere.
73
to make use of e-vehicles to transport

local residents and
transient workers. Electric
jeeps and electric tricycles are also
getting more and more common in the
countrys major business districts and
urban areas. The establishment of
green cities is also expected to
generate higher demand for e- vehicles
for public transportation.
In April 2010, the Philippine Supreme Court issued A.M. No. 09-6-8-SC: The Rules
of Procedure for Environmental Cases to further clarify, among others, the
Special Civil Actions of the Writ of Kalikasan and the Writ of Continuing
Mandamus. The first is a remedy to protect the right of persons whose
constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology is violated or threatened
with violation. The Writ of Continuing Mandamus, on the other hand, is an order
by a court directing an agency or instrumentality of government to perform an
act or a series of acts in relation to an environmental case.

Learned
4.5.1
CCA and DRRM as a Dynamic, Integrated Process
CCA and DRRM to be efective must be viewed as a process comprising

multiple actors from the national and local governments, the private
sector, research bodies, and civil society including community-based
organizations, playing different but complementary roles to manage risk,
all synchronized in accordance with their accepted functions and
capacities. Adaptation to climate change and disaster risk management
also requires a range of complementary approaches for managing the
risks of climate extremes and disasters. Effectively applying and
combining approaches in response to current climate change and future
scenarios will beneft from a dynamic consideration of the broader
spectrum of sustainable development.74 In the Philippines, efective CCA
and DRRM has been implemented using an integrated yet decentralized
approach that builds on exchanging, sharing, and integrating knowledge
about climate-related risks and initiatives among all the stakeholder
groups.
4.5.2
Bottlenecks to the Policy Reform Process and Beyond
Appropriate policies to improve air and water quality entailed more than
a decade of attempts to go through the legislative process. The passage
of the ensuing laws such as the Clean Water Act was prompted more than
anything by the escalating threats of ground water and surface water
pollution nationwide. After their passage, there is even greater challenge
The country has several laws on forestry, land management, mining, solid
waste management, clean water, and clean air. To support the
enforcement of these environmental laws, the Supreme Court has
designated environmental courts which follow the rules of procedures for
Special Civil Actions of the Writ of Kalikasan and the Writ of Continuing
Mandamus, among others. In December
2008, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a Writ of Continuing
Mandamus, ordering many
government agencies to clean up Manila Bay through the rehabilitation of
the waterways that empty into it. Moreover, it has issued Writs of
Kalikasan in several instances, such as stopping the operation of a landfll
in Quezon City and halting a road opening and other development
projects in a watershed in Benguet Province.
in implementing the reforms, with the need to formulate their

implementing rules and regulations, followed by mainstreaming the
changes they bring into the various national and local development
policies and programs. A multisectoral, consensus building approach will
help expedite the environmental policy reform and implementation
processes in the Philippines.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and
Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation.
Edited by Christopher B. Field, et.al. (New York: Cambridge University Press) 2012, 25-30.
74
4.5.3
The Mounting Garbage Problem
The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (Republic Act 9003)

mandated the country to adopt a systematic, comprehensive, and
ecological solid waste management program for volume reduction of
waste, its proper disposal and composting. It created the necessary
institutional mechanisms and incentives, appropriated funds, declared
certain acts as prohibited, and provided the appropriate penalties.
However, more than a decade after its passage, enforcement and
compliance with the law remains a challenge due to technical,
organizational, political and fnancial limitations of responsible agencies
and LGUs. Only around 112 sanitary landflls (SLFs) have been
established with 43 operational as of June 2012.
This number of
individual or shared facilities available to LGUs is relatively small
compared to the 1,600 cities and municipalities comprising the
Philippines. Similarly, only about 8,800 out of 42,000 barangays have
access to 7,700 material recovery facilities (MRFs) in the country.
Nevertheless, many LGUs and private entities have done well on their
solid waste management programs, particularly in segregation at source
and the application of the 3Rs principle (reduce-reuse-recycle).76 A more
strategic approach in planning and implementation is required.
4.5.4
Deficient Sanitation: Causes and Consequences
Despite several national sewerage and sanitation policies such as the

Sanitation Code of 1975 and the Clean Water Act, investment in
sanitation, sewerage, and septage facilities has remained low. Improper
handwashing or none at all is still common. Open defecation is still
practiced, especially in highly populated areas where toilets are not
available to the urban poor households.77 This has resulted in polluted
waterways and the spread of fatal and infectious diseases, the most
prevalent of which in the Philippines are urinary tract infection and
diarrhea. 78 Wastewater treatment facilities are increasing, but many
more are needed. Outside Metro Manila, only a few cities (including
Baguio, Vigan, and Zamboanga) have sewerage systems that serve less
than 3%5% of the service area population. Therefore, domestic
wastewater largely goes untreated into groundwater or public canals and
drainage systems, and eventually into rivers and other water bodies, thus
exposing the majority of the population to raw sewage. 79
Improper solid waste disposal remains a major contributor to the

degradation of water quality, essentially, because of urban anthropogenic
activities. The problem of solid waste management in the urban centers is
human behaviormainly characterized by poor individual and community
habits in proper waste disposal and the lack of facilities and system to
manage solid waste. The problem is felt most acutely in Metro Manila
with its immense population, high consumption rates, and volume of
packaged goods, some of which are made with raw materials that are
toxic and nonbiodegradable.75
Notwithstanding the increase in the volume of garbage collected and disposed by Metro
Manila in the past three (3) years, the metropolis is assured of adequate disposal facilities for
the next 6-10 years. Also, Metro Manila is now more than ready to adopt the most appropriate
Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technology for its waste disposal. It had submitted to NEDA for its
approval the Development of Appropriate Waste-to-Energy Technologies for LGUs south of
Metro Manila.
76 Voltaire Acosta, et.al. Development of the Philippines National Solid Waste Management
Strategy 2012-2016. Presented at The 7th
International Conference on Waste Management and Technology. Procedia Environmental
Sciences 16 (2012) 9 16.
77 Asian Development Bank, 2013. Philippines Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Assessment,
Strategy and Road Map (Manila,
Philippines), 16-17.
78
The 2013 Philippine Health Statistics indicates that urinary tract infection and diarrhea are
among the top ten leading causes of morbidity in the country with a rate of 240 cases per
100,000 population and 76 cases per 100,000 population, respectively. The World Health
Organization describes diarrhea as a symptom of infection caused by a host of bacterial, viral
and parasitic organisms most of which can be spread by contaminated water. Water
contaminated with human feces from municipal sewage, septic tanks and latrines may cause
diarrhea. Diarrhea can also spread from person to person, aggravated by poor personal
hygiene. Food is another major cause of diarrhea when it is prepared or stored in unhygienic
conditions. Urinary tract infection, like diarrhea, may also be caused by drinking contaminated
water. Contaminated food may also cause the disease.
Strategy and Road Map.
75

4.6.1 Building the Capacity for a Highly Effective CCA and
DRRM
CCA and disaster planning and disaster-preparedness are instruments
that will go a long way in averting or mitigating the adverse impacts of
natural disasters. After a considerable policy reform process, the country
has put in place the laws, basic policies, and plans and programs for a
more efective CCA and DRRM. The challenge lies in institutionalizing
these policies, systems and procedures and in making sure the
coordination
mechanisms
among
government
agencies,
local
governments, communities and schools will work. Activities have to be
supported
with
adequate
budgets
on
a
continuing
basis.
Institutionalization will require strengthening the capacity of national
government agencies, local governments, and partner stakeholders.
DRRM tools such as weather forecasting need to be strengthened.
Building the disaster resiliency of communities through seminars, review
of disaster-preparedness procedures, preparing household checklist on
what to do before, during and after a disaster, and conducting emergency
drills will be necessary. Efforts will include harnessing and mobilizing the
participation of CSOs, the private sector, and volunteers in the
governments CCA and DRRM programs and projects.
4.6.2
Accelerating Climate Change and Disaster Resiliency
Urban environmental challenges persist and they include recurrent

flooding, traffic congestion, air pollution, water pollution, sea-level rise,
and land subsidence, encroachment along riverbanks and fragile coastal
areas, lack of appropriate sewage disposal facilities, inadequate
There is considerable underinvestment by the Government in sanitation

and sewerage, indicating a low spending priority, though ranked as a
high priority in the Philippines Agenda 21 of 1996. Only 7% of the
countrys total population is connected to sewer systems and only a few
households have acceptable effluent from on-site sanitation facilities.
Estimates show that over a
10-year period, the country will need to invest Php250 billion (nearly
US$5.4 billion) in physical
infrastructure. While LGUs recognize emerging water quality problems,
they are constrained by high investment and operating costs, limited
willingness-to-pay, restricted space available in the low-income urban
areas where sewage is disposed of indiscriminately. Some of the
Government budget, which is directed mostly towards water supply (97%
of the total), needs to be diverted to sewerage and sanitation. Individuals
are not yet aware and willing to pay for these services and Government
incentives are justified in the short-term for the larger community-wide
benefts the additional sanitation investment will bring.
sewerage connections, and improper waste disposal.

All of these
challenges combined cause tremendous environmental damages to the
countrys waterways, increasing the public health risks to urban
residents.
Many of these challenges can be addressed by improved and adequate
urban infrastructure appropriately designed to promote climate change
and disaster risk resiliency as well as green growth. But there is also
need to continually integrate local knowledge with additional scientifc
and technical knowledge. An iterative process of monitoring, research,
evaluation, learning, and innovation will also prove benefcial. Potential
strategies or measures that will provide benefts under current climate
and a range of future climate change scenarios include (i) early warning
systems; (ii) risk communication between decision makers and local
citizens; (iii) sustainable land management, including land use planning;
and (iv) ecosystem management and restoration. Other measures to
consider include (i) improvements to water supply, sanitation, and
drainage systems;
(ii) climate-proofing of infrastructure; (iii) development and enforcement

of building codes; and
(iv) better education and awareness.80
4.6.3
Greening Solid Waste Management
4.6.4
Improving Access to Clean, Safe Water
The polluted rivers and waterways caused by untreated domestic and

industrial waste have made urban communities in the Philippines,
particularly those in the metropolitan areas, highly prone to diarrhea,
cholera, skin diseases and other water-borne diseases. Reversing this
trend will necessitate frst and foremost a stronger and more streamlined
regulatory framework, as well as improved monitoring mechanisms and
adequate fnancial resources. The government leadership required to
push eficient, efective, and sustainable sanitation programs must be
provided. Laws and standards relating to sanitation and wastewater
management need to be integrated and updated. LGUstasked by the
LGC to be at the forefront of implementing, monitoring, and, to some
extent, regulating sanitation programs and projectsmust be adequately
informed about the costs and benefts to their communities of improved
sanitation and wastewater management.
There have been few investments in proper sewage collection and
treatment, especially outside Metro Manila. The net benefts of sanitation
projects are still not broadly appreciated. Benefciary willingness to pay
also depends on the cost recovery and tarif strategies adopted, as well as
the subsidies that can be provided which are initially justified given the
public benefts the investments in sanitation will generate. 81 All these
will require effective information, education, and communication
(IEC) programs tailored to each stakeholder group.
Only about 70% of the more than 8,000 tons of garbage that are
produced every day in Metro Manila are actually collected. The rest often
winds up in the streets and local rivers, exacerbating floods that paralyze
the capital region. The waste collected are taken to dump sites that often
catch fre
or
contaminate
local water
supplies.
The
waste
decomposes and produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 21 times
more potent than carbon dioxide and a major cause of climate change.
Cities in the Philippines, particularly those in Metro Manila and other
highly urbanized centers, need to convert their garbage dumps into
sanitary landflls to better manage waste disposal while contributing to
the fght against climate change. Under the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act (Republic Act 9003), the LGUs, communities, and the
private sector can generate carbon credits for complying with the Solid
Waste Management Act of 2000. The law calls for phasing out open dump
sites and converting them into sanitary landflls to reduce the risks of fre,
water contamination, and methane emissions.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and
Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation.
Strategy and Road Map.
80
Urban Governance and

Legislation: Issues and
Agenda
There is no explicit official defnition of urban governance in the

Philippines. Too often, discussions about urban governance are subsumed
into local governance, or even the more generic, all-purpose term
governance. A recent study conducted by ADB of the Philippines' urban
sector characterized its form of urban governance as involving too many
institutions with overlapping mandates resulting in inadequate verticalhorizontal institutional coordination for planning, implementation, and
operation of infrastructure and service (Figure 5-1). Although the
decentralization process can be deemed a success, the lack of efective
urban governance mechanisms particularly for regional scale
May 2016
Page |
53
Urban governance is defined by UN-Habitat as the many ways that

institutions and individuals organize the day-to-day management of a city,
and the processes used for realizing the short term and long-term agenda
of a city's development.82 Good urban governance entails making sure
that all levels of the government system understand their roles and
responsibilities and that the allocation of resources across levels of
government is fair and equitable. It develops policies and approaches to
meet the needs of the
Urban governance is the software that
communities in the cities,
enables the
involving them
urban hardware to function; requiring an
in identifying their needs and
adequate
legal
framework,
eficient
political,
wants, and in
the
managerial and administrative processes, as
processes
of
well as strong and capable institutions.
planning,
implementing
Urban legislation, on the other hand, is the
collection of policies, laws, decisions, and
and monitoring
the
practices that govern urban management
delivery of public goods and
and
sustainable
development.
Urban
services that respond to their
management is the process by which the
goals and aspirations of cities are achieved,
needs and wants. 83
within the boundaries set by the legal and
Equality, eficiency,
political
frameworks,
using
resources
transparency,
eficiently and efectively.
accountability,
popular
Source:
UNparticipation
and
security:
Habitat
these are among the basic
principles that lie at the heart
of good urban
governance.
Subsidiarityan
organizing
principle
theoretically linked
to decentralization and which states that matters ought to be handled by
the smallest, lowest, or least centralized competent authority84is
equally important, providing the rationale for why cities must play the
pivotal role in eficient and cost-efective urban governance.
infrastructure projects involving inter-jurisdictional cooperation has

resulted in negative impacts on economic competitiveness, the
environment, and the delivery of reliable, affordable and resilient urban
services. A capacity needs assessment conducted indicated an overall
weakness for development planning, management and enforcement. This
can be traced to lingering, unaddressed policy issues affecting
institutional structures, inter-governmental and multi-level governance
relationships, management and technical capacity as well as unmet
public and private fnancing needs. On the upside, "lessons learned
indicate the strong capacity of organized communities and their
homeowners' associations, jointly with their local governments and local
neighborhood (barangay) offices to supervise and implement their own
settlement development and upgrading projects."85
unhabitat.org/urban-themes/governance.
The World Bank. Understanding Good Urban Governance and Management. Urban and City
Management ProgramWorkbook
Session One & Two. http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/166856/UCMP/UCMP/session12.
84 Albert Breton, et.al. 1998. Decentralization and Subsidiarity: Toward a Theoretical
Reconciliation. In University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law Volume 19:1 (United
States: University of Pennsylvania Law School).
85 Ramola Naik Singru and Michael Lindfeld (2014). Republic of the Philippines National
Urban Assessment (Mandaluyong City,
Philippines: Asian Development Bank).
82
83

May 2016
Page |
53
Figure 5-1. Urban Governance Framework of the Philippines

Preside
nt
Legen
d:
--------
NEDA Board
Housing and
Urban
Development
Coordinating
Council
HDM
F
HGC
Key Shelter
Agencies
SHFC
NH
A
DILG
Sectoral Planning,
Policy
and Oversight
Departments
NHMFC
NSWM
C
Regulation
Agencies of
National
Government
DEN
R
DAR
DOT
LTO
LR
Urban Utility
Agencies of
National
Government
A
NAPOCOR
NEA
Cooperati
ves
MMD
A
BCDA
PEA
PEZA
CDC
DO
MARIN
NWR
NT
ERB
MW
C
Municipalities /
Component cities
DSW
DICT*
1. Newly created under RA

10844, DOTC
became DOT
MWSS
LWUA
Local
Water
Distric
ts
SBM
A
Barangays
Local Governments Provinces /
Independent Cities
HLUR
B
DPW
LTFRB
MERALCO
Specialized
Land
Development
Urban
Management
Agencies
DA
Technical supervision
Policy and program
coordination and oversight
PCU
P
PP
A
LLD
A
PRRC
Abbreviations
BCDA
Bases Conversion Development Authority
CDC
Clark Development Corporation
DA
Dept. of Agriculture
DAR
Dept. of Agrarian Reform
DENR
Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
DILG
Dept. of the Interior and Local Government
DOH
Dept. of Health
DOTC
Dept. of Transportation
DITC
Dept. of Information and Communications Technology
DPWH
Dept. of Public Works and Highways
DSWD
Dept. Social Welfare and Development
ERB
Energy Regulatory Board
HDMF
Home Development Mutual Fund
Home Guaranty Corporation

Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
Laguna Lake Development Authority
Land Registration Authority
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
Land Transportation Authority
Abbreviations cont.
MARINA Maritime Regulatory Administration
MWC
Manila Water Company
MWSC
Maynilad Water Services Company
MERALCO Manila Electric Corporation
MMDA
Metro Manila
Development Authority MWSS
Manila Waterworks and
Sewerage System NAPOCOR
National Power Corporation
NHA
National Housing Authority
HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT | May 2016
54
NHMFC
National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation
NTC
National Telecommunications
Commission NEA
National Electrification
Administration NWRB
National
Water Resources Board
PCUP
Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor
PEZA
Philippine Economic Zone Authority
PPA
Philippine Ports Authority
PRRC
Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission
SBMA
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
SHFC
Social Housing Financing Corp.
Page |
HGC
HLURB
LLDA
LRA
LTFRB
Board
LTO
5.1 Improving Urban Legislation

5.1.1 The Philippine Urban Governance Legal Framework
There are two laws that serve as the backbone of urban governance in
the Philippines. The frst is Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, also
known as Republic Act 7160. The LGC devolved to
the
local
governmentsspecifcally
the cities and the provinces
"The
Congress
shall
enact
a
local
government
code
which
shall
provide
for
a
the eficient
more responsive and accountable local
and efective
delivery
government structure instituted through a
of
"low-cost housing
system of decentralization..."
and other mass dwellings" and
The
1987
Philippine
Constitution
other basic services to its
Article
X.
Section 3
constituents.87
More importantly, it
created
and
recognized local governments
as both
political and corporate units. As such, they were vested with the
authority to exercise powers as a political subdivision of the national
government and as a corporate entity representing the residents of its
territory.
The LGC explicitly provides LGUs with the power and authority (i) to
establish an organization that shall be responsible for the eficient and
efective implementation of their development plans, program objectives
and priorities; (ii) to create their own sources of revenue and to levy
taxes, fees, and charges which shall accrue exclusively for their use and
disposition and which shall be retained by them; (iii) to have a just share
in national taxes which shall be automatically and directly released to
them without need of any further action; (iv) to have an equitable share
in the proceeds from the utilization and development of the national
May 2016
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55
Against this background, urban governance in the Philippines should

evolve more quickly to face the compelling challenges posed by its
growing population, expanding economy, vulnerability to climate change,
environmental degradation, and deepening urban poverty. Reforms will
have to go beyond sectoral policies and promote stronger cooperation,
vertically and horizontally, among the various agents of government and
the private sector as well as civil society organizations, fostering a
balanced distribution of powers, capacities and resources.86 It should
above all underscore the structures, relationships, systems and processes
that facilitate demand- driven initiatives responsive to the needs and
priorities of rapidly urbanizing cities and their urban communities. This
chapter assesses various key aspects of urban governance, as defned by
UN- Habitat, and identifies key challenges as well as lessons learned
essential to formulating the cornerstone of a new urban governance
framework for the Philippines.
wealth and resources within their respective territorial jurisdictions

including sharing the same with the inhabitants by way of direct benefts;
(v) to acquire, develop, lease, encumber, alienate, or otherwise dispose of
real or personal property held by them in their proprietary capacity;
and (vi) to apply their resources
and assets for productive, developmental, or welfare purposes, in the
exercise or furtherance of their governmental or proprietary powers and
functions and thereby ensure their development into self- reliant
communities and active participants in the attainment of national goals.
Since the passage of the LGC, LGUs have been undertaking their own
local planning and implementation through their respective CDPs,
CLUPs, and investment programming which are approved by their local
councils. Although these plans must be synchronized with various
national and subnational
Habitat III Policy Paper. 2016. 4Urban Governance, Capacity and Institutional Development.
Excluding the programs and projects funded by the Social Security System (SSS), Government
Service Insurance System (GSIS),
and the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or Pag-IBIG.
86
87

May 2016
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56
frameworks, they allow the LGUs to shape their political,

economic, social and physical landscapes.
The program objectives of UDHA include the following: (i) delivery of decent
and afordable housing, basic services, and employment opportunities to the
underprivileged and homeless citizens in the urban areas; (ii) security of tenure
to eligible program beneficiaries without jeopardizing the rights of small property
owners; (iii) efective people's participation in the urban development process;
(iv) reduction in urban dysfunctions particularly those that adversely affect public
health, safety, and ecology; (v) policies to direct urban growth and
encourage a more balanced urban-rural interdependence; and (vi) capacity
development for local governments in undertaking
urban development and
housing projects. It also prescribed the preparation of a National Urban
Development and Housing Framework (NUDHF) under the leadership of HUDCC.
Toward this approach, the law defined the eligibility criteria for socialized
housing beneficiaries as well as the mechanisms for their registration,
organization, and participation in the program. UDHA also stipulated a balanced
housing developmenta strategy that required the private sector to develop an
area for socialized housing equivalent to at least 20% of the total area or total
cost of their proposed projects.
Table 5-1: Key Urban Legislation in the Philippines

Law/Executive
Issuance
RA
7279 (1992)
RA 7160 (1991)
Title/Summary
Description
Urban
Development and
Housing Act
of 1992
Relevance to Urban
Development for
Provided
a
comprehensive and
continuing urban development
and housing
program and
established
mechanisms
for
its
implementation by the local
governments, with support
national
Local Government Code of the from
Devolved HUDCC,
the
planning
Philippines:
and implementation
of socialized housing
and the delivery of basic urban
services
to
the
local
governments;
corporatized
local governments; and vested
The second is the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) of 1992
which was enacted through Republic Act 7279. This law paved the
way for the government to formulate and implement a comprehensive
and continuing urban development and housing program, in
cooperation with the private sector and nongovernment
organizations. Consistent with the subsidiarity principle, it placed
the responsibility for implementing UDHA with the local
governments, supported by HUDCC, the key shelter agencies (KSAs),
private sector groups, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and the
Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor. Other laws, policies, and
regulations comprising the Philippine urban legislation framework
concern urban planning and development, social housing fnance, housing
microfinance, planning standards and technical requirements for
economic and social housing, land pooling and management, and
participatory mechanisms for the urban poor (Table 5-1).
BP 220 (1982)
RA 7835 (1994)
Establishment and
Promulgation of
Different Levels of Standards
and
Technical Requirements For
Economic and Socialized
Housing Projects
Comprehensive Integrated
Shelter and
Financing Act of 1994
Prescribed
the
minimum
physical
standards
and
technical
requirements for
economic
andsocialized
housing
projects,
incorporating
Increased and environmental
regularized
the yearly
appropriation of the
Law/Executive
Issuance
EO 70 (1986) as
amended
by EO 357 (1989)
and EO
20 (2001)
EO 72 (1993)
EO 124 (1993)
EO 82 (1986) as
amended by EO 69
(2012)
EO 184 (1994)
EO 272 (2004)
RA 10693 (2015)
Relevance to Urban
Development Fund.
Pabahay
Augmented
the
capitalization
of NHMFC
and
Creating and strengthening
EO
70 abolished
the Ministry
HUDCC
of Human
Settlements,
and
created
HUDCC to serve as the
highest policy making body for
housing. Subsequent EOs gave
HUDCC overall
Devolving the Powers of
Pursuant toadministrative
the LGC, devolved
HLURB
the powers
of
HLURB
to approve subdivision
plans,
to
cities
and
municipalities,
Preparation and
In
accordance with the LGC,
Implementation of
prescribed
Comprehensive Land Use
the preparation and
Plans
implementation
Evaluation
of Areas Proposed Established
the of
priorities and
for Land
procedures
Conversion
for evaluating areas proposed
for land conversion in regional
agro-industrial
centers,
regional
Creation and Strengthening
EO 82industrial
created the PCUP.
of the Presidential
EO
69
Commission for the Urban
strengthened
the
Poor (PCUP)
organization and
mandate of the PCUP to be
able to
strictly monitor all demolition
and eviction
activities
against the
Creation of Socialized
Established
socialized
underprivileged
andhousing
the
Housing Oneone-stop
Stop Processing Centers
processing centers to facilitate
the issuance of
permits,
clearances,
certifcations
and
licenses
for
the
Creation of the Social Housing Authorized
NHMFC
to
Finance
establish and
Corporation (SHFC)
organize the SHFC as its
wholly-owned
subsidiary.
Tasked SHFC as the lead
government
agency
for
undertaking social housing
Strengthening NGOs Engaged Provided
programsfor
forthe
the
formal and
establishment
in
of the Microfnance NGO
Microfnance
Regulatory Council by
the
SEC. Authorized microfnance
NGOs to
undertake
housing microfnance,
insurance,
and
agriculture
microfnance in addition to
BP = Batas Pambansa (National Assembly); CLUPs = Comprehensive Land Use Plans; EO

