MANILA, Philippines — A forum sponsored by the World Bank has cited slum improvement efforts in the country, which continues to benefit informal settlers in the city.

Through the invitation of Christopher Pablo, World Bank’s Senior Operations Officer for Sustainable Development Department – Philippines, East Asia and the Pacific, the forum tackled the success story of the city government’s housing project dubbed “Disiplina Village.’’

Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin T. Gatchalian shared the story to provide valuable opportunity for participants to learn more about slum improvement efforts for their respective localities.

The village was formed to provide safe and permanent homes for some 1,900 informal settler families from the city who were affected by typhoon "Ondoy" in 2009.

Hosted by the Philippine Urban Consortium, Gatchalian also cited the city's experience and lessons on sustainable housing projects which highlights the multi-stakeholder partnership as an effective ingredient to a successful slum-upgrading program.

Gatchalian said that the project is being groomed by the city government as template for other in-city resettlement projects in the future.

A sustainable partnership between the city government, the private and business sectors, the non-government organizations (NGOs) and the project beneficiaries made the “Disiplina Village” project a reality, Gatchalian said.