One thing that cyclones “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” demonstrated is the need not only to improve the lives of slum dwellers, especially those residing along the riverbanks, creeks and esteros, but to actually ensure their safety.

This was pointed out by Vice President Manuel "Noli" de Castro as he rallied behind the government's "resurrected" campaign to change the “topography and geography” of the National Capital Region in the wake of recent natural disasters by relocating thousands of informal settlers.

President Arroyo earlier gave the go-signal for an ambitious albeit much delayed urban development project to rearrange Metro Manila's landscape permanently.

“Now, more than ever, the government needs to intensify its efforts to address the requirements of the poorest of the poor, including the millions of slum dwellers nationwide, and contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” De Castro said.

The MDGs are eight international development goals that 192 United Nations member states, including the Philippines, and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They include reducing extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics such as AIDS, and developing a global partnership for development.

The Millennium Development Goal No. 7's 11th target is to achieve significant improvements in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers worldwide five years from now.

According to De Castro, the recent “Pepeng” and “Ondoy” events and the resulting damages to life and property highlighted the demand to comprehensively address the issue of informal settlers.
He said the unprecedented rate of urbanization in the country has resulted in the proliferation of slums, which are characterized by the lack of basic services, such as water supply, sanitation, waste collection or infrastructure.

Majority of the informal settlers reside in danger areas which are not suitable for human habitation and prone to natural calamities. They encroached on waterways, riverbanks and creeks where they indiscriminately throw their garbage thus disrupting the natural flow of water which eventually lead to frequent and massive flooding as demonstrated during the recent typhoons.

In a recent report made by the Metro Manila Inter Agency Committee (MMIAC), informal settlers in Metro Manila account for 21 percent of the 2.6 million population of the metropolis.

With this figures in mind, the government is now faced with the challenge of providing relocation sites for all these people.

The MMIAC was tasked by the President to develop a shelter program for the informal settlers affected by government priority infrastructure projects and those living in dangerous areas such as under the bridge and riverbanks.

In its report, the MMIAC revealed that a total of 22,689 social housing units should be built every year at an average cost of P3.225 billion to accommodate all 544,609 families living precariously along waterways in the metropolis.

This would amount to P32.25 billion in 10 years.

The government, the report pointed out, needs to increase its production of social housing units by 14,922 every year to complete the relocation project in 10 years.

The agency disclosed that the development of a house in an “off-site/off-city resettlement areas” like Calauan in Laguna will cost the national government P200,000 just to resettle a family.

In contrast, the development of the so-called medium-rise housing, which is being considered as the second option, is a more expensive proposition as the government has to spend P800,000 to P1 million per unit per family.

The MMIAC said the second option would also be more expensive for the government since it would require them to buy land from private owners.

The government will also have to wait for a long time to recover the money as informal settlers are only billed R300 to R500 for their monthly amortization.

The same MMIAC report further revealed that out of the total households in Metro Manila to be affected by the relocation, only half or 50 percent are qualified for socialized or public housing.

Ten percent of them are disqualified for any housing assistance while 40 percent are estimated to be financially capable to qualify for commercial or private housing.

Despite the herculean task, De Castro said the government can defy the odds, partly, by adopting the principles laid down during the relocation of some 80,000 families affected by the North and Southrail Development Program.

“From our experience these past four years, we were able to draw out workable and feasible principles in ensuring a 'win – win' formula that paved the way for a smoother implementation of the relocation and resettlement projects," De Castro said.