Executive Order; HIGC = Home
Insurance and Guaranty Corporation; HLURB = Housing and Land Urban and Regulatory
Board; HUDCC = Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; LGC = Local
Government Code; NHMFC = National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation; NGOs =
nongovernment organizations; PCUP = Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor; RA =
EO 71 (1993)
Title/Summary
Description
Republic Act; SEC = Securities and Exchange Corporation; SHFC = Social Housing Finance
Corporation.
5.1.2
Addressing the Urban Legal Gaps
UDHA was considered a watershed urban legislation when it was enacted

in 1992. It ushered pioneering approaches to (i) inter-governmental and
multi-level relationships, (ii) self-help and incremental housing, (iii) urban
renewal, (iv) private sector participation, (v) participatory planning and
implementation, (vi) land assembly for low-income and pro poor
housing, and (vii) a decentralized low-income housing and basic urban
services delivery system. Complemented by the LGC-mandated devolution
of the urban development and socialized housing functions to the local
governments, UDHA facilitated the central government's transition from
being a direct provider of housing and basic urban services to the role of
an enabler.88 This shift in approach enabled NGOs and the private sector
to participate more actively in urban development and housing leading to
a total direct housing provision of more than 1.7 million during the period
2001-2015 and distributing secure tenure to more than 615,000
families during the same period. The Philippine government has also
launched a Php50-billion peso (US1.09 billion) housing program for
informal settlers living in the danger areas of Metro Manila from 20112016.
But it has also been over twenty years since the passage of UDHA and
the LGC. During these years, urban development has continued to evolve
posing new challenges to urban governance. The accelerated pace of
urbanization in the Philippinescombined with its archipelagic nature
and geographic location which makes it highly vulnerable to climate
changecall for revisions to the existing urban governance framework,
starting frst and foremost with urban legislation. Several laws have in
fact been proposed in Congress to address this need for change. An
important pending legislation is the creation of a Department of Housing
and Urban Development (DHUD). This will rationalize the structure and
functions of the different housing and urban development agencies given
the evolution of urban development in the country and harmonize all
housing and urbandevelopment plans,
policies,
programs, and projects at the
management and allocationof
the
local, sub- regional, regional,
countrys
natural
and national levels. A strong
DHUD will address, among
other things, the affordability
and accessibility of housing,
especially to those who are
threatened
by
persistent
poverty,
the
adverse
consequences of environmental
and climate change impacts,
and social exclusion. Other bills
under consideration include the
proposed National Land Use
Act which seeks to create a
national framework for the
It
is
essential
to
improve
interfacing between local
governmentoficials and
representatives
of
regional and national government
agencies
to
improve
implementation
at
the
local
[program] and project
levels.
It
is
imperative
for HUDCC to broaden its scope
to [lead] and coordinate urban
development management to meet the

objectives and goals outlined in the
updated NUDHF. However, in the absence
of budget control and resource allocation
powers, HUDCC [has been] inherently weak
[as sector lead agency] and the [main]
coordinative mechanism at the national
level. This presents a strong case for the
proposed Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
ADB,
resources, in the process minimizing the conflicts and tensions arising

from competing land uses.
Amendments to UDHA have likewise been proposed, a key proposal is to
require developers of vertical residential projects to comply with the 20%
balanced housing development. Moreover, Congress has also initiated
legislative reforms to promote in-city development and vertical
socialized housing; among others aimed at expediting housing
production.
A 2015 consultative review of the LGC proposed the following areas for
amendments, in order to fully capacitate the LGUs to deliver basic
services, strengthen local governance and improve the welfare of the
local communities:
(i) authority to tax; (ii) clarity in expenditure
assignment; (iii)
88
This approach was consistent with the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, launched
by the United Nations, which rather than emphasizing direct government interventions, called
on governments to enact policies and other incentives that will encourage all nongovernmental
sector stakeholders to participate more actively in housing and urban development.
Source:
2014
increasing and equalizing the

facilitate LGU borrowing; (v)
reclassifcation; (vi) establishing a
local cooperation; and (vii)
management.90 Various bills are
proposed changes.
Internal Revenue Allotment; 89 (iv)

requirement for LGU creation and
framework to create and operate interpromoting sound public fnancial
pending in Congress to effect these
5.2.1
Gains on the Decentralization Front
The LGC represented a major milestone in advancing decentralization

and local autonomy in the Philippines. Prior to the LGC, functions
assigned to the local governments were limited to the levy and collection
of local taxes; regulation of business activities; and administration of
garbage
collection,
public
cemeteries,
public
markets
and
slaughterhouses. However, the LGC devolved the responsibility for the
delivery of a large number of basic services including, but not limited to
agricultural extension, community-based forestry, feld health and
hospital services, public works, school building program, social welfare
services, tourism, telecommunications, and housing to the LGUs.
Likewise, regulatory functions, such as re-classifcation of agricultural
lands, enforcement of environmental laws, inspection of food products
and quarantine, enforcement of building code, operation of tricycles,
approval of subdivision plan, and establishment of cockpits were also
transferred to the LGUs.
The devolution was substantial not only in terms of the sheer volume of
functions transferred but more so in terms of the number of personnel
reassigned.
Financial transfers to
the local governments were also increased, with 40% of internally
generated taxes allocated to local governments through the IRA. In
addition, the LGC conveyed to the local governments the authority to
generate specifc and potentially important own-source revenues. The
LGC also encouraged local governments to identify and explore
alternative sources of revenues by exercising their corporate powers in
partnership with the private sector.
More than two decades into the countrys devolution, academics and
observers have noted mixed results stating that the efects on
delivery of devolved services, poverty reduction, fscal balance, economic
growth, government
size, and governance
rightfully
characterized decentralization in the Philippines as neither a
complete success nor a failure. Economic models and performance
measures are still works in progress, and there seems to be signifcant
constraints on information sources in the Philippines. The results on
causality or efects of decentralization on improved governance, service
delivery, economic growth, and poverty reduction are likewise neither
defnitive nor conclusive. 91
5.2 Decentralization and Strengthening of

Local Authorities
However, scores of anecdotal evidence on local development spurred by

decentralization policies are readily available. For instance, the Galing
Pook Foundation, a resource institution that promotes innovation and
excellence in local governance has since 1993, recognized more than 200
local government programs from some 150 LGUs as success stories.
Some local urban governance good practices have also been recognized
by the Government for their excellence. Examples include the Bond
Flotation for Low Cost Housing in Victorias City in Negros Occidental.
The
In the Philippines, intergovernmental transfers or central government transfers to local
government units (LGUs) are of three types: formula-based block grants (i.e., internal revenue
allotment or IRA), origin-based share in central government revenues (i.e., share in national
wealth and other taxes), and the ad hoc categorical grants. In principle, LGUs have almost full
discretion on their use of their IRA. In contrast, the use of categorical grants are conditioned on
specific purposes.
90
Review of the 1991 Local Government Code, February 2015, DILG-ADB Technical Assistance.
91 Evan Bernan (Ed). Public Administration in Southeast Asia:
Thailand, Philippines,
Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macao. In Public
Organization Review 12(2) June 2011.
89
Community participation has increased in urban governanceparticularly in

infrastructure planning and implementation, accessing housing finance and
microfinance, operation and maintenance, and program/project monitoring and
evaluation with the creation of local special bodies. On the urban front, cities have
begun to move away from a dependence- culture to a demand-led approach,
taking on greater responsibilities and innovations leading to more cost- efective
means of urban services delivery. The combination of bigger and more buoyant
tax bases and a relatively larger share of IRA has resulted in greater fiscal
autonomy, which have allowed cities to provide better services to its populace
than other local government.
Source: UN-Habitat, 2011.
To conclude, an assessment revealed decentralization under the LGC as

(i) demonstrating mixed results, with modest gains in devolved services
including health, agriculture, and social services; (ii) showing improved
context and initiative for participation in local governance; (iii) a case of
national sectoral planning not fully fused with local planning; (vi)
providing conditions for local fnance, but with policy design flaws still
needing correction; and (v) evidencing policy implementation affected by
the political process, but with frm policy support.93
5.2.2 Taking Bolder Steps for Improved Local Urban

Governance
Since the LGCs enactment, several measures have been adopted and
enforced to ensure that the objectives of the law to efect sustained
social, political, and economic development are attained. In 2004, the
Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) was
established by the DILG to help measure the efectiveness and eficiency
of local governance. The system covers all provinces, cities and
municipalities.
The Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) which was initiated in 2010
has been
promoting transparency and accountability in local
governance. In 2012, 84% of provinces, cities and municipalities were
conferred the SGH. This indicates readiness on the part of the recipient
local governments a readiness to take on greater challenges. In 2014, the
DILG scaled up the SGH into the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG).
The SGLG expanded recognition of good performance beyond fnancial
housekeeping to other areas that directly beneft the people. It has six
assessment criteria (i) good fnancial housekeeping (formerly the SGH);
project showcased how a small city, with the support of its communities,
used the bold economic strategy to float bonds in order to provide shelter
and housing to its people. Another is the Lote Para sa Mahirap (Land for
the Poor), a land banking innovation in San Carlos City specifcally
designed for the ultra-poor families and households. The program
benefciaries selected so far have mostly been tricycle drivers and fsh as
well as vegetable vendors. More importantly, over the years, the law has
enabled numerous cases of successful local government partnerships
and/or collaboration with the private sector and NGOs, as well as
community-based organizations (CBOs). 92
(ii) disaster preparedness; (iii) social protection; (iv) business friendliness

and competitiveness; (v) peace and order; and (vi) environmental
management. Cash incentives from the Performance Challenge Fund is
awarded to local government that qualify based on the set criteria.
The Performance Challenge Fund provides financial support on a competitiveness
basis to qualified local government infrastructure projects using a series of good
governance conditions encapsulated by the Seal of Good Local Governance.
92
93
UN-Habitat. Fiscal Decentralization, 2011.

Berman, op.cit.
A decentralization program has also been implemented with the DILG

and NEDA as lead executing agencies.
The program has three
components: (i) political decentralization and good governance (ii) fscal
decentralization and improved fnancial management and (iii)
institutional decentralization and improved delivery of services for which
specific outputs and their uses were defned. Examples were improved
revenue collection and the application of improved planning processes at
provincial and local government unit level. In 2010, in response to
increasing demand from civil society for improvements in local
governance, DILG issued Memorandum Circular
2010-83, or the full disclosure policy, which mandates LGUs to prepare
and make the public aware of key reports in areas such as local
government budgeting, planning, procurement, and gender and
development (GAD).
5.2.3 Metropolitan Governance: Gaining Momentum in the

Philippines
A notable trend in the last twenty years is how several LGUs have
agglomerated themselves into metropolitan units, either formally or
informally, to integrate planning and administration in order to address
issues transcending the limits of their jurisdictional boundaries. These
covered development and planning; transport and traffic management;
solid waste disposal and management; water, septage, sewerage and
storm water management; and disaster risk reduction and management.
LGUs have also grouped themselves, consolidated, or coordinated their
eforts, services and resources for purposes commonly benefcial to
them, in accordance with the LGC (Table 5-2). Some have pursued
integrated planning to promote local industries and harmonize land use
and spatial as well as physical development within their shared areas.
Furthermore, other cities are also considering the creation of
metropolitan units within their territorial jurisdictions.
Table 5-2: Organizational Types and Financing of Metropolitan
Arrangements in the Philippines
In 2014, out of 1,676 LGUs assessed, 254 or 15% passed the SGLG. While
the SGLG focuses on internal performance measures, measuring citizen
satisfaction has become the new metric for performance management in
the local government sector. From 2013-2015, Citizen Satisfaction Index
System (CSIS) surveys were conducted in 140 cities to evaluate the reach
and quality of local public services from the point of view of the citizens.
Based on the fnal results from 129 cities,
80 or 62% had High to Very High satisfaction index scores. Health,
support to education, social welfare and environmental management
emerged on top, from among eight service areas in terms of satisfaction.
Passi in Western Visayas region, San Carlos in the Negros Island region,
and Iriga in the Bicol region were the top three performers from among
the 129 cities.
Metropolitan Organization
Area
Funding
Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Development
Authority
Metro Cebu
Metro Cebu
Development
Council (has
no legal or
institutional
powers)
Davao Regional
Development
Council
Metro Davao
-no juridical
identity
Basis
Republic Act
No.
7924 (1995)
Component
Source of
Cities/Municipalities
Cities of Manila, Quezon,

Caloocan, Las Pias,
Makati,
Malabon, Mandaluyong,
Marikina, Muntinlupa,
Navotas, Paraaque,
Pasay, Pasig, San Juan,
RDC
Cities of Carcar, Cebu,
Resolution
Danao,
No.117 (1997) Lapu-lapu, Mandaue,
Naga, and Talisay;
Patterned after Municipalities of
Compostela,
MMDA
No formal legal Cities of Davao, Digos,
framework
Panabo,
Samal, and Tagum,;
Municipalities of Carmen,
and Santa Cruz
National
Allocation,
Local Fixed
Contribution,
Fees, Fines
Collection
Under Study
Local Fund
Contribution
Metropolitan Organization
Area
Funding
Metro Cagayan
de
Oro
Basis
Component
Source of
Cities/Municipalities
Under Study (to Metro CDO

establish
Special
a
Developm
developm
ent
ent
Project
authority)
5.3 Improving Participation and Human Rights

in Urban
Developm
ent
5.3.1 Participatory Mechanisms for Improved Urban
Governance
People organized as communities or civil society groups at the local level,
or through neighborhood initiatives, are indispensable to eficient and
efective urban governance. Leadership for public participation,
stakeholder involvement and responsibility, and making use of
mechanisms such as public hearings and surveys, cities and municipal
assemblies, citizens' fora, city consultations and participatory strategy
development, including issue-specifc working groups, are among the key
strategies used for generating civic engagement concerning important
urban development options.
Community participation in urban development has gained ground in the
Philippines through the involvement of nongovernment organizations
(NGOs) coming from the business, religious, environmental, informal
Cities of Cagayan De Oro

Under Study
and El
Salvador; Municipalities
of Alubijid, Baungon,
Claveria, Gitagum, Jasaan,
Laguindingan, Libona,
Malitbog, Manolo Fortich,
Opol, Sumilao, Tagoloan,
Metro IloiloMetro IloiloExecutive
Iloilo City, Municipalities of Local Fund
Guimaras
Guimaras
Order
Oton,
Contribution
No. 559 series Pavia, Leganes, Santa
Economic
of
Barbara, and
Developm
President
San Miguel;
ent
Council
Gloria
Municipalities of
MacapagalJordan, Buenavista,
Arroyo
Nueva Valencia, San
Lorenzo,
and
Sibunag
Metro Naga
Metro Naga
Executive
Naga
City;
Municipalities
of National
Order
Allocation,
Development
Bombon, Bula, Calabanga,
No. 102, series Camaligan, Canaman,
Local Fixed
Council
of
Contribution
Gainza, Magarao, Milaor,
1993 by
Minalabac, Ocampo,
President
Pamplona, Pasacao, Pili,
Fidel V. Ramos and San Fernando
Metro Baguio
Under Study (to Master Plan for Baguio City; Municipalities Under Study
of
BLIST
establish
Itogon, La Trinidad,
development
a
Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay
(plan
developm
facilitated by
ent
the July 1990
authority)
earthquake)
Metro Dagupan Under Study
CAMADA
Dagupan City;
Under Study
Master
Municipalities of
Plan
Calasiao and Mangaldan
Source: Metropolitan Arrangements in the Philippines: Passing Fancy or the Future Megatrend?
Discussion Paper Series
No. 98-31 by Ruben G. Mercado and Rosario G. Manasan.
settlers sectors, and other CBOS. It has been evident mainly in local
planning initiatives, infrastructure improvement and maintenance, and
facilitating access to credit. Peoples' participation through homeowners'
associations and other CBOs, for instance, is an underlying prerequisite
of the Community Mortgage Program, the government's banner program
for low income and pro poor housing.
The
Bottom-Up Budgeting (BuB)
program of
the
Government
has
also
institutionalized
people's participation in the budgeting process. Under this
program, each barangay receives a subsidy of Php1 million to be used for the
implementation of projects that citizens have identified and prioritized through a
participative process of planning and budgeting. This supports barangays in better
formulating poverty reduction action plans and in monitoring the delivery of basic
services in their localities.
Urban governance based on human rights can help set-up mechanisms

that will lead to sustainable urban development, and ultimately, to
successful poverty reduction eforts. In the major urban centers of the
Philippines, human rights issues are mostly related to the quest for
adequate access by ISFs to secure tenure, affordable housing and basic
services covering healthcare, education,
food security, and access to
clean water.
The program objectives of the Urban
Development
Housing Act include the rational use and
development
of urban land that guarantee the rights of
the underprivileged and homeless to housing
and basic services, including an equitable
land tenure system that ensures their secure
tenure, without violating the rights of small
property owners. In particular, Section
28 of the Urban Development Housing Act
sets the rules on evictions and demolitions,
defines instances where they may be
warranted, and prescribes safeguards in the
execution of eviction and demolition orders,
such as: (i) 30-day notice; (ii) adequate
consultation; (iii) presence of LGU oficials;
(iv) proper identification of persons engaged
in demolition; (iv) set time and conditions
when eviction or demolition may be efected;
(v) no use of heavy equipment; (vi) police to
observe
proper
uniform
and
standard
procedures;and (vii) adequate relocation or
compensation
Recognizing the rights of ISFs

and affording them safeguards
is a welcome departure from
previous government policy,
which
was contained
in Presidential Decree
No. 772, s. 1975, and which
penalized squatting in urban
communities
with
imprisonment
or
the
imposition of a fne.
In,
2014,
the
Philippine
Government took further steps
to promote the rights of ISFs
not to be confused with
professional
squatters94
and squatting syndicate95by
issuing DILG Memorandum
Circular No.
2014-82
providing
guidelines
designed
to prevent
hostility and
violence arising from demolition and/or eviction of underprivileged and
homeless citizens, which among others, required the conduct of a predemolition conference at least three days prior to the eviction/demolition.
5.4 Enhancing Urban Safety and Security

5.4.1
Curbing Urban Crimes
5.3.2 A Human Rights-Based Approach to Urban

Governance
Addressing safety and security issues is essential to achieving sustainable

urban development. The PDP 2011-2016 identifies crime incidence
reduction as one of the strategies to promote and sustain public order
and internal stability. Data from the Philippine National Police (PNP)
annual accomplishment report for 2015 shows a drop of 5.43% in
Comparative Crime Volume (CV) nationwide from 2014-2015. However,
in the regions, NCR registered the highest with 22.55% of
Individuals or groups who occupy lands without the express consent of the landowner and who
have suficient income for legitimate housing. The term also applies to persons who have
previously been awarded homelots or housing units by the Government but who sold, leased or
transferred the same to settle illegally in the same place or in another urban area, and nonbona fde occupants and intruders of lands reserved for socialized housing. The term does not
apply to individuals or groups who simply rent land and housing from professional squatters or
squatting syndicates.
95 Persons/groups of persons engaged in the illegal business of squatter housing for profit or gain,
whether for fnancial or political
advantage.
94
the CV from PNP blotters nationwide. Based on the same statistics, the
NCR again ranked highest in incidence of Index Crimes among the 17
regions nationwide for the same period.
5.4.2 Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness and

Management
As discussed in previous chapters, the archipelagic nature of the
Philippines increases its vulnerability to natural disasters and hazards.
This has compelled the adoption of highly proactive disaster risk
reduction and management (DRRM) and climate change adaptation
(CCA) policies and programs. In this regard, eforts have been made to
build the peoples resilience to disasters, in line with the countrys
commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the
Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). In 2010, in accordance with these
commitments, the Strategic National Action Plan (SNAP) on DRR 20092019a road map indicating the vision and strategic objectives on DRR
of the country for the next ten yearswas adopted.
Since 2010, the country has made progress in the areas of (i) disaster
prevention and mitigation; (ii) disaster preparedness; (iii) disaster
response; and (iv) disaster rehabilitation and preparedness. The
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has formulated a dynamic
disaster preparedness agenda. This includes Project NOAH, also known
as the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, a real time
warning system for flooding. Nevertheless, in November 2013, Super
Typhoon Yolanda prompted a more vigorous response from the executive
and legislative branches of government to ensure dedicated funding for
disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation programs. The
2014 budget included funding for disaster mitigation and rehabilitation
and reconstruction, covering both pre- and post-disaster activities. The
budget also included a provision barring reconstruction and development
projects in protected areas as well as in identified danger zones.96
At the local level, a good majority of LGUs have organized their
respective Local Disaster Risk Management Council/Offce. As of 2014, a
total of 1,239 provinces, cities and municipalities (PCMs) have passed the
DILGs Disaster Preparedness Profle, representing 73.9% of the 1,714
total PCMs. In addition, 29 out of the 34 HUCs in the Philippines or
85.29% passed. Passing the Disaster Preparedness Profle meant that the
LGU scored positive marks on the following elements: (i) organization of
the LDRRMC and the LDRRMO; (ii) presence of plans related to DRRM
like the
LDRRM Plan with budget allocation, Contingency Plan,
Several legislative measures aimed at reducing criminality in the country

have been fled in congress, including one that will mandate business
establishments to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in their
premises. The proposed PNP modernization lays down the framework for
police organizational development, crime prevention and control
development, human resources development, as well as internal security
and counterinsurgency capability development.
Comprehensive Land Use Plan, and Local Climate Change Adaptation

Plan; (iii) systems-in place on early warning, evacuation center
management- basic is on identifcation of evacuation center and system
for registration and information guide for the evacuees; (iv)
prepositioning of relief operations, medical and security services; and (v)
availability of Standard Operation Procedures.97
On another front, fire is a human-made disaster that causes enormous
damage to life and property in crowded urban agglomerations. In 2014
alone, the total cost of structural fres amounted to Php2.6 billion. As
such, fre prevention and suppression is a major undertaking for both the
national and local governments. The Bureau of Fire Protection conducts
fire safety awareness campaigns by organizing and training fre brigades
at the barangay level. It has also embarked on
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan, 2011-2028.
Department of the Interior and Local Government. Disaster Preparedness Profile, Seal of Good
Local Governance, 2014.
96
97
a continuing inspection of commercial buildings and other establishments

to ensure their compliance with the Fire Code. To improve its frefghting
capacity, the BFP is engaged in a capacity building program, which will
facilitate the acquisition of some 150 fre trucks to be distributed to
capital towns and other HUCs.
5.5 Improving Social Inclusion and Equity
Among the strategies outlined in the PDP to achieve inclusive growth is

human development through investment in human resources and
provision of basic social services, stronger safety nets and social
protection against shocks. Two
The Philippine economy has been
main strategies towards asset
posting high
and human capital
growth rates over the past two years,
formation for the poor
with GDP at
7.5% in 2013. With economic growth
is community-driven
expected to be sustained over the next
development (CDD)
and
few years, the country is adopting
conditional
cash
transfers
(CCT).
measures that will ensure that economic
gains are cascaded down to all sectors,
The CCT provides direct cash
especially the poor and marginalized.
transfers to the poor provided
Inclusive
growth
is
the
primary
that (i)
their
children
development goal outlined in
the
Philippine
Development
Plan
(PDP)
continue to attend school; (ii) the
2011family makes use of preventive
2016, which acknowledges that it is
health
care
and
nutrition
sustained growth that creates jobs,
draws the majority into the economic
services; and (iii) they attend
and social mainstream, and continuously
family development seminars. It
reduces mass poverty. Under the MDG,
must be noted that the CCT is
the country is committed to halve the
poverty incidence by 2015. However,
just one of the three pillars of the
poverty incidence is not declining fast
administrations
convergence
enough.
strategy
to
address
poverty.
It is
Source: Philippine Development Plan
2011-2016
complemented by the
KapitMidterm Update
bisig Laban
sa
Kahirapan
Comprehensive and Integrated
Delivery of Social Services
(KALAHI-CIDSS),
andthe
Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). The former provides funding for
community-driven infrastructure projects such as school buildings, health
centers, farm-to-market roads, foot bridges, and water systems, among
Inequality is a growing concern all over the world. Inequalities are

present in almost every facet of development; evidenced by income
disparities, differences in access to opportunities, as well as in numerous
forms of gender and youth inequalities. City slums and informal
settlements are reinforcing other forms of deprivation and inequalitythe
lack of access to employment and livelihood opportunities, capital, basic
urban services, education, health and social networks. On the other hand,
social inclusion and equity ensure the equitable distribution of the
benefts of economic development and progress leading to a more
dignifed life for millions of urban poor.
others. The latter extends capital assistance and capability building to

benefciaries to start their own income generating projects.
Meanwhile, the PCUP, for its part, accredits Peoples Organizations (POs)
to facilitate their representation in the formulation of policies and
implementation of programs designed to respond to their needs. The
PCUP provides capability building to accredited and non-accredited POs
through trainings and seminars on UPO organizational management and
leadership; urban poor- related laws and issuances; livelihood generation;
and gender involvement, responsibilities, and sensitivity.
For the housing sector, HUDCC formulated the National Informal
Settlements Upgrading Strategy, or NISUS, to institute major shifts in
the governments housing program for ISFs. Through the NISUS, the
Government encourages the creation of an enabling policy environment
that allows people the opportunity to transform from informal settlers
into active participants of
the urban economy, and for the potential benefciaries to fully accept and
assume the responsibilities that go with the transformation. It promotes
the principle of subsidiarity, and suggests the adoption of the informal
settlement upgrading approach. It envisions programs and projects that
put people and communities frst, and help them plan and upgrade their
settlements according to their needs and priorities, within the constraints
of their affordable limits, through a community action planning process.

Learned
5.6.1
Strengthening Urban Sector Leadership
The creation of DHUD has been a long standing proposal in Congress.

Several versions of the bill have been written since the early 1990s but
its creation has not been enacted into law. Currently, there are various
government institutions responsible for the housing sector yet
fragmented eforts hinder the immediate implementation of housing and
urban development initiatives. A strong DHUD, established and
adequately resourced through the proper legislation, will be more
efective at providing the leadership vital to addressing the growing and
evolving nature of the urban governance challenges confronting the
country.
5.6.2
Urban Legal Gaps and Decentralization Reforms
Apart from the creation of DHUD, reforms to the LGC to strengthen

urban governance in the Philippines have become of paramount
importance. There is a widespread agreement among stakeholders that
the LGC has structural defciencies requiring a more thorough
governmentled review as basis for legislative reform. According to initial
assessments, the deficiencies include (i) lack of clarity in functional
assignments, (ii) limited and unproductive sources of local revenues, and
(iii) inadequate and inequitable transfer mechanisms.98 In addition, the
LGC-defned criteria for jurisdictional formation need to be reviewed in
light of the evolving need for more efective multi-level governance,
improved vertical and horizontal integration among the institutions
involved, and stronger spatial governance that links HUCs with
intermediate cities and/or rural communities. There are also other laws
required such as one that could improve the national land use system
this will address some of the ineficiencies associated with the urban land
market.
5.6.3
Constraints to Urban Governance
Moreover, the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing, and

Resettlement, and the House Committee on Housing and Urban
Development led the conduct of the National Housing and Urban
Development Summit, which championed in-city housing and peoples
planning process as the preferred option on shelter delivery.
The lack of a clear and well-defned defnition of urban governance stems

from the limitations and uncertainties brought about by the current
institutional framework for urban development and housing in the
Philippines.
Urban governance in the Philippines has been
characterized as involving too many institutions with overlapping
mandates resulting in inadequate vertical- horizontal coordination. 99 A
capacity assessment undertaken likewise revealed institutional
weaknesses in the core competency areas of urban governance. But
population growth and rapid
98
99
ADB, 2014. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed
Programmatic Approach and Policy- Based Loan for Subprogram 1Republic of the
Philippines: Local Government Finance and Fiscal Decentralization Reform Program (Manila,
Philippines).
Singru and Lindfeld, op cit.
urbanization, the increased threat of climate change and environmental

degradation, growing inequality, intensifying public health risks, and the
impact of new technologies are all fast reshaping the challenges facing
urban governance in the Philippines.
5.6.4 Community Participation in Placemaking and Public

Space Design
Participatory mechanisms have been efectively put in place in the
Philippines but they need to be more innovative to result in more
meaningful Placemaking and public space design.
As both an
overarching idea and a hands-on approach for improving a
neighborhood, city,
or region, Placemaking inspires people to
collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every
community. 101 The My City, My Pride placemaking of Iloilo City
engaged its citizens and grassroots organizations in every facet of
planning for urban transformation and growth. The results which have
gained national recognition include a river restoration, the creation of a
wetland and bird sanctuary, rehabilitation of a 500-year-old public plaza,
new eforts in flood control, the creation of a community college, and
additional low income housing. 102 Intertwined with Placemaking is the
goal of supporting local governments in creating and promoting socially
inclusive, integrated, connected, environmentally sustainable and safe
streets and public spaces, especially for the most vulnerable.103 Towards
this, the agenda of Placemaking to create quality public spaces that
contribute to peoples health, happiness, and wellbeing should be
more vigorously pursued.
5.6.5
Deficient Access to Development Credit Finance
There is a need to increase the access of local governments to

development fnance by
using official development assistance more
eficiently, improving direct credit fnancing to lower-income local
governments, and increasing local government access to private capital
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67
More efective multi-level urban governance is urgently needed and this

should be built around mechanisms for improved vertical and horizontal
integration. Vertical integration should enhance the collaboration
between the national and local governments, including metropolitan
authorities which are becoming essential to spatial governance.
Horizontal integration, on the other hand, should strengthen the
coordination of the various government agencies, and local governments
at the same governance levels, including leagues of cities and
municipalities. Recognizing urban complexity, diversity and local context,
this multi-level governance should also include partnerships between
governmental and nongovernmental groups, particularly civil society
organizations and the private sector.100 In the Philippines, Gawad Kalinga
and Habitat for Humanity are prime examples of how partnerships with
NGOs have successfully helped to transform the urban lives of millions of
ISFs.
markets and to available government-sponsored credit lines earmarked

for local fnance. Although local government borrowing powers are
granted under the LGC, there are implicit provisions that may restrict
credit fnance. These include difficulties in opening depositary accounts
in nongovernment fnancial institutions, limitations constraining the use
of credit fnance or bonds on self-liquidating, income generating projects,
and the central bank requirement that all banks lending to local
governments must secure a no-objection from the monetary board.
Habitat III Policy Paper. 2016. 4Urban Governance, Capacity and Institutional Development. .
http://www.pps.org/reference/what_is_placemaking
102 Dan Gilmartin. Updates on Placemaking and Rethinking Cities from the Future of Places
Forum in Stockholm. 2013.
103 UN-Habitat. Global Public Space ToolkitFrom Global Principles to Local Policies and
Practice. (Nairobi: UN-Habitat, 2015).
100
101

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68
5.6.6
Correlation between Urbanization and Urban Crimes
5.6.7 Inadequacy of Data for Planning, Implementation,

and Monitoring
Effective urban governance is seriously hampered by the lack of accurate
and reliable urban data for use in urban planning; the design,
management and implementation of urban development programs and
projects; and monitoring and evaluation for timely corrective actions.

5.7.1 More Effective Leadership in a New Urban Governance
Framework
The key agency responsible for delivering sustainable urban
development, one that meets the needs and priorities of the urban
population, is HUDCC. However, faced with a massive housing backlog
and new demand for incremental housing on an annual basis combined
with a broad urban development mandate that is weakened by a lack of
commensurate resources, HUDDC has tended to focus itself on housing.
The continuing evolution of urban development, creating new areas of
urban challenges requiring multi-level government response and clear,
effective inter-government relationships presents a strong case for more
efective sector leadership. The creation of a DHUD has been a longstanding proposal in Congress. Several versions of the bill have been
written since the early 1990s but its creation has not been enacted into
law. Legislating the proposed DHUD has become not only a necessity but
a priority that can no longer be overlooked by a New Urban Agenda.
5.7.2 Transparency and Accountability Urban Governance

Mechanisms
Among the biggest challenges confronting urban governance in the
Philippines are corruption and the lack of transparency in government
transactions. One way of attaining transparency in government
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69
Crime has become a signifcant concern in the urban areas of the

Philippines. According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), theft,
physical assault, and robbery are the most common urban crimes
reported to local authorities. Other common urban criminal acts include:
pickpocketing, confdence schemes, acquaintance scams, and credit card
fraud. Carjacking, kidnappings, robberies, and violent assaults also
occur sporadically. The safety of urban communities in Mindanao is
also increasingly becoming a very serious concern. Contemporary armed
conflicts in Southern Philippines has unleased complex urban safety
challenges involving internally displaced persons (IDPs). 104
transactions is through electronic (e) or digital governance, which

refers to the automation of all government databases and transactions.
Government programs, projects, transactions and the movement of funds
can be monitored more eficiently if there is a unifed information
technology where information on any government agency or unit can be
easily accessed by decision-makers. Digital governance promises to be an
indispensable tool for efective governance in cities and municipalities.
The use of information and communication technology (ICT) including
social networking must be explored as part of the New Urban Agenda to
further
104
Institute for Autonomy and Governance, 2011. Urban Safety in the ARMM.
https://iag2001.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/urban- safety-in-the-armm/

May 2016
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enhance the transparency and accountability urban governance

mechanisms. ICT applications should also be considered in improving
urban data collection, retrieval, and analysis.
5.7.3
Improving Local Public Financial Management
Issues related to fiscal policies, such as, sharing of resources between

national and local governments should be addressed by amending the
LGC. A review of the IRA scheme, its current sharing mechanism and
formula for distribution, which local authorities find flled with loopholes,
requires a corresponding review of the LGC. In an improved IRA scheme,
poorer local governments should be given a bigger share and good
performing local governments should be incentivized.
The
current
fscal provisions in the LGC are also not suffcient to allow local
governments to raise revenues from local sources. Their powers to tax
are restricted or limited. For example, local governments that host
Special Economic Zones are not able to collect real property taxes from
locators. Instead, these host local governments end up spending more to
address issues arising from the creation of economic zones such as traffic
congestion, waste disposal, influx of migrants and threats to peace and
order.
5.7.4
Addressing Urban Safety Concerns
There are many ways to curb crimes in the urban centers where crime
incidence continues to rise. The main solution is to increase police
presence and visibility especially in crime hot spots by increasing the
police population. Strengthening PNP accountability mechanisms should
also ensure good conduct among the ranks of policemen. The cooperation
of LGUs and CSOs through the implementation of community programs,
such as, street lighting improvement, conducting awareness seminars on
crime prevention, and developing neighborhood watch programs, is key
to reducing or preventing urban crimes. For urban areas affected by
armed conflicts, there is a need for urban development planning to
efectively provide for the basic needs of IDPs. Providing appropriate
housing, creating alternative livelihood and offering education to IDPs
can promote their human security and protect their human rights. These
can also prevent some IDPs from engaging in crime and violence and
promote urban safety in their host urban areas.
Equally important for urban safety is the mainstreaming of CCA and
DRRM in the development plans and investment programs of local
governments. Metro Manila and other HUCs located along the coastal
May 2016
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71
Transparency and accountability can further be honed with the

introduction of a system of rewards and penalties. Through this approach,
a good-performing LGU can be granted incentives in the form of loans,
infrastructure, facilities, and capacity building programs (e.g., seminar
trainings, equipment, etc.), among others. On the other hand, a nonperforming LGU should be meted with the appropriate penalties.
areas are more vulnerable than other cities to climate change and natural
disasters. Facilitating the climate change adaptive process and disaster
reduction and preparedness must be an essential element of the New
Urban Agenda.
5.7.5
Enhancing Urban Social Inclusion
Innovative and efective Placemaking is vital to achieving social

inclusiveness and ultimately, the livability of cities. Some urban planners
have described Placemaking as the deliberate re-shaping of the built
environment to facilitate social interaction and improve quality of life.
While there is no universal blueprint for creating great places, there are
successful examples worth noting, especially given the numerous
benefts that come with great placemaking. The Main Street Program
in the United States is a prime illustration of how Placemaking can
develop culturally and

May 2016
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72
commercially signifcant streets in distinct neighborhoods. Main street

districts have facilitated community events, promoted the district as a
distinctive place to shop and visit, beautifed the streetscape, and
encouraged new businesses. In the Philippines, private developers have
begun to apply the principles of Placemaking to better design urban
communities. There is no reason why Placemaking cannot be used by
cities to foster more socially cohesive urban communities.
5.7.6 Reinforcing Metropolitan Governance

The growth of large metropolitan arease.g. metropolises, megacities,
urban regions and corridorsis transforming the urban landscape,
raising new challenges for the management of metropolitan areas. Weak
metropolitan governance undermines sustainable urban development and
the attractiveness of metropolitan areas as cornerstones of national
development. In the Philippines, several LGUs have agglomerated
themselves into metropolitan units, either formally or informally, to
integrate planning and administration to address issues transcending the
limits of their jurisdictional boundaries. Urban sprawl in the Philippines
also justifies the case for improving spatial governance. Spatial and
functional interrelations between cities, settlements and their
surrounding areas are increasing, with the metropolitan scale gaining
more and more relevance for integrated urban and city regional planning,
fnancing, and implementation.105 As there is no one- size-fts-all solution,
the various metropolitan governance models already set up in the country
should be carefully examined to identify lessons learned and areas for
improvement. A New Urban Agenda must pave the way for stronger
metropolitan governance structures in the Philippines. They must be
established with the adequate powers, tools and incentives to be relevant
for big infrastructure projects that deliver more eficient, reliable, and
affordable metropolitan services.106

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Still, there are many other areas where social inclusion can be enhanced
by a New Urban Agenda through more innovative community
participation, particularly involving vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups. In housing, the community action planning process espoused by
the National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy (NISUS) will lead
to more vibrant, resilient, safe and socially inclusive urban communities
connected to the entire city and beyond.
105
106
UN-Habitat and GIZ. Unpacking Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Development.2015.

Habitat III Policy Paper. 2016. 4Urban Governance, Capacity and Institutional Development.

May 2016
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71
Urban Economy: Issues and

Agenda
Today, the country appears to have shed the image of being the laggard
of the Asian region. In fact, it seems from many accounts, that it is being
hailed these days as "sick no more, sick man gone strong, the new bright
spot in Asia," or even better, "the next Asian tiger." These positive
developments can be attributed to the Philippines robust economic
performance in recent years. In particular, the Philippine economy grew
by 6.7% in 2012, exceeding market expectations and recorded one of the
best performances in the Asia region. In 2013, the economy further
expanded by 7.2%, placing second to China which grew by 7.7%. The
country continued to a high growth path in 2014, achieving a 6.1%
growth rate. Meanwhile, it recorded a respectable performance in
2015 as the economy expanded by 5.8%despite the challenges
confronted by the country from both external and domestic fronts. The
high economic growth over the years was driven mainly by the urban
sector. The National Capital Region (NCR) alone accounts for one third of
the total output, with the industry and services sectors contributing
almost 90% to the country's total GDP (Table 6-1).
Table 6-1: Growth and Structure of the Philippine Economy, 2006-2014
GDP Per Capita (in
USD) of Output (in
Growth
%)
Agriculture
Industry
Services
Structure of Output (in
%)
Agriculture
Industry
Services
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
1,405.21
5.
2
3.
6
4.
6
6.
0
1,918.26
4.
2
3.
2
4.
8
4.
0
2,155.41
7.
60.2
11.
6
7.
2
2,610.5
6 6.
7
2.
8
7.
3
7.
1
2,862.38
6.
1
1.
6
7.
9
5.
9
2015
2951.1
5 5.8
0.2
6.0
6.7
13.
12.
11.
11.
10.
9.7
1
8
6
1
0
32.
32.
32.
32.
33.
33.5
5
4
6
2
4
54.
54.
55.
56.
56.
57.0
4
8
8
7
6
Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF), National Income Accounts (in current prices),
Philippines.
On the geographic front, the persistent economic dominance of the NCR,

May 2016
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72
Twenty years ago, the Philippines was trying to recover from being the
"Sick Man of Asia'', a reference to the country's prolonged period of
economic decline in the 1980s when it fell behind the fast-growing tiger
economies of Southeast Asia. During those years, the country was
grappling with sluggish economic growth averaging 3.4% while its
neighboring countries were expanding at annual rates of 5.1% to 7.7%.
In addition,
the
country was struggling
with high levels of
unemployment, with yearly unemployment rates soaring from 5.1% to
9.1%. The Philippines was also suffering from a high poverty incidence,
estimated at 35.5% in the 1990s, with millions of poor people languishing
in urban slums and informal settlements.
or Metro Manila as it is more popularly known, has been signifcantly

reduced. Twenty years ago, Metro Manila's economy comprised more
than 50% of the Philippines' GDP. Today, its GDP contribution has
declined to 36%. However, the adjacent cities of Antipolo and Lucena in
the CALABARZON region, and Angeles and Olongapo in the Central
Luzon region, have extended its urban reach. The resulting urban
agglomeration, sometimes referred to as the Extended Urban Regions
(EUR) of Metro Manila, now accounts for 63% of the country's GDP. 107
The remaining 37% of GDP, still a sizable portion, is produced mostly in
the urban centers of the Visayas and Mindanao regions which contribute
27%, while the remaining 10% constitutes the combined share of the
regions of
This GDP share can be broken down as follows: i) NCR, 37%; (ii) CALABARZON, 16%; and (iii)
Central Luzon at 9.08%.
107

May 2016
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73
Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordilleras, and MIMAROPA. These regions,

fueled by their key cities, are now growing at an accelerated pace. The
Metro Manila EUR plus cities in the Central Visayas, Western Visayas,
and Negros Island regions, and those from Davao and the Northern
Mindanao regions account for about 80% of total GDP.
Table 6-2: Gross Regional Domestic Product of the Philippines, 20122014
Regio
n
PHILIPPINES
Luzon
Cordillera Autonomous Region
Region IV-A - CALABARZON
Visayas
Mindanao
% to Total GDP
% Growth of
Output2013
2012
2014
2013
2014
100.0
100.0
100.0
6.
7.2
35.
7
1.
9
3.
1
1.
8
9.
3
17.
36.
4
1.
8
3.
1
1.
8
9.
1
17.
36.
3
1.
8
3.
1
1.
8
9.
3
17.
7.
1.
5.
8.
6.
7.
4.
6.
9.1
6.0
7.7
6.6
4.3
6.7
1.7
9.4
4.
6.
2.
4.
6.
2.
3.
6.
2.
7.
9.
-
4.1
7.4
5.7
1.
7
2.
0
1.
6
2.
0
1.
6
2.
0
Region IX Zamboanga Peninsula

Mindanao
CARAGA
2.
2.
2.
12.
4.3
3.
3.
3.
7.
5.6
3.
3.
3.
7.
6.8
2.
2.
2.
8.
8.4
0.
0.
0.
10.
7.8
1.
1.
2.
1.
3.6
CALABARZON = Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal,
2 and Quezon
3 Provinces; MIMAROPA =
1 Mindoro,
Provinces; SOCCSKSKARGEN = South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and
General Santos Provinces. Source: National Income Accounts, The Philippine Statistics
Authority
Note: Statistics for the newly created Negros Island region not available yet as of this report.
Country data show that Philippine cities, particularly Metro Manila and
other HUCs, have indeed helped to propel the overall urban economy,
which in turn has spurred the country's sustained economic
expansion. However,
many Philippine cities are
The
underlying causes to these can be
still faced
traced, in part, to the urban economy
by
tremendous
and
challenges
associated
with
rapid
urbanization. For instance,
a study by ADB reported
that
cities
in
the Philippines are
confronting
urban
problems such
as
congestion, overcrowding,
poor quality of life, and
rapidly
growing
poor
108
urban communities.

May 2016
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74
Today, over 50% of the

worlds population is urban
dwellers, with this figure
expected to rise to over 65
per cent by 2030. If urban
economic opportunities do
not keep pace with the infux
of
job-seekers,
urban
poverty can have dire results
for the global populations'
health and well-being. Urban
economy focuses on promoting urban strategies

and policies that strengthen the capacity of cities
to realize their full potential as drivers of
economic development, and of wealth and
employment creation. It enhances municipal as
well as housing finance, and contributes to the
creation of decent urban jobs and livelihoods
that increase economic empowerment, particular
for the youth and women.
Source:
Habitat
UN-
108
Ramola Naik Singru and Michael Lindfeld (2014). Republic of the Philippines National
Urban Assessment (Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 20014) 58.

May 2016
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75
they include the following: (i) defcient investments in urban

infrastructure and services delivery,
(iii) difficulties in accessing housing fnance, (iv) insuffcient
capacity for local economic development planning and implementation,
(v) a widening mismatch between supply and demand
6.1 Improving Local Finance

6.1.1
The Local Finance Supply-Demand Gap
Rapid urbanization has resulted in constraints on the ability of cities to

provide adequate urban infrastructure including housing and to deliver
basic urban services. Operation and maintenance expenditures have also
been woefully insuffcientleading to poor quality and unreliable
services. Middle-income countries in Southeast Asia which include the
Philippines, should be spending between 5% and 10% of GDP, on
average, to meet their infrastructure requirements in the next
10 years. Spending on basic urban infrastructure in Philippines cities has
been estimated at only about 3% of GDP. Local government capital
outlays typically amount to 12% of total expenditures every year which is
exceedingly low. The current level of spending is not only insuffcient to
maintain the existing infrastructure stock but also inadequate to develop
new urban infrastructure.109
On a positive note, the Philippines growing economy has allowed the
Government to channel more resources into narrowing the high public
infrastructure gap which has been recognized as a major development
constraint. In recent period, the Philippine Government has sought to
increase investments in public infrastructure from 2% of GDP in 2012, to
at least 5% percent by 2016. It recognizes, however, that increasing
infrastructure spending to more than 3 times over a span of fve years
presents a tremendous challenge.110
It has been estimated that the basic urban services sector in the
Philippines will require a total investment of US$95.4 billion in the next
18 years to address defciencies in the delivery of basic services.111 This
will also expand existing facilities in the cities in line with urban
population growth. The investment requirement will average US$ 6.0
billion per year. Of the total, approximately US$36 million will be used to
meet the existing shortfalls in the delivery of basic urban services (i.e.,
for jobs and livelihood opportunities, and (vi) inadequate integration of

the urban economy and its spatial dynamics into national, regional and
local development planning and implementation. This chapter describes
the current state of the Philippine urban economy, examining whether it
suffciently bolsters the cities' capacity to fully transform into drivers of
local economic development, employment creation, and wealth. The
discussion focuses on the policies, strategies and programs that affect the
capacity of cities to (i) fnance strategic urban infrastructure and
services, (ii) devise mechanisms and systems by which fnancial resources
from both the public and private sectors could be mobilized and
channeled into housing, specifcally low income housing development and
slum upgrading; and (iii) stimulate local economic development.
Challenges and lessons learned are distilled, paving the way for defning
the cornerstone of a New Urban Economics framework for the
Philippines.
the backlog). Another US$59 billion will be needed to construct new

infrastructure facilities and to expand existing networks.112 The current
levels of urban investments by Philippine cities are nowhere near these
estimated requirements.
GHK Consulting Limited, 2008. Final Report on TA 7062-PHI Preparing the Philippines Basic
Urban Services Sector Project
Infrastructure Planning Framework. Submitted to Asian Development Bank
(Manila: Philippines, 2008). 6-7.
110 According to the Philippine Department of Budget and Management. The endeavor would
require increasing spending on infrastructure from Php 215.7 billion in 2012 to Php766.5
billion in 2016, increasing further to Php 1,016.7 billion in 2018.
111 ADB Technical Assistance Consultants Report, Philippines: Preparing the Philippine Basic
Urban Services.
112 Ibid.
109
6.1.2
Continuing Dependence on National Government
Transfers
Many cities are not able to maximize their local revenues because of their
reluctance to raise taxes. Few LGUs have revised their local tax codes
since 1992 even if the rates of some of the taxes are not indexed to
inflation.113 In addition, tax administration remains weak in many cities
largely because of inadequate technical capacity, particularly relating to
audit, revenue generation, expenditure management, and fnancial
management and planning. But a study to assess the appropriateness of
tax assignment in the Philippines also indicated that while the LGC
authorizes LGUs to levy local taxes on a good number of tax bases, the
size of the base of taxes outside of the real property tax and the local
business tax is not signifcant. Furthermore, the bulk of the productive
tax bases still rests with the central government. The power of LGUs to
set local tax rates is likewise limited by the LGC. 114
The consequence of all these is an overreliance by the local government
on Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) transfers from the national
government. Own revenues comprising both tax and non-tax revenues
directly raised by the cities account for only about 55.7% of their total
revenues. IRA transfers still make up about 40% of their total revenues
(Table 6-3). On a regional basis, Metro Manila contributes more than
May 2016
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74
The LGC vests local governments with ample fscal autonomy to mobilize
revenues and decide on their levels of local spending. City governments
enjoy more superior taxation powers over the provincial and municipal
governments
Under the Philippine Local Government
because they can impose
Code (LGC) of 1991, local governments
all taxes
have the autonomy to decide on the
assigned to local governments
composition of local spending, taxing and
borrowing that they would need to meet
and are allowed to retain all
local
development
objectives.
Fiscal
the
local
revenues
they
transfers to local governments were also
collect.
Municipalities
can
also
increased, with 40% of internally generated
taxes allocated to local governments
impose the same taxes but at
through the Internal
lower rates. Provinces are not
Revenue Allotment (IRA). In
allowed to collect business,
addition,
the
LGC
encouraged
local
governments to explore alternative sources
real property, nor community
of revenue by exercising their corporate
taxes, which are among the
powers in partnership with the private
more lucrative receipts, but do
sector.
get a share in the collections
Source: Gilbert M. Llanto, PIDS,
2009
of
those
collected
by
municipalities and component
cities. However, poor resource
mobilization persists at the
local levels. One reason
for this is the underutilization by the LGUs of their revenue raising
powers. Weak tax administration capacity and the general unwillingness
of LGUs to fnance projects from borrowings also helps to explain their
inadequate revenues.
20% of the local governments' total income. A distant second and third
are the regions in its peripherythe CALABARZON region in the south
and the Central Luzon region in the north, with shares of 11.7% and
9.4%, respectively. Together, Metro Manila local governments generate
about 76% of their total income from local sources. Their dependence on
national transfers is low at 18%.The next three regions with the lowest
dependence on national transfers are CALABARZON, Central Luzon and
Central Visayas with IRA shares of 55.0%,
63.2%, and 67.1%, respectively. This confrms the trend that the more
urbanized a region is, the lesser its dependence on national government
transfers for resources.
Rosario G. Manasan. Local Public Finance in the Philippines: Lessons in Autonomy and
Accountability. In Philippine Journal of
Development Studies, Number 60, Second Semester, 2005. 54-58.
114 First, the LGC fxes the tax rate of some of the taxes that are assigned to LGUs (like the
property tax and the community tax).
Second, while LGUs do have some discretion in setting tax rates of other local taxes, the LGC
sets limits (i.e., floors and
ceilings) on the tax rates that LGUs may impose. Moreover, the maximum allowable rates
appear to be low. In terms of real property assessment levels, the LGC sets maximum
assessment rates for different classes of property (Manasan, 2005).
113

May 2016
Page |
74
Table 6-3: Sources of Revenues of Philippine Local Governments, in

Percentage, 2014
Item
Local Sources
Tax Revenues
Non-Tax Revenues
External Sources
Internal Revenue
Allotment
Other
Shares from
National
Inter-Local
Transfer
Tax
Collections
Extraordinary Receipts,
Grants,
Tota and
Donations
Note: Totals may
l not add due to
Cities
55.7
0
45.1
8
10.5
2
44.3
0
41.7
8
1.7
0.3
3
0.4
4
100.00
Municipalities Provinces
19.1
18.7
7
9
10.5
8.0
8
2
8.5
10.7
9
8
80.8
81.2
3
1
78.3
79.
7
6
1.5
0.8
0.3
0.4
0
6
0.6
0.2
5
6
100.00
100.00
Philippines
34.8
2
24.9
0
9.9
2
65.1
8
62.8
9
1.4
0.3
5
0.4
7
100.00
rounding. Source: Bureau of Local

Government Finance.
6.1.3
Innovations in Local Finance
Local fnance has been a perennial challenge to Philippine cities trying to

respond to the needs of their growing urban constituents. With their
continued dependence on national government transfers, a study by the
Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)115 recommended that
local governments improve their local fnancing capability by (i) asserting
and strengthening their role in fnancing urban development through
improved revenue generation and fnancial management, (ii) participating
in a more rationalized system of national government transfers through
the IRA allocations which may entail local governments showing a fund
utilization program and schedule prior to receiving the IRA for increased
transparency and accountability, and (iii) engaging in PPP projects to
fnance delivery of basic services, including accessing credit facilities that
will enable local governments to reach urban poor areas.
Many cities have in fact introduced initiatives to improve their fscal
capacity. Some have improved their real property tax collection systems
by tax mapping, computerization and redesigning tax forms, employing
door to door collection method, and simplifying tax administration
procedures. A good number of LGUs have streamlined their licensing and
permitting procedures by reducing the number of signatures and settingup one-stop-shops. Most local governments have formulated their Local
Investment Priority Plans to complement their CDPs, and have enacted
Local Tourism Codes and Local Investment Codes to give legal strength
to their investment plans.
At
the
national level,
two noteworthy
initiatives are being
undertaken. The frst is the
recently launched
Local
Financial
Management
Modernization Project to
ensure the local government's fscal

sustainability and
to strengthen
public
fnancial management
system
through information
and communication technology. 116
It is a pioneering approach
to
creating a national

May 2016
Page |
75
The
Local
Financial
Management
Modernization
Project
is
a
pioneering
approach
to
developing
a
national
registry
of
local
financial information and real
property
appraisals,
assessment
and
tax
information.
The Project, as
designed,
will
help
LGUs
increase their local revenues,
allot more for social services,
and ultimately, allow them to achieve steady,

sustainable fiscal operations. It will make tax
payments more convenient,
improve
the
business climate, and eventually lead to greater
public trust and confidence in the LGUs' treasury
and assessment services. It will furthermore
increase the number of credit worthy LGUs,
making it easier for them to access credit to
finance their socioeconomic development plans.
Source: Bureau
Finance, DOF
of
Local
Government

May 2016
Page |
76
Gilbert M. Llanto. Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance Reforms in the Philippines.
Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
Discussion Paper Series No. 2009-10.
116 www.blgf.gov.ph.
115
The second initiative, the Local Government Financing and Budget

Reform (LGFBR) program supports the implementation of the LGC.
Before the LGFBR program, a number of LGUs had already been
performing well. Yet, to sustain the poverty reduction eforts, the country
needed a more robust economic development and higher level of public
sector performance at the local level. Reforms at the local level were
needed to attain (i) clearer and more streamlined expenditure
assignments between national government agencies and the LGUs; (ii)
wider alternatives for mobilizing LGU resources; (iii) increased capacity
of LGUs in fnancial management, including budgeting and tax
administration); (iv) better structures, procedures, and information
systems for national government agencies to exercise their mandated
oversight of LGU activities; and (v) a stronger legal and institutional
framework for decentralization.117
At the national level, Congress has likewise promulgated revenue
generating laws that allow the collection of environmental user fees by
local governments. However, collecting user fees from the local
households has been difficult because there is still a strong resistance to
paying user fees for public services which they used to enjoy for free.
There have also been signifcant eforts to institutionalize the publicprivate partnership (PPP) approach which is critical to the LGUs' ability
to access more funds for infrastructure projects. A manual to disseminate
knowledge on the various PPP instruments that can be used is available
to guide the users on the preparation of PPP proposals.
6.2 Strengthening and Improving Access to

Housing Finance
6.2.1
The Housing Finance Demand-Supply Gap
Many local governments, including city governments, are reluctant to

allocate resources to the housing sector, except perhaps for their own
employee housing. Others look to nongovernment organizations for help,
largely for resettlement housing. The reality is most, if not all, local
governments do not have the resources to fnance housing for the urban
poor. If they had the resources, they preferred to spend the money on
registry of local fnancial information and real property appraisals,

assessment, and tax information. The availability of local fnancial and
property assessment information, as well as the ease with which they can
be accessed, will enable and facilitate public participation.
This, in
turn, will strengthen accountability and transparency which are both
vital to achieving good governance. The project will, thus, contribute to
boosting local investors' confdence, bolstering social reforms, and
minimizing if not completely deterring corruption. The project will also
establish a centralized human resource management information system
to help create a pool of competent, eficient, and trustworthy local
treasurers and assessors.
other programs, particularly those that generate income. Analysis of local

expenditure patterns show that most cities only allocate the mandatory
20% of their internal revenue allotments for development projects, and
most of these relate to drainage improvements, road rehabilitation and
administrative buildings for the city. Major capital development
expenditures in the cities are usually made by national government
agencies or the private sector.
However, a comprehensive assessment undertaken through a study to
formulate the National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy (NISUS)
of the Philippines pointed out that the national government agencies'
approach to housing the urban poor has largely focused on the
settlements,
http://www.adb.org/documents/philippines-local-government-fnancing-and-budget-reformprogram-cluster
117
Over a 15-year period spanning 2001 to 2015, the Philippine Government

provided relocation and shelter security to a total of 550,560 families
spending Php203,000 to Php310,000 per family. Other housing assistance
programs to ISFs include slum upgrading, various local housing
programs, and sites and services development. Furthermore, since 2001,
more than 230,300 families have gained access to secure tenure though
the Community Mortgage Program (CMP).
Private developers, for their part, have tried to provide housing but failed
so far to deliver, at the price and scale needed, since many of them
consider housing for the urban poor to be unproftable. The majority of
them also perceive they will be unable to build and sell house and lot
packages for Php450,000 (US$9,575)the maximum price limit for a
house and lot to qualify as socialized housing which is entitled to
concessional lending under the current government housing programs of
the Philippines.119 Analysis shows that this package appears to be
generally affordable at the 30th percentile or by about 70% of the urban
households living in Metro Manila, but not by the bottom
30% or those living in regions outside the
national capital.120
6.2.2
Innovations in Housing Finance
The CMP is a government fnancing program that enables legally

organized ISFs residing in blighted areas for priority development to own
the lots they occupy or the land where they choose to be located. It is
being implemented by the Social Housing Financing Corporation (SHFC).
The SHFC is a government agency organized to undertake fnancing
initiatives in social housing for the urban poor. It was created in 2004 by
virtue of Executive Order No. 272 and its mandates include (i)
undertaking social housing programs that cater to the formal and
informal sectors of the low-income brackets of the population and (ii)
developing and administering social housing programs, particularly the
CMP. It provides funding to the CMP and the Localized Community
Mortgage Programs (LCMP) of local governments. As a CMP derivative,
the LCMP allows local governments to address the housing needs of the
informal sector in their respective jurisdictions in various ways. It helps
in acquiring the land being occupied by informal settlers or the land
intended for their relocation and resettlement by applying for an
Omnibus Commitment Line (OCL) that enable them access to SHFC
fnancing of not more than Php50 million. A number of LGUs have
not the settlers. This has led to a policy of massive relocation of entire
communities to distant locations, often against the wishes of the people
with the inevitable loss of income as a consequence. Thus, existing
houses were demolished to be replaced by new units, almost one for
one.118 More recently, there has been a shift in government policy a shift
leading to a bigger push for in-city resettlement. This approach has
been used to prioritize the resettlement of ISFs in danger areas, such as
waterways, and those occupying the right-of-ways of infrastructure
projects deemed critical by the Government.
successfully availed of the OCL for their LCMP projects.

Private developers participates in the CMP to comply with the 20%
balanced housing provision of UDHA. To do this, they have several
options: (i) by providing a parcel of land for a CMP project; (ii) by
providing and developing a right-of-way or access to roads or public
transportation lines for a CMP project; (iii) by providing or
upgrading amenities, facilities or any other
GHK Consulting Limited, 2014. Appendix 1: Comprehensive Assessment Report Final

Report for Preparing the National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy. Submitted to the
Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of the Philippines and the World Bank
(Manila, Philippines: 2014).
119 HUDCC, Memorandum Circular No.1, Series of 2014.
120 The NISUS study suggested that for most urban residents living outside Metro Manila, the
socialized housing ceiling is too
highgiven that their estimated afordable limits were lower based on the 2012 Philippine
regional household income
distribution.
118
development in an existing CMP project; or (iv) by subscription or

purchase of asset-backed securities originated or conveyed.
Interestingly, there have also been a number of pro-poor housing projects
developed through the NGO Gawad Kalinga which adopts partnerships
and uses grant funds from the private sector under their corporate social
responsibility programs. Often this housing is built on land donated by
local government and the private sector. The benefciaries are selected
by Gawad Kalinga with the help of the LGU through their respective
welfare agencies which provide a list of the poorest of the poor in the
locality. The benefciary enrolls as a participant after a program
orientation. The benefciary then fulflls the program requirements
satisfactorily, which enables the community to endorse his program
participation. This includes attending values formation sessions and
completing the required hours of 'sweat equity' for building their homes
with the community. Other NGO programs such as STEP-UP of the
Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP)121 and Habitat for
Humanity schemes have been undertaken in partnerships with local
governments and communitiesproviding early models of PPPs in lowincome housing. Cost recovery under these programs, however, has been
minimal with many of them relying on grants to continue. And because
they were not mainstreamed, they only benefted a few, in the process
unable to scale-up as warranted by the magnitude of demand.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been keen to promote new
fnancial instruments to expand pro-poor services. In 2010, it issued BSP
Circular 678 Rules and Regulations for the Approval and Provision of
Housing
Microfinance. The
microfinance of housing has
The decision of MFIs to expand their
services to include housing microfinance
emerged as a
is in large part attributable to the
promising
practice
among
strong connection between home and
microfinance institutions (MFIs),
income-generation within their customer
base. Many microcredit clients operate
merging
elements
from
home-based
enterprises,
and
microenterprise
fnance
investments in housing improvements
and
socialized
essentially constitute investments in
their
incomehousing fnance. According to
generating
schemes.
Housing
the World Banks Consultative
microfinance
has
been successfully
Group to Assist the Poorest
implemented in Asia (including, in a
relatively limited scale, the Philippines),
(CGAP), housing microfinance
Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.
consists mainly of loans to lowincome people for renovation or
Source:
Daphnis, Frank, and Bruce Ferguson,
Eds. Housing
expansion of an existing home,
Microfnance: A Guide to Practice
(2004).
construction of a new home, land
acquisition,
and
basic
infrastructure."122
Housing
microfinance,
thus,
represents
a
non-subsidized,
sustainable
approach tailored
to
the
needs
of
the
entrepreneurial
Implementation Completion Memorandum by ADB for Strategic Private Sector Partnerships for
Urban Poverty Reduction in
Metro Manila (STEP UP). Financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, January 2007.
122 CGAP, Donor Brief, No. 20, August 2004.
121
and working poor. Such products apply the best practices

developed over the years for
microenterprise lending to the housing needs of MFI clients. Rather than
fnancing the purchase or construction of a complete house which has
been the approach of government-backed low- cost housing programs,
the loans are used to help poor families build incrementally, through a
process commonly known as progressive build. From 2004 to 2010, a
major component of the ADB-funded Development of Poor Urban
Communities Sector Project (DPUCSP) relent to locally identified
intermediaries which on-lent to poor and low-income households. Eligible
intermediaries were mostly MFIs and other qualifed fnancial institutions
with an established track record in mortgage and/or microfinance
lending. Under DPUCSP, a total of Php222.5 million (US$4.85 million)
was disbursed to MFIs for livelihood, home improvement, and housing
loans.
There is no clear fnancing window catering to individual non-formal

income earners for housing purposes. NHA operates an in-house
fnancing scheme for its program benefciaries while SHFC fnances
community loans under CMP which are later converted to individual
loans.
6.3 Supporting Local Economic Development

Enhancing Competitiveness
The private sector plays a vital role in the country's economic growth,
hence, the high cost of doing business in the country poses a constraint
to local economic development. The Doing Business Report of 2011,123 a
joint publication of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the
World Bank (WB), ranked the Philippines 148th in the of ease of doing
business, as measured in terms of effort required to start a business and
transact with LGUs, among other indicators.
The Philippine Government has embarked on numerous initiatives to
improve the ease of doing business in the country. In 2010, the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and DILG launched the
Nationwide Streamlining of Business Permits and Licensing Systems
(BPLS) Program.124 The BPLS set the performance standards for local
business registrations in the Philippines. It enjoined LGUs to use a
unifed registration form for new business applicants and to limit the
steps required to apply for a permit, its processing time, as well as the
number of signatories needed.
To further strengthen the governments drive to improve national
competitiveness, Executive Order No. 44 was issued in 2011 to
reconstitute the Public-Private Sector Task Force on Philippine
Competitiveness into the National Competitiveness Council (NCC).
Through the NCCs collaboration with other government agencies, it has
simplifed the steps to start a business, reducing to 6 steps and 8 days the
process which previously took 16 steps and 34 days.125 These reforms
have allowed the Philippines to climb to the 95th rank in the ICF/WB
Doing Business Report of 2015.126
6.3.2 Support for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

(MSMEs)
The MSME sector plays a crucial role in the Philippine economy,
accounting for 99.6% of total establishments and 61.2% of total
employment.127 To provide a conducive environment for its growth and
development, the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises was passed in 1991
and was further strengthened by a series of amendments. The last
amendment, promulgated in 2008, expanded its coverage as reflected by
its new namethe Magna Carta for MSMEs (Republic Act
9501).
It also reorganized the Small and Medium Enterprise
Development Council into the MSME Development Council. It
6.3.1
mandated the newly formed council to coordinate national eforts to

promote the growth and viability of MSMEs through business and
technical training courses, assistance in product development and
marketing, and improving access to credit and fnancing, among others.
A six-year MSME Development Plan was to be formulated as a part of the
Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and the plan would
include a microfnance scheme. A Small Business Guarantee and
Finance Corporation, known as the SB Corporation, was also
The International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. Doing Business 2011: Making a
Difference for Entrepreneurs.
124 United States Agency for International Development (USAID): BPLS Reform Program Guide:
Promoting Local Business
Permit and Licensing System Reform in the
Philippines, 2011.
125 http://www.competitive .org.ph/stories
126 The International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. Doing Business 2015: Going
Beyond Eficiency.
127 NEDA, Medium Term Philippine Development Plan, 2011-2016.
123
In July 2014, the Go Negosyo Act (Republic Act 10644) was enacted. The
Go Negosyo Act seeks to further strengthen micro, small and medium
enterprise (MSMEs) to create more job opportunities in the country. Its
basic policy is to foster national development, promote inclusive growth,
and reduce poverty by encouraging the establishment of MSMEs that
facilitate local job creation, production and trade in the country. Negosyo
Centers were to be established as PPPs. These centers would be
responsible for promoting ease of doing business and facilitating access
to services for MSMEs within its jurisdiction. Their services include: (i)
business registration assistance; (ii) business advisory services; (iii)
business information and advocacy; and (iv) monitoring and evaluation.
6.3.3 Government Programs and LED Initiatives

From 2008-2013, the Local Governance Support Program for Local
Economic Development (LGSP-LED) program has improved local
conditions for sustainable LED in the Philippines. The program has been
able to attract investments, generate jobs, and increase visitor arrivals.
Through LGSP-LED, the DILG is providing technical advice and training
for selected LGUs to engage the local private sector in developing more
competitive local tourism industries and creating tourism circuits that are
attractive to investments and conducive to job creation. Technical advice
and training are also leading to agriculture communities experiencing
increased crop productivity, and helping to recover from the negative
impacts of the natural disasters that hit Leyte and Bohol. A total of 11
provinces, 8 cities, and 60 municipalities have benefted from the
program.
For the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) region, the
International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Bangsamoro
Development Agency (BDA) signed an agreement in June 2013 that will
contribute to peace building efforts through local economic development,
decent work, and sustainable livelihoods. The region-wide initiative is
known as the Programme for
Local Economic
Development
through
Enhanced Governance
and
Grassroots
Empowerment (PLEDGE) in ARMM. It will operate in up to 12 target
communities covering three municipalities in the ARMM.128
created by the law

to implement policies and programs in areas such
as information services, training, and marketing, as well as extend all
forms of fnancial assistance to eligible MSMEs. Until
2018, the Magna Carta for MSMEs also prescribed that
lending
institutions were to set aside a
portion of their total loan portfolio for MSMEsat least 8% for micro and
small enterprises, and at least 2% for medium enterprises. Compliance
with this mandatory allocation could take any of the following forms: (i)
actual loans, (ii) wholesale lending to participating fnancial institutions
for on-lending to MSMEs, purchase or discount of MSMEs receivables, or
(iii) subscription, or purchase of liability instruments or preferred shares
of stock of the SB Corporation.
6.4 Creating Decent Jobs and Livelihoods

6.4.1
The State of Job and Livelihoods Creation
Job creation is the responsibility of both the national government as well

as of local governments. The Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) and its training arm, the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA), the Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are the key
national government agencies tasked with creating job and livelihood
opportunities. These agencies are committed to improving national
competitiveness by increasing the productivity and eficiency of urban
regions.
128
www.ilo.org/manila/info/public/pr/WCMS_216119/lang.../index.htm.Jun 18, 2013.
Focusing on export-oriented services and manufacturing in core export

areas through export processing zones has been a vital strategy of the
Government for job creation. Examples include CALABARZON, Cebu,
Central Luzon, Davao, and Cagayan Valley, whose local economies have
all grown faster and are now poised to become globally competitive.
Support to MSMEs has also been signifcant as discussed in the previous
section.
Government's eforts, however, have so far proved only mildly successful

in generating employment. The employment rate in the Philippines is
estimated at 93.7%. The urban sector employs around 70% of the labor
force (Table 6-4). This reflects how cities and municipalities are
beginning to embrace how tourism, as well as information and
communications technology (ICT), can become their primary economic
growth drivers. Agriculture accounts for 29% of total employment, still a
relatively large share compared to their 11% contribution to economic
output. The laborers and unskilled workers remained the largest group
making up 31.7% of the total employed. Offcials from the Government
and special interest organizations, corporate executives, managers, and
managing proprietors (16.8% of the total employed) comprised the
second largest occupation group. Those engaged in wholesale and retail
trade or in the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles accounted for the
largest percentage33.5% of the total workers in the services sector.129
About 5.8% of the country's labor force consistently remains unemployed
the highest in the ASEAN region according to a report of the
International Labor Organization (ILO). This, in part, contributes to the
millions of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Manufacturing employs
only 14.5% to 15.6% of the total labor force, a smaller share compared
to the estimated average of 23% for the entire Asia region.130
Table 6-4: Labor and Employment Statistics of the
Philippines, 2009-2015
Item
Labor Force Participation
Rate
Employment
Rate
Unemployment Rate
Underemployment Rate
Structure of Employment
Agriculture
Industry
Services
2009
2015b/
64.0
92.5
7.
5
19.1
2010
64.1
92.7
7.
4
18.8
2011
64.6
93.0
7.
0
19.3
2012
64.2
93.0
7.
0
20.0
2013
63.9
92.9
7.
1
19.3
2014a/
64.6
93.4
6.
6
18.4
63.7
93.7
6.3
18.5
34.4
14.5
51.1
33.2
15.0
51.8
33.0
14.9
52.1
32.2
15.3
52.6
31.0
15.6
53.4
30.5
16.0
53.5
29.1
16.2
54.7
Source: The Philippine Statistical Authority. Philippine

Statistical Yearbook, 2014. Notes:
a/ Annualized data for 2014 refers to the average estimates for April, July and October survey rounds. The
estimates for these rounds exclude
data of Leyte province only while that of January excludes Region VIII.
The Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport was envisioned to become a
major transshipment point for trade in the Asia-Pacific rim operating as a separate
customs territory similar to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Labuan in Malaysia. It is
situated at the crossroads of international shipping routes between the West
Coast of North America, the Far East and Southeast Asia. The zone is based on a
tri-nodal development nucleus: agro-industrial development, the creation of a
shipping and transshipment industry, and the development of tourism, ecotourism and leisure facilities.
b/ Annualized data for 2015 refers to the average of the four survey rounds. These should not be compared
with the 2014 annualized data as the latter excludes the January 2014 round.
c/ Starting January 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS), the codes for industry adopted the 2009 Philippine
Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC). Prior to this, codes for industry used the 1994 PSIC.
Region II which boasts of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority has the
highest employment rate of 96.8% nationwide. Region IX in western
Mindanao which hosts the Zamboanga Freeport
129
www.psa.gov.ph.
Asian Development Bank. Asias Economic Transformation: Where to, How, and How Fast?Key
Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2013
Special Chapter (Mandaluyong, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2013) 3-18.
130
and Special Economic Zone employed 96.6% of its labor force. Region IVB comprising Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and
Palawan which has a large agriculture-based economy followed with
95.6%.
6.4.2 Need for Sustainable Job Creation and Livelihood

Generation
In addition to the highly urbanized cities' inability to fully absorb the
labor entrants into their markets, the rate of underemployment in the
Philippines is even more serious cause for concern. Since 2009, the
country's underemployment rate has stayed close to 20% suggesting
that it is a problem which negates gains on the
About 20% of the Philippine labor force is
poverty reduction front.
underemployed.
The
Underemployment refers to an employment
men
situation that is insuficient in some important
way for the worker, relative to a standard.
continued to dominate
Labor that falls under the underemployment
the workforce as
classification includes those workers that are
they accounted for more
highly skilled but working in low paying jobs,
workers that are highly skilled but work in low
than 60% of total employed
skill jobs and part-time workers that would
over the past ten years.
prefer to be full-time.
Relative to the labor force,
their participation rate, at
an
annual
average
of
80.4%, exceeded that of
women by 30.1
percentage points. Nevertheless, through the years, the gender gap has
slightly narrowed down to
28.8 percentage points in 2010, down from 30.6
percentage points in 2001.
Unemployment is largely concentrated among young workers (aged 15-24
years old) which in 2010 comprised more than half (1.460 million or
51.1%) of the total unemployed. This resulted to an unemployment rate of
17.6% which was more than twice the national rate. Double-digit
unemployment rate was also noted among the college educated4 at
about 11%. Accounting for
1.163 million or 41.1% of total unemployed in 2009, most of them have
high reservation wage
Metro Manila registered the lowest employment rate in 2013, reporting a

10.3% unemployment rate which is signifcantly higher than the national
average. The Southern Luzon region of CALABARZON which is adjacent
to Metro Manila had the second highest unemployment rate of 9.2%. The
capacity of the local governments in the two most highly urbanized
regions in the country to generate adequate jobs and livelihood
opportunities clearly cannot keep up with the continuing increase in
demand resulting from rapid urbanization. The two other regions with
unemployment rates higher than the national average are the Southern
Luzon region of MIMAROPA and Central Luzon. Both are part of the
Metro Manila EUR and also consist of highly urbanized cities.
and consequently can afford to be unemployed or wait for better job

offers.131 Based on the 2008
Philippine Labor Force Survey, workers in the informal economy (WIE)
constitute 14.8 million of the workforce; 6.05 million of these or 41% are
women while 8.76 million or 59% are men. The WIE's share in total
employment is 43.5%. 132 These informally employed workers are
confronted with varying degrees of vulnerabilities perpetuating poverty
and income inequality.
Mismatch is a prevailing concern of urbanized areas. The Philippine
Labor and Employment Plan
2011-2016 aims to address the labor-mismatch problem by promoting
better coordination between employers, academia and government
through strengthening both public and private sector labor market
information and exchange institutions, especially at the local levels.
Toward this end, DOLE is conducting labor market signaling activities on
a regular basis to flag the suppliers and demanders of skills with critical
information that will lead to better management of skills available in the
labor market.
131
132
DOLE. The Philippine Labor and Employment Plan 2011-2016.

http://www.dole.gov.ph/fndr/bong/fles/Workers%20in%20the%20Informal%20Economy.pdf
DOLE has reported that employment creation in the country, has not been
that robust, even during periods of marked growth. The challenge in the
coming years, therefore, is to translate high economic growth into
massive employment creation. The Philippine Labor and Employment
Plan (LEP) articulates the strategies for improving employment levels.
They consist of (i) generating an average one million local employment
per year, (ii) formulating a national industrial policy, (iii) focusing policies
and programs on key job generating areas toward increasing productivity
and employment, (iv) formulating through social dialogue sectoral, trade
and investment policies that promote employment-rich growth, (v)
promoting better business environment, (vi) promoting employmentintensive
investments
through
infrastructure,
(vii)
promoting
entrepreneurship,
(viii)
fostering
productive
investment
and
entrepreneurship among overseas Filipinos (OFs) and their families, and
(ix) developing and harmonizing green programs. Moreover, the LEP aims
to improve access to employment opportunities by (i) adopting reforms in
employment facilitation, (ii) addressing the job and skill mismatch, and
(iii) enhancing human capital through education and training.
6.5 Integration of the Urban Economy Into

National
Development Policy
6.5.1
In Pursuit of Inclusive Growth
The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 envisioned inclusive

growth for the country, a growth meant to be shared by allwith good
governance and anti-corruption as the overarching themes. The Plan had
three broad strategies. First is achieving a high and sustained economic
growth that provides productive and decent employment opportunities.
The second strategy is providing equal access to development
The inadequacy of employment opportunities in the Philippines is causing

the outmigration of professionals and skilled workers, discouraging them
to return. Skilled migration is not inherently detrimental, as long as it
leads to optimal economic gains and the social costs, including brain
drain especially of so-called mission critical skills, are minimized. The
challenge, however, is in how to translate the gains of skilled migration
into productive investments in the country by transforming migrant
workers and professionals into entrepreneurs and investors, and by
harnessing their capital, skills and knowledge to spur productive
activities. With limited domestic job opportunities, about 10.2 million
Filipinos and their families, as of 2013, have left the country for better
opportunities abroad. The huge outmigration of many of the best and
brightest in the country is as much an outcome of the lack of adequate
employment opportunities at home, as it is a demonstration of the global
competitiveness of Filipinos. But domestically, it has led to skill shortages
in some local occupations such as engineering and nursing.
opportunities across geographic areas and across different income and

social spectrum, which will ensure that economic growth and
opportunities translate to poverty reduction. Third is pushing for the
implementation of efective and responsive social safety nets in order to
assist those who will not be able to catch up by the character of a rapid
economic growth. Through the National Urban Development and Housing
Framework
(NUDHF)
2009-2016and
other
reports
and
recommendations from the urban sector strategies, policies and
programs relevant to the urban economy were vertically integrated into
the Plan.
The NUDHF 2009-2016, prepared in line with the Urban Development
Housing Act, provides sectoral support to the PDP 2011-2016 by aiming
for an urban system that (i) facilitates economic growth, (ii) develops and
strengthens local comparative advantages, and (iii) signifcantly improves
the quality of life of its residents. It focuses on urban competitiveness and

poverty reduction, housing affordability and delivery, development and
management of sustainable communities, and performance-oriented
governance (Table 6-5).
Table 6-5: Overview of the National Urban Development and Housing
Framework 2009-2016
Elements
Housing and
Communities
Governance
Strate
gy
Improve national competitiveness
by
increasing productivity and strengths of
urban industrial regions;
focus export oriented activities in core
export areas
Support development of strategic clusters
Increase Metro Manila's attractiveness as
a global service center and visitor
destinationand enhance rural-urban
Recognize
2 Poverty Reduction
linkages of poverty alleviation to improve
labor mobility and facilitate the
exchange of market information
Encourage smaller size families
Support human resource and livelihood
programs
Link local land use and physical and

3 Housing
community
development
plans
with
Affordability and
industries
and
local
employment
Delivery
generating investment programs
Provide incentives to unlock land for
affordable housing
Provide and encourage access to land for
affordable housing
Explore promising fnancing sources and
schemes; increasing funding for proven
and key housing programs and institutions
housing
development
UseStreamline
market-based
incentives
and
4 Sustainable
disincentives
Communities
to provide public amenities to support
urban land use objectives
Sustainable planning/green building
Review and revise traditional zoning
and encourage sustainable private
sector initiatives
Anticipate
and
encourage
sustainable building practices in local
and metropolitan development plans
Continue to build capacities of local
governments in development and land
use planning
IRA-based
incentives
5 Performanceoriented
governance
The Urban
System
Modul
e
1 Urban
Competitiveness
6.5.2 Updated Approach to Defining and Achieving

Inclusive Growth
Despite all these accomplishments, there is a growing sense among the

public that progress needs to be accelerated. The assessment of the PDP
2011-2016 implementation, according to the updated PDP, focused on
issues central to inclusive growthand all of them are linked to the urban
economy. They include the following: (i) that of the country's 18 regions,
only threeall of which are located in the island of Luzon and adjacent to
Metro Manilaaccount for nearly two- thirds of GDP; (ii) that poverty
incidence has not been reduced with nearly 25% of the population still
classifed as poor; (iii) and that employment has not grown enough, failing
to provide suffcient decent jobs and livelihood opportunities for the labor
force, and for those already employed, about
20% need additional work, income, and job security. For these reasons,
the Updated PDP 20112016 redefnes inclusive growth as poverty reduction in multiple
dimensions and massive creation of quality employment. It incorporates
growth strategies informed by both geographical and sectoral
considerations which given the archipelagic nature of the Philippines are
diverse.
Spatial convergence of plans, program and activities and
coordination between national government agencies and local
governments will be vital to maximize efectiveness.

Learned
The Philippine economic growth in the 1970s up to 2000 has been low
compared to its Southeast and East Asian neighbors. A structural break
occurred in 2010 which placed the country on a higher growth path or a
6.3% average economic growth for the period 2010 to 2014. 133 The urban
economy is fueling this expansion, with industry and services generating
almost 90% of total GDP. But just as the urban economy is driving
growth, it should also be focused on promoting urban strategies and
policies that strengthen the capacity of cities to realize their full potential
In 2014, the Philippine Government issued the PDP 2011-2016 Medium

Term Update. The Updated Plan started with the gains achieved so far
towards the goal of inclusive growth. First, there was evidence of robust
economic performance with the Philippines emerging as one the best
performing economies in Asia. Second, more ample fscal space to
fnance new initiatives has been achieved while expanding on existing
programs. Reforms in tax collection, revenue administration and
expenditure management have made this possible. Third, the country has
secured an unprecedented level of confdence from the international
business community as demonstrated by its upgraded investment grade
status and improved rankings in global competitiveness reports. Fourth,
amid tremendous and persistent challenges, the Government's
commitment to good governance has restored credibility in the country's
institutions.
as engines of economic development and ultimatelyof employment

creation and wealth accumulation.134
On this front, there have been key lessons learned and major
hurdles that remain.
6.6.1
Lackluster Resource Mobilization at the Local Level
The majority of cities in the Philippines are unable to mobilize the

resources to provide adequate, reliable, and affordable basic
infrastructure and services to their increasing population. Most of them
rely on their IRA transfers from the national government, reluctant to
collect and impose taxes, and unwilling to borrow for capital
expenditures. Local capacity is weak in the areas of public fnancial
management, local taxation, tax administration, debt financing, and PPPs.
133
134
Statement of Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan. Ayala-UPSE Economic Forum, January 2015.

http://unhabitat.org/expertise/3-urban-economy
6.6.2 Persistent Unemployment, Underemployment, and

Poverty
6.6.3 Inaccessible and Unaffordable Informal Housing

Finance
The unemployed and underemployed leave the rural sector for prospects
of better employment and livelihood opportunities in the cities. In the
cities, many of them end up joining the millions of informal settlers who
live in poverty, deprived of adequate income and decent living conditions.
In the absence of formal and regular employment, millions of them are
unable to access affordable housing fnance. There is also a need to more
carefully examine the fnancing constraints to the supply of affordable
housing. Addressing both of these fronts will pave the way for the scaling
up of replicable programs which has become critical given the scale of
unmet demand.
6.6.4
Facilitating Pro-poor Housing Finance
More innovative approaches to housing fnance are needed for the

millions of urban informal settlers comprising the poor. Bundling
rights, for instance, through alternative rights-based instruments,
rather than freehold, may offer more fnancially viable means to secure
tenure as shown by the DPUCSP experience. Housing microfinance,
combined with microenterprise fnance, offers promise in terms of
sustainable, unleveraged fnance for informal settlers but a lot more
tailoring needs to be done in this area to produce the warranted
response. A capable and committed fnancial institution that caters to the
development and end-user fnancing for informal settlers through a
variety of appropriate and innovative lending instruments will be
Unemployment in the Philippines continues to be the highest in the

ASEAN region, estimated at
7.5% in 2009 and just slightly down at 7.1% in 2013. The highest
incidences of unemployment in
the country are seen among the males, workers with higher educational
attainment, and the youth. The underemployment rate is high at 19.3%
and is observed mostly among the poor. At least a third of the population
are employed as laborers or unskilled workers, many of them in the
agriculture sector where productivity and wage rates remain low.
Geographically, unemployment rates are highest in the highly urbanized
regionsparticularly Metro Manila and the two regions extending it to
the north and to the south. Underemployment, meanwhile, is highest in
the agriculture-based regions and in regions more vulnerable to climate
change due to their geographic locations. The combined unemployment
and underemployment rates account for the persistence of poverty in the
Philippines, which has continued to affect about 25% of the Filipino
people in the past three years. Growth in the Philippines, therefore, is far
from being inclusive at this point, with the need to accelerate rural-urban
integration.
essential to scaling-up the appropriate interventions.

6.7.1 Transforming Cities into Effective Agents of
Diversified Local
Finance
The fnancing gap for urban investments in the Philippines is massive. As
growth and urbanization accelerates, cities will have to fnd innovative
ways to fnance urban infrastructure and services to avoid more
unplanned and informal growth that perpetuates poverty and inequality.
Cities in the Philippines must be enabled to (i) increase and diversify their
own revenue sources, (ii) access both capital and debt markets, and (iii)
structure as well as manage viable PPPs.
6.7.2 Broadening and Deepening the Support for

Sustainable Local
Economic Development (LED)
6.7.3 Generating More and Better Jobs; Equalizing Access

to Improved
Livelihood Opportunities
The Philippines has the daunting challenge of creating more and better
jobs for 10 million Filipinos who are either unemployed underemployed
and for the additional 1.15 million Filipinos estimated to enter the labor
force every year. With sustained GDP growth of 7% per year and
enhanced targeting of the fast-growing sectors, the formal sector will be
able to provide good jobs to around two million people in the next four
years. Despite this, around 12.4 million Filipinos would still be
unemployed or underemployed. The rest will work or will have to create
work in the informal sector. Responding to this massive challenge
requires cities to expand formal sector employment even faster while
rapidly raising the incomes of those in the informal sector.136
6.7.4 Integrating the Urban Economy Firmly into National,

Sectoral and
Local Development Planning and Implementation
The PDP 2011-2016 Update demonstrates how concerns relevant to the
urban economy can be more frmly integrated into national development
planning. Consistent with the new strategies of the PDP Update,
specifcally the growth, employment and poverty targets involving spatial
and sectoral considerations, the NUDHF 2011-2016 must also be revised.
In addition to the updated urban development and housing framework to
be produced, strategic local development planning in accordance with the
new NUDHF will have to be supported.
Sustainable LED provides cities with the opportunity to work with the
local communities to improve the local economy. It is a means to generate
the co-benefts of economic competitiveness, climate resiliency, and
inclusive growth.135 The LGSP-LED anchored jointly by DILG and the
Government of Canada has generated encouraging results for selected
local governments. It has attracted investments, created jobs, and
induced visitor arrivals. In some areas, it has helped to increase crop
productivity and fostered climate change resiliency. Sustainable LED as a
program must be rolled out to more cities and towns in the Philippines to
speed up the building of competitive sectors and enterprises. This will
help provide backward and forward linkages to the urban and rural areas,
particularly those located in disaster-prone areas where poverty lingers.
Co-benefts as an approach has evolved to generate multiple benefts in different sectors or

subsectors resulting from one policy, strategy, or initiative. It refers to the implementation of
initiatives, policies or projects that simultaneously contribute to reducing the manmade global
climate change while solving local environmental problems in cities and in turn potentially
having other positive developmental impacts such as improvements in public health, energy
security, and income generation and distribution. For more on this, see Stephen Hammer, et
al, Cities and Green Growth: A Conceptual Framework, OECD Regional Development
Working Papers 2011/08, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5kg0tflmzx34-en, 14-17.
136 Karl Kendrick Chua, Natalya Mylenko, et.al. (2013). Philippine Development Report 2013:
Creating More and Better Jobs.
(Washington D.C.: World Bank Group).
135
Housing and Basic Services:

Issues and
Agenda
security
of
tenure,
capital,
social
networks, environmental safety and legal

Beyond
these
poor
urban
security.
In the Philippines, informal
communities, at the city-wide
settlements and urban poverty are
level, there is also a huge gap
almost always entwined. People who live
in informal settlements are among the
between the demand and supply
poorest in the cities. Beyond the income
for infrastructure and basic
poverty, informal settlements
in
services such as housing, clean
the Philippines
can be
distinguished by their poor quality of
water supply, renewable energy
housing, the lack of public and private
and transportas cities with
services, and the poor integration of their
limited
or
overstrained
inhabitants into the broader communities
and their opportunities.
capacities struggle to cope with
the surge in demand caused by
Source: NISUS Report
(2014)
the rapid pace and high level of
urbanization. The offshoots
have
been one or a
combination of the following: (i)
inadequate investments
in
sustainable infrastructure
constraining local growth and development; (ii) insufficient provision of
affordable infrastructure for the poor creating reversals in poverty
reduction programs; (iii) high proportion of high-carbon infrastructure
investments and inefficient design and use of infrastructure, fueling
climate change; and (iv) low resilience infrastructure, creating urban
communities vulnerable to climate change risks.138 All these combined
underscore the vital role played by infrastructure, including housing and
Cities around the world are propelling national prosperity and economic
growth. Philippine cities are no different, making up about 80% of the
country's GDP. This gives credence to the notion that urbanizationthe
movement away from farms and subsequent concentration of people and
economic activities in cities if managed well, can pave the way to
sustainable growth.137 While urbanization offers the prospect of a better
life, many urban dwellers end up living in slums, which are a
manifestation of urban poverty. In the Philippines, the prospects of
better jobs and higher incomes have pulled millions of Filipinos into the
cities, pushed by the lack of decent jobs and livelihood opportunities in
rural areas where subsistence farming still predominates. This push-pull
phenomenon has led not only to record levels of unemployment and
underemployment but to the proliferation of informal settlements and
slums, particularly in Metro
Informal settler families (ISFs) live in
chronic urban poverty, confronted by
Manila and
physical, economic, social, legal and
other metropolitan areas
environmental risks on a day-today
nationwide.
basis. They have limited or no access to
basic services, in sustainable city making and placemaking. Infrastructure

is the great enabler facilitating economic growth and sustainable
development. More importantly, it is the bedrock of living conditions, a
primary determinant of the circumstances that affect the way city
dwellers live, and ultimately, their well-being.139
This chapter focuses on the status of urban housing and basic services in
the Philippines, particularly with respect to slum formation and
prevention and the ISFs who live in poverty deprived of a dignified life.
It analyzes the gains achieved so far in enabling access by the urban
population to adequate housing; safe drinking water, basic sanitation and
drainage; clean energy; and sustainable means of transport. Issues and
major constraints encountered are identified,
http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/overview.
Amar Bhattacharya, Jeremy Oppenheim, and Nicholas Stern, "Driving Sustainable
Development through Better Infrastructure: Key Elements of a Transformation Program," in
Global Economy & Development: Working Paper 91 July 2015 (Brookings Institution:
Washington D.C.: 2015) 1-3.
139 https://www.giz.de./en/ourservices/sustainable_infrastructure.html.
137
138
leading to a discussion of what constitutes a new urban agenda for

housing and basic services in the Philippines.
7.1 Slum Upgrading and Prevention

7.1.1 Evolution and Persistence of Slums in the
Philippines 140
Paradoxically, while the more urbanized regions and provinces have

lower recorded poverty incidences, the multiplicity of vulnerabilities
and deprivation affecting millions of ISFs in these cities cannot be
ignored. 141 In the early 1970s, Tondo earned the distinction of being the
largest slum in Southeast Asia, with over 180,000 urban poor informal
settlers. It was also the most politically volatile slum community in
Metro Manila, the largest urban agglomeration in the country. By the
1980s, pockets of slums
In Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and other
around
Metro
Manila
emerging
involving at least
urban centers, informal settlements stand
one
million
people
had
in stark
contrast to the gated and exclusive
emerged while at about the
communities inhabited by the rich where
same time, notable slums had
they have access to all the amenities and
surfaced in the secondary or
conveniences that make life exceedingly
comfortable
and
pleasant.
Informal
regional
cities
of
Cebu,
settlements are in sprawling slums that fail
Cagayan De Oro, Davao, and
to meet even the most basic needs or
Baguio. During the 1990s, it
worse, used as dumping grounds for
hazardous wastes and other socially
was reported that the growth
undesirable externalities, and where lack
of informal settlements in the
of access to safe water and adequate
country was averaging roughly
sanitation pose serious health risks and
create life-threatening conditions.
3.6% annually. By 2000, there
were over 1.2 million families
Source: NISUS Report
(2014)
living in informal settlements
around
the
major
urban
centersof the
Philippines.
Together,
they represented close to 30%
of the urban population with more than 50% coming from Metro Manila.
In the Philippines, the proliferation of informal settlements, characterized

by constant risks of eviction due to insecure tenure, has become a
phenomenon associated with big cities and growing urban centers. With
rapid urbanization came unprecedented surges in the demand for
housing and basic services in many cities, especially the key drivers of
the economy. Many local governments, while trying, have been unable to
meet the increased demand given the accelerated pace warranted. The
result has been a sustained, enormous demand-supply gap, manifested by
the proliferation of informal or slum settlements which have become
intertwined with a deepening urban poverty. This is because for the most
part, the majority of informal settlers are among the poorest in the cities,
typically comprising the three bottom deciles of the Philippine income
distribution.
In 2007, a study commissioned by HUDCC concluded that there were

only 550,770 ISFs accounting for just over
5% of the total urban population. This suggested a drastic reduction in
the magnitude of the problem. However, further analysis showed that the
estimate was based on an extrapolation of the 2000 Census of Population
and Housing (CPH) which strictly defned informal settlements as
households occupying rent-free lots without the consent of the owners. A
more recent study conducted by the Statistical Research and Training
Center in collaboration with HUDCC estimated that informal settler
households nationwide had gone down further to 471,481.
This
constituted about 5.6 % of the total urban population in 2010. But this
number was also based on the 2010
CPH which measured informal settlers as households occupying rent-free
lots without the consent
of the owners. Data from surveys conducted by NHA with support from
some local governments
GHK Consulting Limited, 2014. Appendix 1: Comprehensive Assessment Report Final
Report for Preparing the National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy. Submitted to the
Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of the Philippines and the World Bank
(Manila, Philippines: 2014) 19-28.
141 Ibid.
140
as of July 2011 placed the number of informal settlers much higher, at

about 1.5 million, representing approximately 15.3% of the total urban
population (Table 7-1). Yet, this still seems to be signifcantly lower than
global studies which indicate that about 30% to 60% of the population in
many cities in the developing world live in informal settlements.
Table 7-1: Informal Settler Families in the Philippines, 2011
PHILIPPINES
(NCR)
Northern and Central Luzon
a/CAR Cordillera

Southern Luzon and Bicol a/
Visayas a/
Region VI Western
VisayasVII Central
Region
Visayas VIII Eastern
Region
Visayas a/
Mindanao
Total
ISFs
1,502,3
36
584,42
5
198,87
3
23,54
7
44,36
4
13,29
2
117,67
0
393,26
1
221,28
429,94
9
142,02
8
104,02
231,12
9
63,68
19,21
2
In
Danger
Area
s
778,45
8
104,21
9
167,09
0
9,91
2
30,49
29,51
6
117,17
0
308,29
8
193,96
521,39
6
92,93
7
58,87
3
17,55
9
40,62
8 686
Areas
Planned
for
Governme
nt 52,79
7
21,13
2
21,13
2
600
0
0
Governm
ent
Owned
Lands
288,32
3
179,10
382,75
8
279,96
500
6
279,96
6
7,00
0
13,87
23,46
0 0
14,94
7
2,870
47,75
7
16,61
67,17
22,25
97,83
3
1,374
8
179,10
8
6,03
5 0
316
Private
ly
Owned
Lands
12,07
7
3,590
9
23,96
2
11,17
897
52,83
7
1,12
2,693
0
2
7,21
6
43,43
26,80
8
2,03
0433
274
13,05
2
30,38
49,83
6
19,23
81,31
0
25,81
74,46
2187
5,55
4
8,24
9
6,68
139,97
12,52
221,75
844,12
8 0
555,39
Region IX Zamboanga
3
71,03
9,023
Peninsula
3
Region
X Northern
82,27
22,26
Mindanao
28,25
0
Region
XI Davao Region
8
5,25
947
5
Region XII
14,72
5
SOCCSKSARGEN
544,33
Region
XIII -CARAGA
15,38
958
21,31
9
16,77
01,92
4
7 678
ARMM
1,60
12,57
1
0
0
3 Authority
Sources: Local Government Units, DPWH
(for danger
areas), National
Housing
Of the 1.5 million total estimated informal settlement families, almost

40% live in Metro Manila while another 26% live in the Southern Luzon
and Bicol regions. Most of them are located in the urban areas, mostly in
the highly urbanized cities. The great majority of them can be found in
danger areas, in both public and privately owned lands.
Through the years, informal settlements, slum dwellers, and urban
poverty have become synonymous in the Philippines. This is because for
the most part, people who live in informal settlements are also slum
dwellers and belong to the poorest in the cities. The majority of informal
settlers fall within the income poverty thresholds estimated at Php92,172
(US$2,183) per family per annum in 2012.142 These poor households
make up the three bottom deciles of the Philippine income distribution.
Beyond the income poverty, informal settlements in the services, and the
poor integration of their inhabitants into the broader communities and
their opportunities. ISFs are scored far lower on human development
indicators than other urban residents; they have more health problems,
and have acutely limited access to capital, education, social services, and
livelihood and employment.143
Regio
n
National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), Report on Poverty Incidence in the Philippines,
2012.
143 GHK Consulting Limited, 2014. Final Report for Preparing the National Informal Settlements
Upgrading Strategy (NISUS). Submitted
to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of the Philippines and the World
Bank.
142
7.1.2
Approaches to Slum and Informal Settlements
Upgrading144
The Philippines has a long history with slum upgrading, beginning in the
early 1970s when Presidential Decree 757 of July 1975 established the
National Housing Authority (NHA) as the agency mandated to undertake
low cost housing production. Other agencies like the Tondo Foreshore
Urban Development Project and the Sapang Palay Development
Corporation were also launched.
In 1978, the Ministry of Human
Settlements (MHS) was established and the NHA became one of its
attached agencies.145 The slum upgrading approach adopted in Tondo
tasked the NHA to provide the residents with basic infrastructure
services using the process of reblocking. The reblocking process, which
guided the planning of the road network and drainage systems in the
area, used the principles of maximum retention and minimum relocation
of structures. Enthusiasm for the community-focused slum upgrading
approach of the Tondo Foreshore Development Project, fnanced by the
World Bank and KFW, paved the way for more devolved implementation
in the Philippines. Working in partnership with the local governments,
NHA implemented the Slum Improvement and Resettlement (SIR)
Program in the Visayas and Mindanao from 1978 to 1985 as a major
component of the World-Bank funded Second Urban Development
Project.
The SIR Program aimed to upgrade the quality of life, provide security of
tenure, and introduce basic services and amenities in identified blighted
areas of Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro, benefting an estimated
78,000 urban poor. In 1980, NHA further launched the Zonal
Improvement Program (ZIP) under the World Banks Third Urban
Development Project in an attempt to replicate the Tondo slum upgrading
approach throughout the Metropolitan Manila Area. Targeting about 13
slum communities in four cities and thirteen municipalities, the objectives
of ZIP were to provide basic services and to raise the productivity of low
income groups in Metro Manila through the provision of tenure, basic
services, and home improvement loans to about
160,000 people over a 6year period.
In the late 1980s, the Philippines along with the rest of the developing
world, aligned themselves with the United Nations Global Strategy for
Shelter to the Year 2000. However, the government's transition from
direct interventions to an
enabling approach started in
primary lenders
mainly
the early
composed
of private
1980s with the Unifed Home
developers constructed house and lot
Lending Program (UHLP), a
packages,
and
generated the
centralized
funding
scheme
primary mortgages for sale to
implemented by the National
targeted homebuyers. Aiming to
Home
Mortgage
Finance
accelerate the provision of low income
Corporation (NHMFC).
housing to cope with increased
Under
the
UHLP,
The Global Strategy for Shelter to

the Year 2000, launched by the
United Nations in 1988, recognized
the
urgency
of
addressing
governments inabilities to respond
to the accelerated rate of urban
poverty in the cities of the
developing world and the clamor
for
increased participation
from
the
nongovernment
groups. The Strategy adopted the enabling
approach which, rather than emphasizing
direct government
interventions,
called
on governments to enact policies and
other incentives that will encourage all
nongovernmental sector stakeholders to
participate more actively in housing and
urban development.
Joji I. Reyes. Evolution of Community-Focused Urban Poverty Reduction, in "CommunityFocused Urban Poverty Reduction: Institutional Perspectives for Sustainable Urban
Upgrading." Final report submitted to the Asian Development Bank (2006), 3-14.
145 MHS undertook its own housing programs the frst of which was the Bagong Lipunan
Improvement Sites and Services
(BLISS). This program was designed to build low-cost houses but with rents ranging from
Php500 to Php 1,500 per month
in the late 1970s to the early 1980s, there were claims that the program was out of reach of the
urban poor.
144
demand, the NHMFC established a secondary mortgage market by

purchasing primary mortgages
originated by UHLP. However, over time, the mostly supply-driven,
formula-based lending policy of UHLPwith its little regard for the real
needs, preferences and affordable limits of the targeted low income
families resulted in uncollected loans or worse, unoccupied housing units.
By the late
1980s, a global debt crisis had triggered unprecedented poverty and

bureaucratic failures in the Philippines and the subsequent installation
of a new government. The series of stabilization programs imposed on
the Philippines stimulated massive international support, particularly
from the international NGO community. This trend, amid the escalated
demand for genuine citizen participation in the development process,
ushered the phenomenal growth of NGOs and POs in the Philippines.
Against this background, the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) was
born.
Hailed as both pioneering and innovative, CMP has become the
governments banner program for pro poor and socialized housing. CMP
involves community organizing, community savings mobilization, and
people empowerment processes. Under the program, urban informal
settlers organize themselves into community-based organizations (CBOs)
and register as associations of homeowners to access NHMFC fnancing
for land acquisition (Phase I), site development (Phase II), and house
improvement (Phase III). NHMFC required that CMPs primary
mortgages be originated by an NGO, local government unit, national
housing agency, socio-civic organization, or a private banking
institution.146
In 2004, NHMFC issued Executive Order (EO) 272 creating a subsidiary
called the Social Housing Financing Corporation (SHFC). Through EO
272, NHMFC transferred CMP, the Abot Kaya Pabahay Fund (AKPF)
Program,147 and all its social housing powers and functions to the SHFC.
Since then, SHFC has developed and implemented modifcations to the
original CMP to further expand its scope and devolve its outreach.
These include the Localized CMP
A distinguishing feature of the CMP
(LCMP) and the High Density
is that it
Program for ISFs (HDPI). The
recognizes the concept of communal
ownership of
LCMP is a modified community
land by a CBO, primarily as a transitory
mortgage
program
mechanism
towards
the
ultimate
that fnances the acquisition of
distribution of individual titles to the
beneficiaries.
Recognition
of
the
land occupied by the
communitys property rights to a parcel of
constituents of the
land allowed the CBO to mortgage the
land to the originator of the CMP loan, and
local government or the
for the originator to assign the mortgage
land
where they will be
to the NHMFCenabling the community to
relocated through the
access financing for land acquisition and
development. Moreover, given the lengthy
concept
of community
and complex process of subdividing and
ownership,
with
the
land
distributing
individual
titles
in
the
mortgaged
to
SHFC.
The
High
Philippines,
accepting
community
mortgages as suficient and acceptable
Density
Housing
(HDH)
collateral for loans sped up the process by
program
is
SHFC's
contribution
which the urban poor families were able to
access
financing for
their lot and
to the
informal
eventually, their house purchase.
settler
families'
(ISFs)
Housing
Program
of
the
government. The ISFs' Housing
Program aims to ensure safe
and flood-resilient permanent
housing solutions for the ISFs
living in the danger areas of Metro Manila. The DILG and DSWD also
have ongoing projects providing shelter for disaster-affected families.
NHA, for its part, continues to implement slum upgrading and sites and
services but on a limited scale, focusing instead on developing
resettlement sites for government projects and more recently, in
implementing medium-rise housing. Meanwhile, many NGOs have
succeeded in mobilizing varied sources of funds for carrying out slum
upgrading. The funding sources of NGOs in the
In 1996, NHMFC sought government bailout primarily due to uncollected primary loans
that had reached P42 billion.
NHMFCs secondary mortgage market operations were financed mostly by government pension
funds such as the
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS) and the Home
Development Mutual Fund (Pag- IBIG). Of the P42 billion uncollected loans of NHMFC, P30
billion came from GSIS and SSS and P7 billion from Pag-IBIG. UHLP collapsed after the
withdrawal of funding from these state pension funds from NHMFC (HUDCC, 2000).
147 The Abot-Kaya Pabahay Fund Development Loan Program (AKPF-DLP) aims to provide low
income families in key urban areas afordable houses by financing site development or
improvements and house/building construction in CMP and other socialized housing projects.
The program is open to corporations, single proprietorship, and local governments including
their private sector partners.
146
To address constraints to urban land supply, HUDCC manages the

proclamation program of government lands. From 2001 to 2015, it has
facilitated the proclamation of 118 sites for housing or housing purposes.
Of the 118 proclamations, 29 are for military and government employees
and 89 are for ISFs. The regional distribution of housing Proclamations
for the same period are reflected in the following table:
Table 7-2: Philippine Housing Proclamations, by Region, 2015
Region
of
Cordillera Autonomous Region
Selected Areas
Luzon (Total)
Visayas (Total)
Region
Region
Region
Region
IX Zamboanga Peninsula
X Northern Mindanao
XI Davao Region
XII SOCCSKSARGEN
CARAGA
Selected Areas
Mindanao (Total)
No. of
36
11
2
2
7
9
5
4
1
77
11
11
2
24
5
2
4
2
3
1
17
Estimated no.
913.67
103.74
5.707
60.24
1,992.832
20,622.57
1,663.71
90.21
1,032.00
26,484.67
291.35
100.99
7.40
399.743
21.41
4.179
31.90
22.00
96.13
67.00
242.62
78,503
4,269
440
1,718
63,075
9,838
6,600
6,002
65,000
235,445
11,310
8,384
770
20,464
5,157
128
1,098
1,700
7,703
1,200
16,986
Philippines include local and international donor agencies, businesscorporate donors, private individuals, internal funds generated from its
services and fund-raising activities, community savings, and government
resources. The On-Site Integrated Urban Upgrading for Vulnerable Slum
Communities of Payatas started as an ADB-Japan Fund for Poverty
Reduction funded project implemented by the Vincentian Missionaries
Social Development Foundation. The Philippine Business for Social
Progress (PBSP), an NGO established by a conglomeration of Filipino
corporations dedicated to promoting business sector involvement in
social development, is managing a US$3.6 M grant from the ADB-Japan
Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) called the STEP-UP Project. The
project promotes private-public sector partnerships in providing housing,
livelihood and basic services to 5,823 urban poor households in nine
selected cities in Metro Manila. In addition, programs being implemented
by the Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity, two of the most
prominent NGOs currently engaged in pro poor housing in the
Philippines, adopt partnerships with local governments and often use
grant funds and land made available by private and government sector
companies and/or individuals for housing purposes. Habitat for Humanity
has delved into low rise building construction in cities and other urban
centers where prices of land are relatively high.
Grand Total
118
27,127.04
272,895
Source: HUDCC, Asset Reform Group Report, 2015.
In December 2014, HUDCC approved the National Informal Settlements

Upgrading Strategy more popularly known as NISUS in response to
the challenges posed by rapid urbanization and climate change. NISUS
was predicated on the importunate proliferation of informal settlements
in the Philippines associated with rapid urbanization, exacerbated by the
Philippines being singled
out as among the top 10 countries most likely to be affected by climate

change due to its geographic location. The key rationale of NISUS is that
it will be instrumental to instituting major corrections to the
governments housing program for ISFs to achieve the scale warranted
by the magnitude of the problem. In the next 10 years, it will serve as the
overarching strategy of the Philippine Government for upgrading
informal settlements particularly those in the danger areas.148
7.2 Improving Access to Adequate Housing

7.2.1
Constraints to Securing Decent, Affordable Housing
Due to rapid urbanization and the unabated rural-to-urban migration,

housing need in the
Philippines continues to be enormous. The total housing need of the
country for the period 20112016 is estimated to reach 5.56 million. Of this, the estimated housing
need for Metro Manila is
expected to account for 11.61%. The adjacent region of CALABARZON,
however, has the highest projected need of 11.75% and this is attributed
to the regions proximity to Metro Manila (Table 7-3). Central Luzon,
which extends Metro Manila urban reach to the north, registers the next
highest need at 8.98% of the total anticipated requirement.
Table 7-3: Philippines Housing Need Estimates by Region, 2016
Regio
n
PHILIPPINES
NCR Metro Manila
CAR Cordillera
Estimated Housing
Need
(in number
of
5,556,4
63
645,1
54
67,87
2
282,6
85
193,6
96
498,8
10
652,6
15
Percentage Share
100.0
0
11.6
1
1.2
2
5.0
9
3.4
9
8.9
8
11.7
5
The NISUS 2025 vision statement isinformal settler families (ISFs) transformed
into formal urban residents in resilient, vibrant, and connected communities. This
vision statement was discussed and agreed with stakeholders during meetings
and multisectoral, regional consultations.
The NISUS mission is a profound
commitment to a more dignified life for at least one million ISFs by 2025 through
secure and better quality housing, improved physical infrastructure and social
services, and greater access to jobs, transport, capital, and livelihood. A life of
dignity is a life of pride and self- respect. NISUS will work towards providing at
least one million ISFs with a life of more dignity by
2025. The target of one million ISF entails the delivery of quality housing,
improved infrastructure
and social services, and greater access to jobs, transport, capital and livelihood
to an average of
100,000 ISFs annually for 10 years. The objectives of NISUS are: (1)
upgrading, relocation and
incremental, affordable new homes for sale and rent, (2) market-based housing
and microfinance and targeted subsidies for ISFs, and (3) strengthened sector
governance, organizational, staf and resource capacity at the local and national
levels.

Region VI Western
Visayas VII Central Visayas
Region
Region VIII Eastern
Visayas IX Zamboanga
Region
Peninsula
Region
X Northern
Mindanao
Region
XI Davao Region
Region XII
SOCCSKSARGEN
201,9
14
354,9
51
434,1
84
395,9
93
276,2
88
235,9
67
274,5
12
331,2
55
283,1
32
3.6
3
6.3
9
7.8
1
7.1
3
4.9
7
4.2
5
4.9
4
5.9
6
5.1
0
GHK Consulting Limited. Final Report for Preparing the National Informal Settlements
Upgrading Strategy, 2014.
148
Estimated Housing
Percentage Share
Need
(in number
ARMM
236,5of
4.2
41
6
CARAGA
174,3
3.1
NCR = National Capital Region; CAR = Cordillera Administrative
Region; CALABARZON =4Cavite, Laguna,
64
Regio
n
Unfortunately, the magnitude of the housing need is further exacerbated

by the severity of the natural disasters which have struck the country in
the last decade. The total number of housing units totally or partially
damaged by super typhoons and earthquakes since 2009 has been
reported to be as high as 1.8 million (Table 7-4). The vulnerable group
which has borne the brunt of the negative impacts of these disasters are
the ISFs residing along the major water tributaries and other danger
areas.
In support of the rehabilitation program of the government for the victims
of calamities, the NHA has provided housing assistance to 198,279
households affected by different calamities for the period 2011-2015.
Yolanda-affected families living along high-risk zones are provided
permanent housing units in safer areas.
Based on the Yolanda
Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRPP), a total of
205,128 permanent housing units would constructed for the affected
families. Home materials assistance would be provided to 53,320
families. Pag-IBIG has also provided assistance on Allied Perils Insurance
Claims to more than 9,000 members whose houses were devastated by
various calamities. Total claims from 2012 to 2015 amounted to Php591
million.149
DILG has ordered city and municipal mayors and vice mayors to revisit
their Local Revenue Codes and Local Investment and Incentive Codes,
and consider the provision of tax relief and incentives to business
establishments whose areas of operation have been devastated by
disaster or declared under a state of calamity either by national or local
authorities. Such tax relief may include extension of tax compliance
deadline for assessed and installment taxpayers, waived penalties and
associated interests, and tax relief, but always within the Implementing
Rules and Regulations of the Local Government Code.150
The DILG,
DSWD, the television network GMA 7, and other stakeholders have also
adopted communities for their projects.
Table 7-4: Number of Housing Units Damaged by Natural Disasters,
2009-2014
Natural Disaster
Bohol Earthquake
(2013) Ondoy
Typhoon
(2009) Pablo
Typhoon
(2012) Sendong
Typhoon
(2011)
Totally Damaged
14,48
0
27,60
2
89,66
6
13,58
5
Partially Damaged
57,40
5
189,9
20
127,1
51
37,55
9
Total
71,88
5
217,52
2
216,81
7
51,14
4
Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon

Provinces; ISFs = Informal Settler Families; MIMAROPA = Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan
Provinces; SOCCSKSKARGEN
= South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos Provinces; ARMM =
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Source: Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
Note: This excludes the totally damaged houses resulting from natural and man-made disasters and
calamities (e.g., Typhoon Yolanda, Bohol earthquake, Zamboanga siege).
Typhoon Agaton
83
1,32
2,16
(2014) Yolanda
8
8
6
Typhoon
550,9
589,5
1,140,3
(2013) Glenda
28
04
32
Typhoon
27,87
84,49
111,37
(2014)
4
8
2
Total
724,9
1,086,365
1,811,3
74
38
Source: National Housing Authority,
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council
On the supply side, housing in the Philippines has been seriously

hampered by inadequate technical, fnancial, and managerial
capacitiesparticularly at the local levelto plan and
149
150
HUDCC Report on Rehabilitation Program Housing, 2016.

The Philippine Star (PHILSTAR), Mike Frialde, February 27, 2016.
Other supply-side constraints include (i) limited access to land and

dysfunctional land markets resulting in poorly located low-income
housing areas too far from employment and livelihood opportunities; (ii)
unclear and highly bureaucratic land administration, management and
conversion processes that excessively burden the urban poor seeking to
regularize land tenure; (iii) indirect housing subsidies which distort
housing prices and consumer decisions, creating disincentives for the
private sector to participate actively in socialized housing; and (iv)
limited fnancing available for low income and
pro poor housing
production.151
From the demand side, the major constraints to securing decent,
affordable housing are (i) the limited ability to pay of the low income and
urban poor groups involved; (ii) the physical and administrative
difficulties encountered by the urban poor in accessing credit for housing
and livelihood opportunities; and (iii) where microfinance is available, it is
often uncollateralized, short- term, and carries signifcantly higher
interest rates.
7.2.2
Addressing the Housing Gap
The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines mandates "the Statefor the

common good, [to] undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a
continuing program of 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." The Philippines, by ratifying the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) has also committed to
progressively achieve the full realization of the right to adequate housing.
The Advisory on the Right to Adequate Housing and Humane Treatment
of Informal Settlers issued by the Commission on Human Rights of the
implement large-scale programs critical to urban renewal, slum

upgrading, and new site development. The private sector, on the other
hand, focuses their resources on the delivery of housing for the higherend of the market, and for those with access to formal fnance. The
mandatory 20% balanced housing provision of UDHA helps but is not
suffcient to even make a dent on the enormous housing backlog. For
these reasons, the low income and urban poor households have been left
out, resulting in residential overcrowding and backlogsmostly seen in
the manifold growth of slums and informal settlements in Metro Manila
as well as in other metropolitan centers in the Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao regions. Consequently, the majority of low income and urban
poor families have been forced to address their housing needs on their
own, often through an incremental process that takes a relatively long
period of time. Nonetheless, while this incremental approach has been
recognized as one of the most effective means of enabling urban poor
households to access affordable housing, it has also led to low quality and
inadequate housing stock which in a country hit by an average of 20
typhoons annually can be quite problematic.
Philippines (CHR) on September 2011 stipulated the conditions that

constitute adequate housing. These are (i) security of tenure, (ii)
availability of basic services, (iii) affordability, (iv) habitability, (v)
accessibility, (vi) location, and (vii) cultural adequacy. Toward this end,
several laws and executive orders have been enacted by the Government,
a sampling of which is shown below in Table 7-5.
Table 7-5: Illustrative Laws and Executive Issuances on Housing
and Urban Development
Law/Executive Issuance
MO No. 67 (1999)
151
Abbreviated Title
Directing the Formulation on

of the
National Urban Development
and
Summary Description
Created the National Steering
Committee,
chaired by HUDCC, for the
formulation and updating of the
In this paper, socialized housing is used interchangeably with low income and pro poor housing.
Law/Executive Issuance
EO 216 (2000)
RA 8763 (2000)
EO 577 (2006)
RA 9397 (2007)
MC 157 (2008)
RA 9653 (2009)
Strengthening HUDCC
Summary Description
Amended
EO
159 and
designated
HUDCC as the lead agency to
assist
the
Presidential
Commission
for
Mass Housing in
formulating
the with
objectives,
Consolidating Laws and
HUDCC
jointly
NEDA
Executive
tasked to
Orders as They Apply to the determine
the
respective
Home Guaranty
ceilings for socialized, low-cost,
Corporation and for Other
medium-cost and open housing
Purposed
loans;
HGC
tasked
to
the
implementing
Creating the Social Housing promulgate
Established the SHFC and
Finance
authorized the transfer of
Corporation (SHFC)
CMP, Abot-Kaya Pabahay
Fund and other social
housing, tasked
powers
functions
Placing the Urban Asset
HUDCC
toand
formulate
Reform
and
PMO under HUDCC
implement an intensive
advocacy
program
Amending the Urban
Authorized
HUDCCfor
to the
certify
Development and Housing
lands for socialized housing
Act
Prescribing the Guidelines
HUDCC tasked as clearing
for
agency for all
requests for proclamation for
Approval of Proposed
Proclamations for Housing
housing
purposes
and
to
identify
lands
for
socialized
Reforms in the Regulation of Adjusted the allowable limit
Residential Rent
on rental
increases; tasked HUDCC to
formulate
and implement a
2-year
transition
program
to
Order; CMP = Community Mortgage Program; HGC = Home Guaranty
EO = Executive
Corporation; HUDCC = Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; MO =
Memorandum Order; NEDA = National Economic Development Authority; NHMFC = National
Home Mortgage Finance Corporation; NUDHF = National Urban Development and Housing
Framework; PMO = Project Management Ofice; RA = Republic Act
In addition, ongoing NHA and SHFC programs are either directly

providing secure tenure and basic services or fnancial assistance to
eligible informal settler families, including those living in the danger
zones of Metro Manila. In particular, since 2011, NHA has been at the
forefront of a housing program involving the in-city or near-city
relocation of 104,000 informal settler families residing in the danger
areas of Metro Manila. Over a period of 5 years using a PHP50 billion
fund from the national government, NHA's in-city relocation entails the
construction of 2- to 5-storey Low-Rise Buildings (LRBs) in its own
properties or those of participating local governments. A parallel
program is the near- city resettlement which develop sites located in the
periphery of Metro Manila for cases where in-city relocation is not
feasible. Priority benefciaries to be relocated under the program are
those living along the 3-meter easement of eight waterways in Metro
Manila in order to implement a Metro Manila flood control project
spearheaded by DILG through an interagency committee.
In lieu of the NHA programs, informal settlers living in Metro Manila's
EO 272 (2004)
Abbreviated Title
danger zones may opt to avail of SHFC's High Density Housing, a

fnancing program for organized communities eligible for in-city, near city
or near-site housing relocation. Overall, however, the CMP remains
SHFC's banner program for low income and pro-poor housing which is
anchored on the self-help concept. CMP fnancing targets organized and
legally registered community groups to help their members acquire the
land they occupy or aspire to purchase in another area. The program also
fnances basic
Table 7-6: Socialized Housing Programs Accomplishment (1996-2013)

SUMMARY
(In Households Assisted)
1. National Housing Authority
(NHA)
Housing Program for ISFs Living
along
Danger Areas in Metro Manila
Resettlement
Resettlement Upgrading
Sites and Services
Core Housing
Local Housing
AFP / PNP Housing
Housing Assistance for Calamity
Victims
Other Housing Assistance
Programs
2. SHFC
COMMUNITY
DRIVEN SHELTER
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM2
2.1 Community Mortgage Program
2.2 High Density Housing Program
3. RETAIL &
DEVELOPMENTAL
FINANCING
End-User
Financing (HDMF)3
GFIs End-User Financing
LBP4
SSS5
DBP
GSIS
TOTAL DIRECT HOUSING
PROVISION
INDIRECT HOUSING PROVISION
4. PROVISION OF SECURE
TENURE
Proclamation
Generated6
No. of Homelots
5. HGC (Total)
Retail Guaranty
Developmental Guaranty
Public Corporate Borrowings
Resettlement Upgrading
Cashflow (AKPF)
6. NHMFC 8
Housing Loan Receivables
7. Purchase
HLURB9Program
License to Sell
No. of LGUs provided assistance in
CLUP
2011
2012
Units
Units
47,248
56,22
1
6,036
18,529
1,443
42
15
16,680
12,852
21,095
22,830
1,655
22,524
32,214
10,848
7,197
65
3
15,150
10,517
2,882
23
9
2013
2014
2015
Units
Units
Units
103,34
7
204,96
1
94,592
506,369
19,370
11,248
89
05,106
57,811
75,469
78,758
13,873
1,078
18
61,378
269,281
3,029
28,968
15,303
2,688
1,918
155,88
7 19
7
16
7
15,875
15,875
46,642
9,287
9,287
47,270
12,73
5
12,523
21
2
47,843
18,55
6
13,120
5,436
54,650
23,24
1
12,038
11,203
60,209
46,296
34
6
28
1
65
46,898
37
2
32
5
47
47,562
28
1
24
8
33
54,026
62
4
60
3
21
59,409
80
0
78
2
18
109,76
5
112,77
8
163,92
5
278,16
7
178,04
2
TOTAL
6,514
79,694
62,843
16,851
256,61
4
254,191
2,423
2,239
18
4
842,677
30
0
11,054
25,006
20,243
54
1
4,191
31
-
8,810
20,637
14,698
2,560
3,379
8,621
7,217
10,86
1
8,454
2,402
5
7,304
4,360
30,924
30,805
92
27
9,714
4,192
31,15
2
31,118
34
14,530
30
0
35,633
118,58
0
105,318
54
1
9,245
3,476
40,169
1,693
6,643
3,676
1,592
2,551
16,155
170,379
264,23
7
225,05
1
216,50
3
216,94
8
1,093,11
8
1,040
1,266
34
10
2,905
14
services and the incremental build-up of members' houses. 152 The

Localized CMP (LCMP) is another fnancing program of SHFC for local
governments to avail of an Omnibus Commitment Line (OCL), up to a
maximum of PHP50 million, in order for them to implement priority
socialized housing projects. Loans under both the regular CMP and
LCMP are payable over a period of 25 years at an annual rate of 6%.
Through the NHA and SHFC programs, a total of
736,537 low income households and ISFs have been assisted by the
Philippine Government during the last 17 years covering the period 19962013 (Table 7-6).
152
The SHFC Board recently approved the adjustment of the CMP loan ceiling per benefciary
from P165, 000 to P250, 000 given the rising prices of land and construction materials.
SUMMARY
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL (In Households Assisted)Units

Note
s:
Units
Units
Units
Units
NHAs Accomplishment Report as of December 2015, net of CMP; GLAD, EHAP, Of the 94,592 units there
are 22,830 units under various stages of completion
2 SHFCs Accomplishment Report as of February 2016, CY 2014 - revised take-outs; CY 2013 report includes
taken-outs project as well as those
with approved Letter of Guaranty (LOG); January to October 2011 report includes the take-outs from the
Localized Community Mortgage
Program (LCMP);
3 HDMF's Accomplishment Report as of December 2015; The Accomplishment Report excludes Pending for
Takeout i.e. 13,570 units for CY
2015; 5,469 units from CY 2014 approval; 15,586 units for CY 2013; 13, 985 units for CY 2012 and 9,335 units
for CY 2011;
4 LPB's Accomplishment Report as of January 2016;
5 SSS's Accomplishment Report as of February 2016;
6 HUDCC Accomplishment Report as of December 2015;
7 HGC's Accomplishment Report as of January 2016 and AKPF as of February 2016; HGC's accomplishments
includes GFI's/Mutual Funds; Public Corporate Borrowings and Securitization; CY 2014-Revised/Validated
accomplished report
8 NHMFC's Accomplishment Report as of December 2015
1
Table 7-7: Socialized Housing Programs Accomplishment (2011-2015)

Actual + Approvals
DBM/GCG Targets
Yea
r
Loan Value
201
1
38,269.06
4
55,631.0
00
40,000.00
0
201
2
42,791.51
9
60,88
3
46,000.00
0
65,70
5
201
3
46,580.59
7
63,14
8
45,000.00
0
62,00
0
201
Source:
Report, 2016.
No. of
(Php M)
51,400.82
UDCC
Loan Value
of
Units
(Php M)
66,19
49,711.69
% Accomplishments
No. of
Units
Units
60,614.0
00
73,90
No.
Loan Value
95.7%
91.8%
93.0%
92.7%
103.5%
101.9%
103.4%
89.6%
107.6%
100.5%
101.0%
95.2%
For the minimum wage earners, the Pag-IBIG Fund has also introduced
the Affordable Housing Loan Program (AHLP). The program offers
The Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), also called the Pag-IBIG
Fund, provides housing loans for its members to (i) purchase residential
lots, (ii) purchase lots, (iii) construct or complete residential units, and
(iv) purchase newly constructed or existing residential units. From 2011
to
2015, HDMF's housing loans delivered 318,130 housing units valued at
Php232.6 billion (Table
7-7). Of this number, 28% or 72,051 were categorized as socialized
housing, in conformity with
the HUDCC circular that socialized housing price ceiling is Php450,000.
From 2011 to 2015, housing loans availed of by Pag-IBIG members
consistently increased (Table 7-6). The socialized and low-cost housing
packages, or loans up to Php3.0 million, likewise increased from 1% in
2012 to 10% in 2015 in terms of number of units; and from 0.9% in 2012
to 8% in 2015 in terms of loan value.
subsidized interest rates of 4.5% to 6.5%, depending on the borrowers

income and amount of loan. The maximum loanable amount under this
program is Php750,000. Since its implementation, about 27,000 members
have availed of the program.
All told, the Government's accomplishments have led to increased access
to housing and basic services for the poorest 30% of the total population
but still lags considerably behind the total socialized housing need. For
the period 2011-2015, the Key Shelter Agencies (KSAs) under the
umbrella of HUDCC, were reported to have provided direct housing
assistance to 842,677 households. This translates to a yearly average of
168,535 households assisted per year (during the period 2011-2015),
constituting less than 10% of the estimated average annual housing
need of
926,0
77.
7.3 Ensuring Sustainable Access to Safe

Drinking Water, Basic Sanitation and
Drainage
7.3.1
Goals and Accomplishments
The Philippine Sustainable Sanitation Roadmap (PSSR) forecasts that the

2015 MDG sanitation target can be achieved. The JMP March 2012
Report noted 74% national sanitation coverage in
2010, with 79% in urban areas and 69% in rural areas. However,
according to NSO fgures cited by the National Statistical Coordination
Board (NSCB) in July 2012, 92.5% of households had access to basic
sanitation (i.e., sanitary toilets) in 2011, up from 76.0% in 2008a fgure
expected to decrease to 83.8% by 2016.
The improved household access to piped water and sanitation facilities
can be traced to the expansion of the service coverage of utility providers
complemented by the targeted subsidies of the government.
The
completion of the Manila Third Sewerage Project (MTSP) increased the
coverage and efectiveness of sewerage service delivery in Metro Manila.
The National Sewerage and Septage Management Program (NSSMP) was
formulated in 2004 to improve water quality and protect public health in
17 highly urbanized areas up to 2020, to comply with the provisions of
the Clean Water Act. In 2013, the DILG through its Salintubig Program
established Regional Hubs for Water and Sanitation in ten strategic
regions to provide water and sanitation to 455 waterless towns and
communities throughout the country. 153 Furthermore, the Local
Waterworks and Utilities Administration (LWUA) has extended its reach
in providing safe water supply and sanitation facilities to more than 500
water districts. The average minimum rate for a monthly consumption of
10 cubic meters has been set at Php189.30 which adheres to the policy
that the minimum water rate should not result in water utility bills
exceeding 5% of the monthly income of low income families. To further
May 2016
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100
Sustainable access to safe drinking water, basic sanitation and drainage

facilities are components of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
which the Philippine Government has committed to achieve. The
Philippine standard for access to potable water is a clean supply of at
least 50 liters per capita daily (lcpd) available from water points no more
than 250 meters from the users residence. The World Health
Organization (WHO)United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) Joint
Monitoring Programme (JMP) reported in March 2012 (the JMP March
2012 Report) that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of 92%
coverage has been met for drinking water.13
The JMP estimated that national coverage in the Philippines was 92% in
2010, with 93% coverage
in urban areas and 92% in rural areas. The National Statistics Offce
(NSO) reported a lower fgure of 84.8% of the total population having
access to potable water in 2011, noting a slight increase from 82.9% in
2007.
expand their coverage, LWUA has embarked on a robust program of

water supply projects with other participating local governments. The
Manila Bay Mandamus comprises joint eforts among 13 agencies and
targets sanitation for an estimated 80% of households until 2017.
7.3.2
Strategic Issues and Constraints
Water supply coverage is lagging behind the growing urban population in

Philippine cities, hindering their competitiveness and diminishing their
livability. Many water utilities companies are facing fnancial difficulties
because tariffs are pegged too low to be able to recover costs while
systems are too small to work eficiently. Moreover, the delivery of
affordable and reliable water
DILG defnition of waterless communities: communities with less than 50% clean water (Level
II) service coverage.
153

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101
supply in the urban areas continues to be hampered by (i) institutional

fragmentation, (ii) weak sector planning and monitoring partly due to
lack of sector information, (iii) the generally poor performance of water
utilities, (iv) low public and private sector participation (v) limited access
to fnancing for service expansion, and (v) defcient pro-poor programs
more supportive of urban communities and neighborhoods.
7.4 Improving Access to Clean Energy

7.4.1
Energy independence and market reforms are the main strategic thrusts
of the governments energy development plan. The government aims to
achieve universal access to modern electricity services. The target of
electrifying 90% of households by 2017 entails connecting over 3 million
additional households (Table 7-8). The government plans to undertake
an expert review of the power sector, review the performance of the
Electric Power Industry Reform Act, and make appropriate changes that
will help achieve the governments principal objectives of reform and
create consumer benefts. Access to electricity in the urban areas is no
longer a problem with the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) reaching
a 97% electrifcation level in its franchise areas which covers 23 cities
and 88 municipalities including Metro Manila. Some urban areas outside
Metro Manila are serviced by electric cooperatives (ECs) which report a
99% electrifcation level in the areas they cover.155 For resettlement sites,
at least 30% of resettled families must already be on site to be energized.
Table 7-8: Household Energization Level in the Philippines, 2013
Year
% of Energized
Total Households Energized Households
Households to Total
200
18,213,158
6
200
18,702,843
7
200
19,192,528
8
200
19,682,214
9
201
20,171,899
0
201
20,614,174
1
201
21,010,890
2
201
21,415,236
3
Source: Department
of Energy
11,838,009
12,287,960
12,722,974
13,223,084
14,536,372
15,184,535
16,114,213
16,943,354

May 2016
65.0
0
65.7
0
66.2
9
67.1
8
72.0
6
73.6
6
76.6
9
79.1
2
Page |
102
The constraints to improving sanitation coverage are even greater. Less

than 5% of households are connected to a sewerage network. The
majority of households with toilets are connected to septic tanks that are
poorly designed or maintainedthereby leading to most effluent being
discharged without treatment. The weak management of solid waste and
sanitation poses immense challenge, contributing signifcantly to the
contamination and pollution of surface and ground water sources. The
key problems confronting the sanitation sector include (i) inadequate
policies and inefective governance and regulation, (ii) low levels of
awareness and political will for improving sanitation; (iii) lack of funds for
fnancing infrastructure; and (iv)weak sanitation capacity at the national,
regional and local levels of government.154
However, the Philippines has some of the most expensive electricity in

Southeast Asia, averaging
$0.18 per kilowatt-hour in 2009, because (i) the archipelagic geography
makes electricity costly in
some areas;(ii) generation, transmission, and distribution systems
are ineficient; and (iii)
Asian Development Bank, 2013. Philippines Water Supply and Sanitation Sector
Assessment, Strategy and Road Map (Manila, Philippines), 1-6.
155 Electric cooperatives defne an electrified barangay as one with at least 30 households already
energized or electrified.
154

May 2016
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103
investment in the sector is low, coupled with the high cost of investments
made during the countrys power crisis in the 1990s. A fundamental
challenge in the energy sector is to ensure sustainable and reliable
supply to households and businesses fueling growth and development at
reasonable cost. This is made complicated by the country's limited
fossil-fuel reserves and therefore, high dependence on non-renewable
and imported energy.
Under the Fueling Sustainable Transport Program (FSTP), all eforts to

mitigate the impact of continuously increasing oil prices, lessen
dependence on oil, and encourage migration from gasoline- and petro
diesel-fueled vehicles to low- and zero-emission vehicles will be
synchronized and integrated into one comprehensive government
program. The program will accelerate the promotion and utilization of
alternative fuels for public transport such as CNG and LPG, as well as
new technologies such as electric buses, cars, jeepneys, and tricycles.
DOE has set the following targets for the program: (i) pilot run of electric
tricycles and jeepneys and LPG jeepneys in Metro Manila, demonstration
run of electric buses and cars, and commercial run of CNG buses on
selected routes; (ii) 10% reduction of gasoline- and petro diesel-fueled
transport and the construction of a CNG daughter station in Metro
Manila by 2012; (iii) 20% reduction of gasoline- and petro diesel-fueled
transport in Metro Manila by 2015; and (iv) 50% reduction of gasolineand petro diesel-fueled transport in the Philippines by 2020.
7.4.2
Strategic Issues and Constraints156
Severe power shortages in the 1990s brought in additional generation on

take-or-pay contracts, which became liabilities when expected growth in
demand did not materialize. The Government launched a power sector
restructuring program, including the passage of the Electric Power
Industry Reform Act in June 2001 and subsequent unbundling of the
sector to create competition in generation and retailing and, as a
surrogate for competition, efective regulation of monopoly transmission
May 2016
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With its growing urban population, total household consumption is

expected to more than double under current energy policies, while
adopting energy-eficiency standards could shave as much as
9.5% of residential power demand. In its 2009-2030 Philippine Energy
Plan, the Department of
Energy (DOE) forecasts average annual growth in electricity demand of
4.6%, which means that the country will need to add 16,550 MW of
generation capacity from 2009 to 2030. In response, the Government is
aggressively promoting the use of biofuels, mainly sugarcane- and
cassava- based ethanol and biodiesel for transport. It also adopted the
use of liquefed petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG)
to diversify the countrys fuel resources for transport and to decrease
vehicular emissions. These alternative fuels are cleaner and cheaper than
conventional fuel. Under the Autogas Program, measures have been
adopted to ensure the safety of LPG as a transport fuel and to promulgate
standards.
and distribution systems. The power sector unbundling has achieved

certain milestones which include (i) establishing an independent
regulator, (ii) privatizing more than 3,000 megawatts (MW) of generation
assets previously owned by the government, (iii) selecting independent
power producer (IPP) administrators, and (iv) awarding transmission
concessions to private management. However, sector reform remains
incomplete and has not delivered suffcient benefts.
Sustainable power supply that is reliable and has reasonable social and
environmental costs is key to increasing the competitiveness of
Philippines cities which then leads to increased investments.
Ineficiencies in the wholesale power market, the amount of power that
domestic appliances use, and how energy is converted by old vehicle
engines worsens social and environmental costs,
Asian Development Bank, 2012. Proposed Loan and Administration of Loan and Grant to the
Republic of the Philippines: Market
Transformation through Introduction of Energy-Eficient Electric Vehicles Project. Manila (Loan
2964-PHI).
156

May 2016
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105
making the whole energy cycle inefficient. The Visayas and Mindanao
regions suffered power shortages in mid-2010 because the dependable
capacity of hydroelectric plants declined. Self- suffciencythe use of
indigenous oil, coal, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, biomass,
coco methyl ester, and ethanolwas 59.2% in 2009. As of December
2009, installed electricity- generating capacity was 15,610 megawatts.
Fossil-fuel power plants are mostly in the Luzon grid; and the Mindanao
grid depends heavily on hydropower.
Nevertheless, it is inefficient transport that contributes to the air

pollution common to the cities and towns in the Philippines, as the
transport sector uses two-thirds of the governments annual oil imports,
estimated at US$8 billion. Transport-related energy consumption will
continue to grow at an average annual rate of 3.2%, with road transport
accounting for 90% of energy demand for transport by 2030. The
transport sector, mainly tricycles, jeepneys, and buses, contributes a
large portion of CO2 emissions, as 3.5 million registered motorcycles and
tricycles release 10 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year
and consume close to $3 billion worth of fuel.
7.5 Improving Access to Sustainable Means of

Transport
7.5.1
Urban transport is a vital sector of the Philippine economy, linking

population and urban growth centers across its 7,107 islands. The
transport system of the Philippines consists of land, water, air, and rail
transport. Water transport plays an important role due to the archipelagic
nature of the country, but land transport is by far the dominant
subsector accounting for 98% of passenger traffic and 58% of cargo
traffic. While the transport infrastructure has been developed and spread
across the country (about 215,000 km of roads, 1,300 public and private
ports, and 215 public and private airports), the level of service has not
been suffcient due to the lack of sustainable fnancing. Improving
transport infrastructure is critical for strengthening the investment
May 2016
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106
The National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) is a vital support

mechanism to the low carbon development strategy which is expected to
address the challenges of climate change, energy security, and access to
clean energy. In 2008, the Renewable Energy Act (Republic Act 9513)
was passed and focused on boosting the drive to improve access to clean
energy and its sustainability. Various mechanisms such as power
generation through hydro, biomass, wind, and solar systems were made
part of the Philippine renewable program and these were supported by
the Feed-In Tariffs set in 2012. Rates were much lower than what was
requestedFIT was lowest for hydropower and highest for solar power.
These attracted investors to supply energy produced to the power grid.
However, the distribution coverage is still limited as transmission lines
are costly.
climate and enhancing economic growth. The Philippines has seen

modest improvement in the quality of its transport servicesa large part
of the road network remains in poor condition and intermodal integration
remains generally weak.
The extent of the road network in the Philippines, when measured in
terms of road km per square km, road km per capita, and road km per
dollar of GDP per capita, is comparable with or better than many
neighboring developing member countries. However, when the quality of
the road system is consideredboth in terms of the percentage of paved
roads and the percentage of roads in good or fair conditionthe
Philippines lags well behind nearly all of its regional neighbors and
competitors.
The government has developed a network of tolled
expressways (SCTEX and TPLEX) in Central Luzon to address transport
constraints on economic development by (i) linking the major economic
and transport centers in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces, from
Tarlac in the north to Batangas in the south; and (ii) facilitating
multimodal transport. The expressway

May 2016
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107
network, developed through publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) and with

bilateral development assistance, links industrial parks and special
economic zones, the ports at Subic and Batangas, and the Clark
International Airport in Pampanga. While the development of this
network has reduced travel times signifcantly, additional eforts to
increase port capacity and improve management are necessary to realize
fully the benefts of an integrated multimodal transport system.
The government has intensified eforts under way since 1992 to liberalize
air transport. In particular, it has been promoting the development of
secondary international gateways by negotiating bilateral pocket open
skies agreements for secondary airports in the Philippines. These
agreements now cover all secondary international gateways in the
country and have led to substantial increases in travel through these
airports.
7.5.2
Strategic Issues and Constraints157
Transport systems in Philippine cities are almost entirely road based,

with the exception of Metro Manila. Transport services consist mainly of
jeepneys (public utility vehicles), taxis, tricycles, and pedicabs that are
privately owned and operated. In 2010, taxis comprised 667,424 (35%)
of the
May 2016
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108
Inter-island water transport is a very important subsector of the national

transport system. There are about 1,300 ports, of which about 1,000 are
government-owned and the rest are privately owned and managed.
International cargo and container traffic has grown steadily in recent
years, supported by signifcant investments in the port of Batangas by the
PPA and in the port of Subic by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
However, passenger and freight traffic on domestic interisland shipping
services have remained at almost the same volume since the 1990s. In
2003, the Philippine Government issued a policy to promote the roll-on
roll-of (ro-ro) ferry services. This was manifested in the opening of the
governments Strong Republic Nautical Highway Program. The program
has not only linked the countrys major island groups of Luzon, Visayas,
and Mindanao, but it has also had
The opening of the nautical highways in the
positive efects on the
Philippines have resulted in (i) goods being
economies
shipped more eficiently, (ii) transport costs
of the smaller islands
reductions, (iii) creation of new interisland and
regional links created, (iv) expansion of regional
along the major routes.
markets expanded, (v) tourism benefits, (vi)
The ro-ro policy has had
acceleration of local area development, (vii)
a major positive impact,
changes in logistics practices, and (viii) a more
competitive domestic shipping industry. The
derived
from
growth of ro-ro services may have contributed to
the signifcant
the decline in both freight and passenger traffic
reduction in transport
on conventional interisland shipping services.
costs.
The
principal
Source:
Asian
Development
sources of savings have
Bank, 2012.
been the elimination of
cargo handling charges
and wharfage fees.
1.9 million vehicles in Metro Manila, and half of the 6.6 million
vehicles in the country were motorcycles. Motorcycle users are
vulnerable to road crashes and contribute signifcantly to traffic
congestion.
In Metro Manila, the urban transport infrastructure consists of a network
of roads and railways. While some of the principal road corridors in
Metro Manila have high capacities, traffic volumes are also extremely
high. As a result, the movement of people, goods, and services has
become difficult. Although restrictions on vehicle usage are in place,
their efectiveness is decreasing as rates of motorization increase.
Consequently, congestion in Metro Manila is increasing rapidly and is
estimated to cause economic losses equivalent to about 4.6% of GDP.
While congestion in urban areas outside of Metro Manila is less severe,
increasing urban population combined with
Asian Development Bank, 2012. Philippines Transport Sector Assessment, Strategy and Road
Map (Manila, Philippines), 1-9.
157

May 2016
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109
The railway system consists of light rail transit (LRT) lines in Metro
Manila and heavy rail lines in Luzon. The three LRT lines commenced
operations in 1984, 1999, and 2003. Two lines are owned and operated by
a government-owned corporation, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA),
while the third was fnanced and constructed by a private corporation,
the Metro Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC), and is operated by the
government under a buildleasetransfer agreement. The lines operated
by the LRTA carry about 579,000 passengers each day, while the MRTC
line carries more than 400,000 passengers daily. Fare structures are
distance based, and fare levels are low relative to comparable systems
elsewhere in the region. One reason that fares can be set at these low
levels is that the debt of the government-owned and controlled
corporations is serviced by annual allocations in the government budget,
which has the efect of subsidizing the operations of the light rail
systems. Overall load factors on the LRT lines exceed 60% and
overcrowding is common at peak periods.
There is evident disconnect from resettlement sites and the urban centers
where employment and other economic opportunities abound.
The
resettled households face costly transport and long hours of travel to
their place of work which sooner or later cause the households to leave
resettlement sites and return to the urban centers as informal settlers.
This has been a perennial issue through the years, one which needs a
solution closely linked to a more inclusive urban transport system.

Learned
7.6.1
Scaling Up Low Income and Pro Poor Housing
There are many innovative projects but none has so far been able to
create the scale needed to adequately narrow the housing demand and
supply gap posed by rapid urbanization. The current level of housing
production represents a very small fraction of the estimated housing
need perpetuating the formation of informal settlements and slums in
Metro Manila and other urban metropolis around the country.
higher rates of motorization suggest that traffic congestion in those

urban areas will worsen as well in the near future. As in other urban
areas, road-based public transport in Metro Manila is provided entirely by
the private sector. There are an estimated 433 bus companies operating
805 routes. The majority of bus companies own more than 10 units, with
only 7 bus companies owning 100 units or more. Jeepneys serve 785
routes in Metro Manila, with many jeepney operators owning only one
unit. In addition to jeepneys, air-conditioned Asian utility vehicles provide
express services in several areas of Metro Manila, together with taxis and
localized modes of transport such as tricycles and pedicabs. Tricycles and
pedicabs are restricted to serving local areas and provide a feeder
service to the larger-scale public transport services.
7.6.2 Access and Affordable Basic Services

The delivery of safe water, sanitation, waste management, energy, and
transport continues to be a major challenge in the Philippines,
particularly with respect to the creating the conditions necessary for
livability in the cities. There are several reason for this and they include
(i) rising demand resulting from the scale of urbanization, (ii) the
increasing unit costs of infrastructure provision combined with poor cost
recovery, (iii) a legacy of under-investment in operation and maintenance
and infrastructure extensions, (iv) high and inefficient consumption of
services among the high and middle income households, (v) the relatively
slow adoption of a green infrastructure approach,
(v) inequitable or sub-optimal distribution of services and infrastructure,

and (vi) a dependence on outdated or inappropriate policies and business
models.
7.6.3 Growing Problems in Urban Transport and Mobility
The intense movement of people, materials and information combined

with generally inadequate urban transport systems in the Philippines is
causing millions in lost productivity and economic opportunities. The
situation is worse, and growing even worse, in Metro Manila and the
other urban agglomerations in regional growth centers nationwide. The
country's archipelagic setting combined with the magnitude of
urbanization makes accessibility between and within the islands costly
and time consuming.
Development of resettlement sites and new
township need to be anchored on more inclusive transport network
development to ensure facilitated access to urban areas from relocation
sites and employment opportunities.
7.6.4
Designing Resilient Housing and Basic Infrastructure
An average of 20 typhoons hits the country each year. It is located in the

Pacific Ring of Fire which further makes it vulnerable to earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions. The design of housing and basic infrastructure in the
Philippines must be planned at national/local and sectoral level to
facilitate climate change oriented analyses of projects. This climate
proofing methodology will allow planners and developers to assess risks
and opportunities which climate change poses and also to minimize
damages and losses during natural disasters.
Planning as shown by NISUS should be anchored on the agreed plan
among government, housing developers, fnanciers, and the communities.
The prevailing policy reform of local governments to consider
resettlement following the hierarchy of onsite, in city, near city, and
fnally of city relocation is a timely and highly appreciated strategy. It
will resolve the return to the city action of many resettled households
leading to the perpetuation and widespread proliferation of informal
settlements.
Transportation has always played an important role in influencing the

formation of urban societies. Although other facilities like availability of
food and water played a major role, the contribution of transportation can
be seen clearly from the formation, size and pattern, and development of
societies, especially thee urban centers. When the cities grow beyond
normal walking distance, transportation technology plays a pivotal role in
the formation of the city. For example, many cities in the plains developed
as a circular city with radial routes, while the cities beside a river
developed linearly. The development of automobiles, and other factors
like increase in personal income, and construction of paved road network,
the settlements were transformed into urban centers of intense travel
activity.158
Cross sectoral planning and monitoring system are vital components of

successful resettlement of ISFs. Access to employment opportunities,
economic activities, basic services, housing, and basic food supply will
ensure the growth prospects for the resettled communities.
Close
monitoring with the community members will allow identification of
weaknesses and a more prompt response system.
158
Department of Transportation: Role of Transportation in Society Lecture Notes, June 2014.

7.7.1 Enabling Informal Settler Families to Live In
Resilient, Vibrant and
Connected Urban Communities
7.7.2 Encouraging Investments in Spatially Integrated and

Climate Change
Resilient Housing and Basic Infrastructure
The provision of urban housing and basic infrastructure in the Philippines
is markedly constrained by the lack of financing and capacity. The
strategies to be employed must consider economies of scalewhich in
many cases can be achieved by a more spatially integrated design.
Climate change also imposes the inclusion of resiliency features.
Investments can be more rationalized using a co- beneft approach which
espouses that projects to be considered must have multiple benefts in
different sectors or subsectors resulting from one policy, strategy, or
initiative. Projects selected must simultaneously contribute to reducing
the negative impacts of climate change while solving other local
environmental, economic and social equity problems in the cities. With
the prevailing signifcant participation of private sector developers in the
market and a much needed review of laws covering development
factsheet-eng-pdf.
May 2016
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This is in essence the vision of the recently approved 10-year National

Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy (NISUS). Informal settlements
are essentially a staging ground for people moving to the city or for
people who are temporarily in trouble, a place where they can live
cheaply in the interim, until they establish themselves. In the long-term,
most informal settlers aim to find a better place to live. NISUS envisions
most if not all ISFs fnding a secure and better place to livein resilient
communities that are able to withstand climate change and natural
disasters, vibrant communities animated with socio-economic dynamism
and quality urban infrastructure and services, and connected
communities that are linked by transport and telecommunication to
employment, sources of livelihood, the urban economy, and the rest of the
city. The NISUS mission is a profound commitment to a more dignifed
life for at least one million ISFs by 2025 through secure and better
quality housing, improved physical infrastructure and social services, and
greater access to jobs, transport, capital, and livelihood. This represents
a big leap from the current production delivered by the various
government housing programs every year but responds to the need to
achieve the scale warranted by the problem. Targeted subsidies need to
be applied for inclusive housing provision. A closer look on how the
itinerant street dwellers may gain access to decent housing is likewise
needed.
standards, public, and private sector with people partnerships should be

encouraged toward resilient housing provision with access to basic
services.
7.7.3 Promoting the Shift to a Demand Based, Low Carbon

Yielding Urban
Transport System
While urban transport has been an enabler of voluminous economic
activities and social connectivity particularly in the highly urbanized
cities, there has been a bias so far towards planning for individual
motorized transport rather than accessibility. This has led to tremendous
traffic congestion and urban sprawl.
The "Avoid-Shift-Improve
159
framework"
should be promoted in planning subsequent urban
transport systems. "Avoid" will underscore better land use planning and
travel demand management. "Shift" will encourage the move to more
sustainable means of transportnonmotorized and public transport.
"Improve" will consider vehicle and fuel
www.transport2020.org/fle/asifactsheet-eng-pdf.
159

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eficiency.160 The envisioned outcome is a successful transition to a more

inclusive, greener urban transport system with a lower carbon footprint
for Metro Manila and other highly urbanized cities nationwide.
160
Habitat III Issues Paper. 2015. 19Transport and Mobility

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A New Urban Agenda:

Better, Greener, Smarter
Cities in a More
Inclusive Philippines
Twenty years later and the Philippines appears to have accomplished

most of its commitments under Habitat II (Appendix 1).161 However, over
the years, it has also emerged as one of the most populous countries in
the world with an estimated population of over 100 million. The country's
urban population has reached almost 42 million, putting undue pressure
on city governments to provide affordable, reliable, and quality basic
urban services. The nation's capital region, more popularly known as
Metro Manila, has become home to a population of 11.9 million,
catapulting it to the world's top 20 megacities. Metro Manila's extended
urban area encompassing the provinces of the Central and Southern
Luzon regions has 24.6 million residents, counting it among the top fve
most populous urban agglomerations in the world. Growing steadily over
the past two decades, Metro Manilas urbanization has been quite
sporadic and unplanned, resulting in poor services for managing solid
waste, wastewater, air quality, transportation, traffic and other needs of a
growing urban population. Its rapid urban growth has also resulted in the
social exclusion of a huge number of ISFs or low-income families that
occupy vacant lands, whether public or private, even in disaster-prone
places. They have exploded in number and size and have become a
tremendous challenge in urban management and governance for national
government agencies and Metro Manila local governments.
Furthermore, the archipelagic nature and geographic location of the
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In June 1996, the Philippines participated in the Second World

Conference on Human Settlements or Habitat II that was held in Istanbul,
Turkey. Attended by member states of the United Nations, Habitat II
addressed two themes of equal global importance: Adequate Shelter for
All and Sustainable Human Settlements Development in an Urbanizing
World. As an active member of the United Nations Center for Human
Settlements, now known as UN-Habitat, the Philippines prepared for the
conference and submitted to the UNCHS a national report entitled
Shelter And Human Settlements: Philippine Report and Plan of Action.
The report embodied the countrys development roadmap, which was
anchored on three interconnected strategiestotal human development,
global competitiveness and sustainable development. It also contained
the countrys commitments to Habitat II. Infrastructure development in
support of human settlements, pursuit of knowledge and livelihood and
ensuring physical, economic and social mobility were the avowed
commitments of the Philippine government to Habitat II in 1996. The
country committed a holistic approach of interagency coordination for
human settlements development with poverty reduction, livelihood
generation, and environmental protection as national development
thrusts.
Philippines have made it highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of

climate change and environmental degradation. Climate change in the
Philippines has been felt through extreme temperature and rainfall
events. Recently, it has been acutely manifested by
the rise in
temperature, precipitation, extreme rainfall, drought, flooding, storm
changing weather patterns. Metro Manila is at high risk from cyclones,
floods, and earthquakes. Four other large coastal cities in Asia are at a
similarly high risk including Davaothe largest urban agglomeration in
Mindanao which is also exposed to the risks of cyclones, floods, and
earthquakes.
161
Appendix 1 of this report contains the summary of the commitments made by the Philippine
Government under HABITAT II as well as the actions it has taken to fulfill such commitments.

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Against this background, the Philippine Government began its national

report preparation for the Third World Conference on Human Settlements
or Habitat III. Using a consultative, participatory and consensus building
approach entailing a series of thematic, regional and multisectoral
workshops, a New Urban Agenda was formulated. The theme of the New
Urban Agenda is Better, Greener, Smarter Cities in an Inclusive
Philippines. The theme is apt, reflective of the aspirations of millions of
Filipinos for the future of Philippines cities. Better Cities are globally
competitive, economically vibrant, and livable. Greener Cities are
environmentally sustainable, climate resilient and safe. Smarter Cities
are connected, physically, spatially and digitally. An Inclusive Philippines
is equitable, participatory, and provides universal access to quality basic
services. It safeguards children, women, the elderly people, and persons
with disability. It equalizes access to livelihood opportunities. And it
enables informal settler families to transform in the metropolises, living
their lives with more pride and dignity.
Grouped along the key pillars of sustainable urban development, the
New Urban Agenda of the
Philippines is presented in more detail in the
ensuing pages.
8.1 New Urban Agenda 1Urban

Demography: Capturing the Youth
Dividend, A More Spatially Balanced
and Interconnected Development,
and Safeguards for the Vulnerable
and Disadvantaged
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Moreover, although the decentralization process can be deemed a

success, there continues to be a lack of efective urban governance
mechanisms particularly for regional scale infrastructure projects
involving inter-jurisdictional cooperation. This has resulted in
negative impacts on economic competitiveness, the environment, and
the delivery of reliable, affordable and resilient urban services. Urban
governance in the Philippine has also come to involve too many
institutions with overlapping mandatesconsequently, there has been
inadequate vertical-horizontal institutional coordination for planning,
implementation, and operation of infrastructure and services. Country
data show that Philippine cities, particularly Metro Manila and other
highly urbanized cities, have helped to propel the overall urban economy,
which in turn has spurred the country's sustained economic expansion.
However, many Philippine cities are still faced by tremendous challenges
associated with rapid urbanization. Many cities in the Philippines are
confronting urban
problems such as congestion, overcrowding, poor
quality of life, and rapidly growing poor urban communities. There is
defcient investment in urban infrastructuremostly for water supply and
sanitation, solid waste management, and low-carbon yielding urban
transport.
The Philippines, an archipelagic country of 7,107 islands in the western

Pacifc Ocean, has continued to rapidly grow and urbanize in the last 20
years, transforming its national capital region (more popularly known as
Metro Manila) and its peripheries into one of the world's ten most
populous urban agglomerations. About 11. 6 million people or 28% of the
urban population now live in the thriving metropolis of Metro Manila. An
industrial-driven growth strategy through the establishment of free port
areas and special economic zones outside Metro Manila has pushed and
pulled many urban migrants into the nearby regions of CALABARZON
and Central Luzon. As a result, these two regions have become the
fastest growing in the Philippines, with a combined urban population that
exceeds that of Metro Manila. Rural-to-urban migration, while slowing
down, continues to be the primary driver of urbanization and urban
sprawl in the country. Young people, both male and female, mostly in
their prime ages, are choosing to move, live, and work in the cities or at
their fringes.

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The
New
Agenda will:
Urban
Agenda 1.1 Invest in people, capture the youth dividend.

The New Urban Agenda of the Philippines for the 21st century should
serve as a prominent guidepost for developing the youth, in recognition
of the country's window of demographic dividend. The Filipino people,
particularly the youth, will be instrumental in enabling the Philippines to
achieve a sustainable urban development that can drive its transition to a
higher middle income country. One of the key challenges of the
Philippines is how to build the capacity and life skills of its people,
particularly its relatively young population, on how to become productive
members of a fast modernizing urban economy that efectively links to
the rural sector.
Agenda 1.2 Pursue a more spatially and regionally balanced
development.
The distribution of economic development has been uneven so far. This
induces migration toward the faster growing regions, away from the
slower growing ones. The New Urban Agenda should facilitate the
formulation and implementation of spatially linked regional and local
urban development strategies that allows a more balanced growth among
the regions, based on their unique regional or local competitive
advantages, and taking into account the archipelagic structure of the
Philippines. These strategies should be supportive of eficient rural-urban
linkages, encouraging trade, connectivity, and mutually beneficial
partnerships.
Agenda 1.3 Foster more effective gender mainstreaming in urban
development.
Considering the trend that there are more female rather than male in the
Philippines'
highly
urbanized
regions,
is signifcant
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The country with about 27.6% of its population belonging to the 15-29
years old age group has a predominantly young population. This youth
bulge offers the Philippines a window of demographic dividend which can
support a sustained annual GDP growth rate that can catapult the
Philippines into a higher-middle income status country. Without the
necessary investment in education, and technical as well as life skills
development for the youth, the country's vast population of young people
will end up becoming unproductive or unemployed. Older persons, PWDs,
and IPs have rights that must be protected through appropriate social
welfare programs. Children are facing tremendous pressures and risks.
Out-of-school youth need sustainable targeted fnancial assistance to help
them with their educational needs and to alleviate the risks they confront
with hazardous jobs in agricultural production and domestic services.
Despite tremendous accomplishments in gender mainstreaming, it is a
process that must continue to minimize the risk women face in the urban
setting, particularly in the workplace.
potential for women to play key roles in urban development that has long
been overlooked. Many of the past and present trends in urban planning
and development reflect only the male perspective, regarding the role of
women as mere primary caregivers. Urban infrastructure and the built
environment needs to be designed such that they promote gender
equality and inclusiveness in the use and benefts of urban space.
Womens participation is essential for this endeavor to succeed.
Agenda 1.4 Safeguard the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
Budget support for targeted subsidies that beneft the older persons,
PWDs, IPs, children, and women will continue to be necessary. But they
will have to be supplemented by innovative fnancing mechanisms
involving the private sector and civil society organizations to be
sustained. Gender should be mainstreamed in the area of employment.
The social protection needs of women

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must also be addressed by establishing a one-stop mechanism that

facilitates their access to social protection services. Social safety nets
and labor market intervention for women are also necessary, especially
for jobs in the urban centers with attractive pay and benefts. This will
reduce the need for them, especially the mothers of young children, to
leave the country and work in high risk jobs.
Agenda 1.5 Develop improved capacity for urban demography.
8.2 New Urban Agenda 2Land and Urban

Planning: Effective Regional Planning and
Development, Planning for Climate
Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk
Reduction, and Improving Access to Urban
Land
A globalizing economy and urbanization require cities to be more than
competitive. A well- formulated city development plan and comprehensive
land use planincorporating CCA and DRRMand supported by an
integrated transport infrastructure plan can guide cities toward their
desired urban growth path, resulting in the development of inclusive
communities. As early as
1960,
the
problems
associated
with
rapid
and
unbridled
urbanizationslums, informal
settlements, traffic congestion, environmental degradation, inefficient
transport facilities, inadequate and unreliable basic infrastructure and
services, and morehave increasingly been experienced not only in
Metro Manila but also in other highly urbanized cities throughout the
country. The search for cheaper land by property developers and the
weak implementation of local plans and zoning ordinances have also
contributing to urban sprawl, as evidenced by the country's growing
suburban areas.
As one of the countries located in the Pacifc Ring of Fire,
the
metropolitan centers of the Philippines, particularly Metro Manila with
its dense and huge urban population, have become highly vulnerable to
climate change induced natural disasters such as droughts more severe
with each El Nio episode, and massive flooding more destructive with
each La Nia event. An estimated 70% of cities in the Philippines are
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The systematic study of urban demography in the Philippines is

constrained by limited resources and capacity. Urban population data are
no longer published as part of the yearly statistics, there are no
mechanisms for monitoring urban population movements, and there
are no recent quantitative studies on internal migration that should feed
into development planning and policy making. The New Urban Agenda
for the Philippines for the 21st century must recognize that accurate,
available and reliable urban population statistics are vital to sustainable
urban development planning.
in urban areas along dangerous coastal zones, landslide- and earthquakeprone areas, as well as waterways. Toward this end, much has been
accomplished to mainstream CCA and DRRM in local development and
land use planning but capacity to implement remains weak.
Land
regulation in the Philippines also remains fragmented and outdated,
with formal judicial proceedings required to efect even the most simple
property transaction. This makes the conveyance of freeholdthe most
commonly known and preferred type of secure tenurea lengthy,
complex, and costly process which disadvantages the urban poor the
most.

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The
New
Agenda will:
Urban
Incorporate climate change adaptation (CCA)

Agenda 2.1and disaster risk reduction and management
(DRRM) in urban planning.
Arrest urban sprawl; manage urban form and

Agenda 2.2design through effective regional planning and
development.
To guide urban development and control the current sprawl, the New
Urban Agenda should stimulate growth in the secondary cities to redirect
population movements and economic developments to these areas and
ease the burden on major urban centers. The thrust of the national
transportation and infrastructure plans should likewise be reoriented to
include secondary cities. Adopting an infrastructureguided development
policy can be a potent, strategic tool for managing uncontrolled urban
growth. Additionally, the shape of subsequent development in the periurban areas manifesting urban sprawl has to be planned carefully,
considering the transport, communication, and housing needs of all
including the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups as well as the
associated investment costs that go with them.
Generate livelihoods and improve food security by
Agenda 2.3planning for more sustainable urban agriculture.
Cities in the Philippines are generally dependent on agriculture
producing provinces and towns for their food supply. When disasters
strike cutting of the supply of food from the rural areas, prices go up as a
result of supply shortage. The New Urban Agenda should promote
sustainable urban agriculture to help reduce the over-reliance of cities on
the rural areas for their food security, especially during disasters. For the
urban poor, urban agriculture also presents livelihood and income
generation opportunities.
Agenda 2.4 Shift to a more integrated and inclusive transport
planning.
In addressing transport mobility issues, the New Urban Agenda should
underscore the need to rethink the country's transport policy planning
approach to make it more integrated and inclusive. Integration will
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The New Urban Agenda needs to promote mechanisms for how local
governments can adopt a more strategic and spatially interlinked
approach in urban planningenabling them to promote economic
competitiveness, environmental resiliency, and social inclusiveness.
Particularly within the Philippines archipelagic setting, the guidelines
must promote integration and connectivity. The land and urban planning
guidelines should also be updated to reflect a more inclusive approach,
eliminating obsolete and overly Western standards that work to
discriminate against the urban poor and other marginalized groups in
society including women, children, PWDs, and IPs.
inclusive urban mobility transport is public transport modes that can

transport more people, making the system work for the poor and
vulnerable.
Redefine security of land tenure through rightsAgenda 2.5based approaches and land use rights instruments.
As policy reforms move toward improving inefficiencies in land
management and land valuation in the Philippines, HUDCC has
spearheaded the move to alleviate the diffculties of ISFs in accessing
rights over the land they occupy, facilitating secure tenure. Rights-based
instruments (RBIs) or other forms of secure tenure instrumentssuch as
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right to occupy or buildare now getting recognized as collateral

substitutes. The New Urban Agenda should acknowledge that by
designing these instruments to exhibit validity, integrity, security,
negotiability, and bankability, RBIs can be an eficient way of addressing
the remaining inefficiencies in land management, including land
valuation, in the Philippines. RBIs offer a less costly approach to
providing secure tenure to segments of society unable to secure freehold
titles, particularly the urban poor.
Cities around the world serve as the engines of economic growth

creating jobs and stimulating investments as well as innovations. In the
process, however, they have also become the primary contributors to
unprecedented levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, loss of
biodiversity, water scarcity, and various forms of environmental pollution.
The archipelagic nature and geographic location of the Philippines make
it highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and
environmental degradation. Without concerted eforts on how its cities
can better adapt to climate change, reduce their carbon footprints and
shift toward a greener economy while living more eficiently within the
country's fair share of ecological resourcesthe urban challenges the
Philippines will face in the medium- and long-terms will escalate.
In the Philippines, efective CCA and DRRM has been implemented using
an integrated yet decentralized approach that builds on exchanging,
sharing, and integrating knowledge about climate-related risks and
initiatives among all the stakeholder groups. However, CCA and DRRM to
be efective must be viewed as a continuing process comprising multiple
actors from the national and local governments, the private sector,
research bodies, and civil society including community-based
organizations, playing different but complementary roles to manage risks.
The country is also faced with a mounting garbage problems and
defcient investments in sanitation, drainage and septage facilities.
The
New
Agenda will:
Urban
Further boost the capacity for a highly

Agenda 3.1effective climate change adaptation and
disaster risk reduction and management.
CCA and disaster planning and disaster-preparedness are instruments
that will go a long way in averting or mitigating the adverse impacts of
natural
After a considerable
policy
HABITATdisasters.
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Environment: Climate Change and
Disaster Resiliency, Urban
Environmental Infrastructure
Improvements, and Developing
Green Cities
has put in place the laws, basic policies, and plans and programs for a
more efective CCA and DRRM. The challenge of a New Urban Agenda
lies in institutionalizing these policies, systems and procedures and in
making sure the coordination mechanisms among government agencies,
local governments, communities and schools will work. Activities have to
be supported with adequate budgets on a continuing basis.
Institutionalization will require strengthening the capacity of national
government agencies, local governments, and partner stakeholders.
Efforts should include harnessing and mobilizing the participation of
CSOs, the private sector, and volunteers.

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Agenda 3.2 Accelerate climate change and disaster resiliency.
Address the mounting garbage problem by

Agenda 3.3greening solid waste management.
Cities in the Philippines, particularly those in Metro Manila and other
highly urbanized centers, need to convert their garbage dumps into
sanitary landflls to better manage waste disposal while contributing to
the fght against climate change. Under the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act (Republic Act 9003), the LGUs, communities, and the
private sector can generate carbon credits for complying with the Solid
Waste Management Act of 2000. The law calls for phasing out open dump
sites and converting them into sanitary landflls to reduce the risks of
fre, water contamination, and methane emissions.
Facilitate more investments in water supply and
Agenda 3.4sanitation, sewerage, and septage facilities to
improve access to clean and safe water.
The polluted rivers and waterways caused by untreated domestic and
industrial waste have made urban communities in the Philippines,
particularly those in the metropolitan areas, highly prone to diarrhea,
cholera, skin diseases and other water-borne diseases. Reversing this
trend under a New Urban Agenda, will necessitate frst and foremost a
stronger and more streamlined regulatory framework, as well as
improved monitoring mechanisms and adequate fnancial resources. The
government leadership required to push eficient, effective, and
sustainable sanitation programs must be provided. Laws and standards
relating to sanitation and wastewater management need to be integrated
and updated. LGUstasked by the LGC to be at the forefront of
implementing, monitoring, and, to some extent, regulating sanitation
programs and projectsmust be adequately informed about the costs and
benefts to their communities of improved sanitation and wastewater
management.

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Many of CCA and DRRM challenges should be addressed by a New Urban

Agenda through improved and adequate urban infrastructure
appropriately designed to promote climate change and disaster risk
resiliency as well as green growth. But there is also need to continually
integrate local knowledge with additional scientifc and technical
knowledge. An iterative process of monitoring, research, evaluation,
learning, and innovation will also prove benefcial. Potential initiatives
that will provide benefts under current climate and a range of future
climate change scenarios include (i) early warning systems; (ii) risk
communication between decision makers and local citizens; (iii)
sustainable land management, including land use planning; and (iv)
ecosystem management and restoration. Other measures to consider
include (i) improvements to water supply, sanitation, and drainage
systems; (ii) climate-proofing of infrastructure; (iii) development and
enforcement of building codes; and (iv) better education and awareness.
Governance: Stronger Sector

Leadership, Effective Multilevel
Governance, Improved Local Urban
Governance Capacity, and
Participatory and Transparency
Mechanisms
There is no explicit official defnition of urban governance in the
Philippines. Too often, discussions about urban governance are subsumed
into local governance, or even the more generic, all-purpose term
governance. A recent study conducted by ADB of the Philippines'

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Apart from the creation of DHUD, reforms to the LGC to strengthen

urban governance in the Philippines have become of paramount
importance. There is a widespread agreement among stakeholders that
the LGC has structural defciencies requiring a more thorough
governmentled review as basis for legislative reform. More efective
multilevel urban governance is urgently needed and this should be built
around mechanisms for improved vertical and horizontal integration.
Vertical integration should enhance the collaboration between the
national and local governments, including metropolitan authorities which
are becoming essential to spatial governance. Horizontal integration, on
the other hand, should strengthen the coordination of the various
government agencies, and local governments at the same governance
levels, including leagues of cities and municipalities. Recognizing urban
complexity, diversity and local context, this multilevel
governance
should
also
include
partnerships
between
governmental
and nongovernmental groups, particularly civil
society organizations and the private sector.
Crime has also become a signifcant concern in the urban areas of the
Philippines. Contemporary armed conflicts in Southern Philippines has
unleased complex urban safety challenges involving internally displaced
persons (IDPs). Effective urban governance is seriously hampered by the
lack of accurate and reliable urban data for use in urban planning; the
design, management and implementation of urban development programs
and projects; and monitoring and evaluation for timely corrective actions.
The
New
Agenda will:
Agenda
4.1
Urban
Establish and support more effective sector
leadership in a new urban governance framework
with clear and well defined multi-level and
inter-government relationships.
The key agency responsible for delivering sustainable urban

development,
that meets
the REPORT
needs | and priorities ofP a
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urban sector characterized its form of urban governance as involving too

many institutions with overlapping mandates resulting in inadequate
vertical-horizontal
institutional
coordination
for
planning,
implementation, and operation of infrastructure and service. Although the
decentralization process can be deemed a success, the lack of efective
urban governance mechanisms particularly for regional scale
infrastructure projects involving inter-jurisdictional cooperation has
resulted in negative impacts on economic competitiveness, the
environment, and the delivery of reliable, affordable and resilient urban
services. A capacity needs assessment conducted indicated an overall
weakness for development planning, management and enforcement. This
can be traced to lingering, unaddressed policy issues affecting
institutional structures, inter-governmental and multi-level governance
relationships, management and technical capacity as well as unmet public
and private fnancing needs.
population, is HUDCC. However, faced with a massive housing backlog

and new demand for incremental housing on an annual basis combined
with a broad urban development mandate that is weakened by a lack of
commensurate resources, HUDDC has tended to focus itself on housing.
The continuing evolution of urban development, creating new areas of
urban challenges requiring multi-level government response and clear,
effective inter-government relationships presents a strong case for more
efective sector leadership. The creation of a DHUD has been a longstanding proposal in Congress. Several versions of the bill have been
written since the early 1990s but its creation has not been enacted into
law. Legislating the proposed DHUD has become not only a necessity but
a priority that can no longer be overlooked by a New Urban Agenda.

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Agenda
4.2
Use information and communications technology

(ICT) including social networking for a more
transparent and accountable digital urban
governance.
Among the biggest challenges confronting urban governance in the

Philippines are corruption and the lack of transparency in government
transactions. One
way of attaining transparency in government
transactions is through digital governance, which refers to the
automation of all government databases and transactions. Government
programs, projects, transactions and the movement of funds can be
monitored more eficiently if there is a unifed information technology
where information on any government agency or unit can be easily
accessed by decision-makers. Digital governance promises to be an
indispensable tool for efective governance in cities and municipalities.
The use of information and communication technology (ICT) including
social networking must be explored as part of the New Urban Agenda to
further enhance the transparency and accountability urban governance
mechanisms. ICT applications should also be considered in improving
urban data collection, retrieval, and analysis.
Improve local public financial management,
Agenda 4.3
amending the Local
Government Code, where necessary.
Issues related to fiscal policies, such as, sharing of resources between
national and local governments should be addressed by amending the
LGC. A review of the IRA scheme, its current sharing mechanism and
formula for distribution, which local authorities fnd flled with loopholes,
requires a corresponding review of the LGC. In an improved IRA scheme,
poorer local governments should be given a bigger share and good
performing local governments should be incentivized.
The
current
fscal provisions in the LGC are also not suffcient to allow local
governments to raise revenues from local sources. Their powers to tax
are restricted or limited.
Agenda
4.4
Address urban safety concerns by increasing

policy presence and visibility in crime hot spots
and facilitating the climate change adaptive
process and disaster risk reduction and
preparedness.
There are many ways to curb crimes in the urban centers where crime
incidence continues to rise. The main solution is to increase police
presence and visibility especially in crime hot spots by increasing the
police population. Strengthening PNP accountability mechanisms should
also ensure good conduct among the ranks of policemen. The cooperation
of LGUs and CSOs through the implementation of community programs,
such as, street lighting improvement, conducting awareness seminars on
crime prevention, and developing neighborhood watch programs, is key
to reducing or preventing urban crimes. For urban areas affected by
armed conflicts, there is a need for urban development planning to

efectively provide for the basic needs of IDPs. Equally important for
urban safety is the mainstreaming of CCA and DRRM in the development
plans and investment programs of local governments.
Agenda
4.5
Innovative and efective placemaking is vital to achieving social

inclusiveness and ultimately, the livability of cities. Some urban planners
have described placemaking as the deliberate re-shaping of the built
environment to facilitate social interaction and improve quality of life.
Participatory mechanisms have been effectively put in place in the
Philippines but they need to be more innovative to result in more
meaningful placemaking and public space design.
As both
an
Enhance social inclusion through more innovative

placemaking and public space design in urban
planning and implementation, particularly
involving the vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups.
Agenda
4.6
Reinforce metropolitan governance to encourage

efficient spatial and functional interrelations
between cities, settlements, and their surrounding
areas.
The growth of large metropolitan arease.g. metropolises, megacities,

urban regions and corridorsis transforming the urban landscape,
raising new challenges for the management of metropolitan areas. In the
Philippines, several LGUs have agglomerated themselves into
metropolitan units, either formally or informally, to integrate planning
and administration to address issues transcending the limits of their
jurisdictional boundaries. Urban sprawl in the Philippines also justifies
the case for improving spatial governance. A New Urban Agenda should
pave the way for stronger metropolitan governance structures in the
Philippines. They should be established with the adequate powers, tools
and incentives to be relevant for big infrastructure projects that deliver
more eficient, reliable, and affordable metropolitan services.
8.5 New Urban Agenda 5Urban Economy:

Diversified Local and Housing Finance,
Sustainable
Local
Economic
Development, and Urban Economy
Mainstreaming
in
Development
Planning
The Philippine economic growth in the 1970s up to 2000 has been low
compared to its Southeast and East Asian neighbors. A structural break
occurred in 2010 which placed the country on a higher growth path or a
6.3% average economic growth for the period 2010 to 2014. The urban
economy is fueling this expansion, with industry and services generating
almost 90% of total GDP. But just as the urban economy is driving
growth, it should also be focused on promoting urban strategies and
policies that strengthen the capacity of cities to realize their full potential
as engines of economic development and ultimatelyof employment
creation and wealth accumulation. However, the majority of cities in the
Philippines are unable to mobilize the resources to provide adequate,
reliable, and affordable basic infrastructure and services to their
increasing population. Most of them rely on their IRA transfers from the
overarching idea and a hands-on approach for improving a

neighborhood, city,
or region, placemaking inspires people to
collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every
community. Intertwined with placemaking is the goal of supporting local
governments in creating and promoting socially inclusive, integrated,
connected, environmentally sustainable and safe streets and public
spaces, especially for the most vulnerable. Towards this, the agenda of
placemaking to create quality public spaces that contribute to peoples
health, happiness, and wellbeing should be more vigorously pursued.
national government, reluctant to collect and impose taxes, and unwilling

to borrow for capital expenditures. Local capacity is weak in the areas of
public fnancial management, local taxation, tax administration, debt
financing, and PPPs.
Unemployment in the Philippines continues to be the highest in the
ASEAN region, estimated at
7.5% in 2009 and just slightly down at 7.1% in 2013. The highest
incidences of unemployment in
the country are seen among the males, workers with higher educational
attainment, and the youth. The underemployment rate is high at 19.3%
and is observed mostly among the poor. At least a third of the population
are employed as laborers or unskilled workers, many of them in the
agriculture sector where productivity and wage rates remain low. The
combined unemployment and underemployment rates account for the
persistence of poverty in the Philippines, which has continued to affect
about 25% of the Filipino people in the past three years. Growth in
the
Philippines, therefore, is far from being inclusive at this point, with the
need to accelerate rural- urban integration.
The
New
Agenda will:
Urban
Agenda 5.1 Transform cities into effective agents of diversified

local finance.
The fnancing gap for urban investments in the Philippines is massive. As
growth and urbanization accelerates, cities will have to fnd innovative
ways to fnance urban infrastructure and services to avoid more
unplanned and informal growth that perpetuates poverty and inequality.
Under a New Urban Agenda, cities in the Philippines must be enabled to
(i) increase and diversify their own revenue sources, (ii) access both
capital and debt markets, and (iii) structure as well as manage viable
PPPs.
Agenda
5.2
Develop more innovative approaches to housing

finance including housing microfinance and the
use of rights-based land tenure instruments as
collateral substitutes.
More innovative approaches to housing fnance are needed for the

millions of urban informal settlers comprising the poor. Bundling rights
through alternative rights-based instruments, rather than freehold, may
offer more fnancially viable means to secure tenure. Housing
microfinance, combined with microenterprise fnance, offers promise in
terms of sustainable, unleveraged fnance for informal settlers but a lot
more tailoring needs to be done in this area to produce the warranted
response. A capable and committed fnancial institution that caters to the
development and end-user fnancing for informal settlers through a
variety of appropriate and innovative lending instruments will be
essential to scaling-up the appropriate interventions.
Broaden and deepen the support for
Agenda 5.3sustainable local economic development (LED).
Sustainable LED provides cities with the opportunity to work with the
local communities to improve the local economy. It is a means to generate
the co-benefts of economic competitiveness, climate resiliency, and
inclusive growth. The LGSP-LED anchored by DILG has generated
encouraging results for selected local governments. It has attracted
The unemployed and underemployed leave the rural sector for prospects
of better employment and livelihood opportunities in the cities. In the
cities, many of them end up joining the millions of informal settlers who
live in poverty, deprived of adequate income and decent living conditions.
In the absence of formal and regular employment, millions of them are
unable to access affordable housing fnance. There is also a need to more
carefully examine the fnancing constraints to the supply of affordable
housing.
investments, created jobs, and induced visitor arrivals. In some areas, it

has helped to increase crop productivity and fostered climate change
resiliency. Under a New Urban Agenda, sustainable LED as a program
must be rolled out to more cities and towns in the Philippines to speed up
the building of competitive sectors and enterprises. This will help
provide backward and forward linkages to the urban and rural areas,
particularly those located in disaster-prone areas where poverty lingers.
Generate more and better jobs; equalize access to

Agenda 5.4improved livelihood opportunities.
Integrate the urban economy firmly into

Agenda 5.5national, sectoral and local development planning
and implementation.
The PDP 2011-2016 Update demonstrates how concerns relevant to the
urban economy can be more frmly integrated into national development
planning. Consistent with the new strategies of the PDP Update,
specifcally the growth, employment and poverty targets involving spatial
and sectoral considerations, and the New Urban Agenda, the NUDHF
2011-2016 should be revised. In addition to the updated urban
development and housing framework to be produced, strategic local
development planning in accordance with the new NUDHF should
likewise be supported.
8.6 New Urban Agenda 6Housing and

Basic Services: Scaling Up Low Income
and Pro Poor Housing, Affordable,
Reliable and Resilient Basic Services,
and Shifting to an Inclusive, Low
Carbon
Urban Transport System
In the Philippines, the prospects of better jobs and higher incomes have
pulled millions of Filipinos into the cities, pushed by the lack of decent
jobs and livelihood opportunities in rural areas where subsistence
farming still predominates. This push-pull phenomenon has led not only
to record levels of unemployment and underemployment but to the
proliferation of informal settlements and slums, particularly in Metro
Manila and other metropolitan areas nationwide. Beyond these poor
urban communities, at the city-wide level, there is also a huge gap
between the demand and supply for infrastructure and basic services
such as housing, clean water supply, renewable energy and transportas
cities with limited or overstrained capacities struggle to cope with the
The Philippines has the daunting challenge of creating more and better
jobs for 10 million Filipinos who are either unemployed underemployed
and for the additional 1.15 million Filipinos estimated to enter the labor
force every year. With sustained GDP growth of 7% per year and
enhanced targeting of the fast-growing sectors, the formal sector will be
able to provide good jobs to around two million people in the next four
years. Despite this, around 12.4 million Filipinos would still be
unemployed or underemployed. The rest will work or will have to create
work in the informal sector. Responding to this massive challenge
requires cities to expand formal sector employment even faster while
rapidly raising the incomes of those in the informal sector. Programs
involving the development of micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSMEs) should be pursued exhaustively under a New Urban Agenda.
surge in demand caused by the rapid pace and high level of urbanization.
The offshoots have been one or a combination of the following: (i)
inadequate investments in sustainable infrastructure constraining local
growth and development; (ii) insufficient provision of affordable
infrastructure for the poor creating reversals in poverty reduction
programs; (iii) high proportion of high-carbon infrastructure investments
and inefficient design and use of infrastructure, fueling climate change;
and (iv) low resilience infrastructure, creating urban communities
vulnerable to climate change risks.
All these combined underscore
the vital role played by infrastructure, including housing and basic
services, in sustainable city making and placemaking. Infrastructure is
the great enablerfacilitating economic growth and sustainable
development. More importantly, it is the bedrock of living conditions, a

primary determinant of the circumstances that affect the way city
dwellers live, and ultimately, their well-being.
The delivery of safe water, sanitation, waste management, energy, and

transport also continues to be a major challenge in the Philippines,
particularly with respect to the creating the conditions necessary for
livability in the cities. The intense movement of people, materials and
information combined with generally inadequate urban transport systems
in the Philippines is causing millions in lost productivity and economic
opportunities. The situation is worse, and growing even worse, in Metro
Manila and the other urban agglomerations in regional growth centers
nationwide.
The country's archipelagic setting combined with the
magnitude of urbanization makes accessibility between and within the
islands costly and time consuming.
The
New
Agenda will:
Urban
Enable informal settler families to live in

Agenda 6.1resilient, vibrant and connected urban
communities.
This is in essence the vision of the recently approved 10-year National
Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy (NISUS). NISUS envisions most
if not all ISFs fnding a secure and better place to livein resilient
communities that are able to withstand climate change and natural
disasters, vibrant communities animated with socio-economic dynamism
and quality urban infrastructure and services, and connected
communities that are linked by transport and telecommunication to
employment, sources of livelihood, the urban economy, and the rest of the
city. The NISUS mission is a profound commitment to a more dignified life
for at least one million ISFs by 2025through secure and better quality
housing, improved physical infrastructure and social services, and
greater access to jobs, transport, capital, and livelihood. This represents
a big leap from the current production delivered by the various
government housing programs every year but is merited under a New
Urban Agenda to achieve the scale warranted by the problem.
There are many innovative projects but none has so far been able to
create the scale needed to adequately narrow the housing demand and
supply gap posed by rapid urbanization. The current level of housing
production represents a very small fraction of the estimated housing
need. An average of 20 typhoons hits the country each year. It is located
in the Pacifc Ring of Fire which further makes it vulnerable to
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The design of housing and basic
infrastructure in the Philippines must be planned at national/local and
sectoral level to facilitate climate change oriented analyses of projects.
This climate proofing methodology will allow planners and developers
to assess risks and opportunities which climate change poses and also to
minimize damages and losses during natural disasters.
Encourage investments in spatially integrated

Agenda 6.2and climate change resilient housing and basic
infrastructure.
The provision of urban housing and basic infrastructure in the Philippines
is markedly constrained by the lack of financing and capacity. The
strategies to be employed must consider economies of scalewhich in
many cases can be achieved by a more spatially integrated design.
Climate change also imposes the inclusion of resiliency features. Under a
New Urban Agenda, investments should be rationalized using a co-beneft
approach which espouses that projects to be considered must have
multiple benefts in different sectors or subsectors resulting from one
policy, strategy, or initiative. Projects selected should simultaneously
contribute to reducing the negative impacts of climate change while
solving other local environmental, economic and social equity problems in
the cities. With the prevailing signifcant participation of private sector
developers in the market
and a much needed review of laws covering development standards,

public and private sector with people partnerships (PPPPs) should be
encouraged toward resilient housing provision that also delivers access to
basic services.
Promote the shift to a demand-based, low
Agenda 6.3carbon yielding urban transport system.
While urban transport has been an enabler of voluminous economic

activities and social connectivity particularly in the highly urbanized
cities, there has been a bias so far towards planning for individual
motorized transport rather than accessibility. This has led to tremendous
traffic congestion and urban sprawl.
The "Avoid-Shift-Improve
framework" should be promoted under a New Urban Agenda in planning
subsequent urban transport systems. "Avoid" will underscore better land
use planning and travel demand management. "Shift" will encourage the
move to more sustainable means of transportnonmotorized and public
transport. "Improve" will consider vehicle and fuel eficiency. The
envisioned outcome is a successful transition to a more inclusive, greener
urban transport system with a lower carbon footprint for Metro Manila
and the other highly urbanized cities nationwide.
The Philippine National

Report and
Plan of Action for Habitat
II
Appendi
x1
In June 1996, the Philippines participated in the Second World

Conference on Human Settlements or Habitat II that was held in Istanbul,
Turkey. Attended by member states of the United Nations, Habitat II
addressed two themes of equal global importance: "Adequate shelter for
all" and "Sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing
world". As an active member of the United Nations Center for Human
Settlements, now known as UN Habitat, the Philippines prepared and
submitted to the UNCHS for the conference its National Report with the
title SHELTER AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Philippine Report and
Plan of Action. The document embodied the countrys development
roadmap, which was anchored on three interconnected strategies total
human
development,
global
competitiveness,
and
sustainable
development. It contained the countrys commitments to Habitat II.
The
Major
Commitments
Infrastructure development in support of human settlements, pursuit of
knowledge and livelihood and ensuring physical, economic and social
mobility were the avowed commitments of the Philippine government to
Habitat II in 1996.
The country committed a holistic approach of
interagency coordination for human settlements development with
poverty reduction/ livelihood generation and environmental protection as
national development thrusts.
The major commitments made for Habitat II are summarized below.
They focused on poverty alleviation and on housing and urban
development. The corresponding actions taken to meet each commitment
are also shown. 162
Major Commitments
Commitments
Poverty Alleviation
1. Development and promotion of
policies, plans and programs for the
poor.
Actions Taken to Meet The

Institutionalization and implementation
of the Social
Reform Agenda (SRA). The SRA is an
integrated set of social reforms for the
marginalized sector and enable them to
meet basic human needs, widen their
share of resources for livelihood and
empower them to participate in
the
decision-making process
for
their
welfare
A
new
institution,
the
Philippine
Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP),
now National Commission for the Urban

Poor (NCUP) was created to attend
directly to the needs of the urban poor.
In 2010, inclusive growth as overarching
theme of the Philippine Development Plan
2. Assistance to families below the
poverty line to meet basic needs,
most especially the vulnerable
for 2010-2016 is rich with strategies on

poverty alleviation. Social protection has
been added to the Cabinet Cluster
programs to focus on assistance to the
poor.
SHELTER AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Philippine National Report and Plan of Action,
HUDCC, 1996.
162
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) or

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4
Ps) is a subsidy program that provides
direct cash transfers to poor families to
Major Commitments
and expansion
of social welfare
Commitments
benefts and social
security
Housing
assist in their childrens education and

their familys
health care under the Social Protection
Framework. The
benefciaries are identifed through the
National Household Targeting System
for
Poverty
Reduction (NHTS-PR)
developed by DSWD in 2010, which is an
information management system that
identifes who and where the poor are
nationwide.
Provision of universal health (medical
insurance through PhilHealth) and free
elementary and high school education in
public schools for the poor.
1. Increased funding and sustainability of Passage of the Integrated Shelter

housing
Finance Act; increased budgetary
allocation for shelter agencies;
fnance for the poor and low income
mandatory membership in the Home
families.
Development Mutual Fund.
2. Increase in the inventory of socialized
housing
3. Land access for the poor/low income

families
Infrastructure and Basic Services

1. Increase and expansion of
infrastructure services
and facilities
2. Integrated infrastructure planning

for more efficient service delivery
Environment
Amendments to RA 7279 for alternative

compliance modes to balanced housing
development; increased guaranty cover
of the Home Guaranty Corporation to
mobilize private sector investments in
socialized housing; implementation of
Local Government Housing Programs.
Release of public lands for socialized
housing per RA
7279; identifcation and incorporation of
sites for
social housing in the local land use plans.
Increased
budgetary
allocations
for
basic
and
social services and
infrastructure facilities, passage of the
Build-Operate-Transfer
Law (RA
7718) ;
institutionalization
of
Public-PrivatePartnership (PPP) in major infrastructure
development
(mass
rapid
transport
systems, power sector, road networks and
expressways, government hospitals, etc.)
Long-term National Infrastructure Plan;
1. Enforcement and review of

environmental laws
(e.g., Forestry Code, Water Code)
Passage of RA 9275 (Clean Water Act);

Issuance of the Writ of Mandamus by the
Supreme Court for the clean- up of the
Manila Bay by DENR; Enactment of the
Solid Waste Management Act, Climate
Change Adaptation Act.
2. Prohibition of new settlements and

restriction/resettlement of existing
communities in disaster-prone areas
No-build zone policy in disaster-prone

areas; Integration of disaster
risk reduction and management in local
3. Promotion of labor-intensive
industries and creation of
employment opportunities.
Major Commitments
Commitments
3. Local capability
building on
environmental
protection and management
4. Integration of environmental
protection and management in
school curriculum
1. Integration of regional plans and

policies into a
single integrated urban development
framework
2. Formulation and implementation of
population management measures
3. Creation of a Department of Housing
and Urban Development (DHUD) and
the enactment of a National Land
Use Act
4. Enhancement of local capability
on urban management
Implementation
of
the
National
Climate Change
Adaptation Plan, National Risk Reduction
and
Management
Framework
Plan;
Funding provision for local environmental
protection and management (IRA).
DepEd mandated
environmental
the integration of
protection
and
Formulation of the National Urban

Development and Housing Framework
(NUDHF) in accordance with RA 7279
initial version crafted in 1996.
Enactment of the Reproductive Health and
Responsible Parenthood (R.A. 10533) in
2012.
Pending bills on the creation of the DHUD
and the
NLUA in Congress.
Development of capability programs on
local development and land use
planning, management systems (e.g.,
Local Governance Performance System,
Community Based Monitoring System).
A review of governments past and current eforts revealed that a greater

number of the policy thrusts/commitments have been initiated and
translated into concrete programs, projects and legislations as shown in
the above table.
There has been considerable progress in some sectoral concerns such as
the improvement of the economy, more eficient bureaucracy, increased
social awareness on environmental protection, setting up of pollution
controls, institutionalization of disaster preparedness, reforestation
programs, better infrastructure facilities and improved living conditions
in low-income communities and increased housing stock. Notable among
these initiatives is the enactment of the Reproductive Health Law, which
was recently affirmed as constitutional by the Supreme Court of the
Philippines. As an implicit population management tool, the government
hopes to manage urban growth without curbing urbanization through
education, promotion of responsible parenthood and granting women and
couples the right to choose appropriate family planning approaches.
Another landmark action is the issuance by the Supreme Court of a Writ
of Continuing Mandamus in 2008, ordering 11 government agencies and
all local governments of Metro Manila to cleanup all major river systems
and minor rivers and waterways that drain or discharge into Manila Bay
and restore the water quality of the bay to a level ft for swimming and
bathing. To encourage citizens to become vigilant over their environment
and not to hesitate to use the force of law to ensure its protection and
Settlements Development and

Institutional
Mechanism
conservation, the Supreme Court also issued in 2008 the Writ of

Kalikasan (Nature), which contains very specifc set of remedies that
may be availed of individually or cumulatively.
However, much still needs to be done in pushing for the fulfllment of

other commitments that have not been addressed but are still relevant
given the current issues and challenges posed by rapid urbanization.
Foremost of these are: the enactment of a National Land Use Act that will
rationalize the utilization of land resources and the creation of a
Department of Housing and Urban Development to plan, manage and
coordinate the implementation of plans, policies and programs for
housing and urban development in the country.

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HABITAT III:

A NEW URBAN AGENDA

2.1.3 Internal Migration Patterns and Metro Manila PeriUrbanization

Land and Urban Planning: Issues and Challenges for a New

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT |

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

3.1 Ensuring Sustainable Urban Planning and Design

3.7.1 Boosting Local Capacity for Strategic and Urban

Environment and Urbanization: Issues and Challenges for a

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT |

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

3.1.3 Integrating Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT |

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

7.1.1 Evolution and Persistence of Slums in the Philippines

7.1.2 Approaches to Slum and Informal Settlements Upgrading

7.2 Improving Access to Adequate Housing

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

7.3.1 Goals and Accomplishments

8 A New Urban Agenda: Better, Greener, Smarter Cities in a

Agenda 2.4 Shift to a more integrated and inclusive transport

Agenda 2.5 Redefne security of land tenure

through rights-based approaches and land use

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

Agenda 4.4 Address urban safety concerns by

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

Agenda 3.3 Address the mounting garbage problem

l and local development planning and

Agenda 6.1 Enable informal settler families to live in

Appendix 1: The Philippine National Report and Plan of

Table 2-1: Philippine Population, By Sex and By Age Group: 2010

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

Figure 5-1: Urban Governance Framework of the Philippines

Affordable Housing Loan Program

Abot-Kaya Pabahay Fund Development Loan Program

Association of Southeast Asian

Barangay Development Plan

Bureau of Fire Protection

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon Provinces

Business Permits and Licensing Systems

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension

commercial business district

City Comprehensive Land Use Plan

conditional cash transfers

Clark Development Corporation

HABITAT III: THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL REPORT

Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest

Collective Strengthening on Community Awareness and

Civil Society Organizations

Core Planning Team

Citizen Satisfaction Index System

Department of Agrarian Reform

Department of National Defense

Environment and Natural Resources

Department of Information and Communications

Department of Social Welfare and Development