Quezon City Thesis Notes

Introduction to Quezon City, a short summary

Quezon City was created on October 12, 1939 by virtue of Commonwealth Act 502. It became the capital of the Philippines with the enactment of Republic Act No. 333 on July 17, 1948. In 1975, Quezon City became part of the larger urban governance scheme that is Metro Manila, with the creation of the Metropolitan Manila Commission by virtue of Presidential Decree 824. On July 24, 1976, then President Ferdinand E, Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 940, conferring the role of the nation's capital to Metro Manila, hence the name National Capital Region.

President Quezon himself served as the city's first Mayor and he later appointed Tomas Morato to the position. A long line of distinguished Mayors succeeded Morato in the stewardship of the city as follows: Ponciano Bernardo, Nicanor Roxas, Ignacio Santos Diaz, Norberto Amoranto, Adelina Rodriguez, Brigido Simon, Jr., Ishmael Mathay, Jr. and the incumbent Feliciano Belmonte, Jr,

While relatively a young City, great events that shaped the nation's course of history took place in fabled lands now part of Quezon City territory. The National Centennial Commission, tasked to spearhead appropriate commemoration of 100 years of Philippine Independence, has included Quezon City in the "FreedomTrail" highlighting places and important events in the struggle for freedom and sovereignty, including the historic "Cry of Pugad Lawin" led by the Great Plebeian, revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio on August 23, 1896, the People Power Revolution in EDSA that toppled the regime of President Ferdinand E. Marcos and the installation of Corazon Aquino, as the 11th President of the Philippines.

Historical Highlights

Following is a collage of important dates and historical events about the City.



August 23,1896 - Bonifacio and his men tear their cedulas at Pugad Lawin and ignites the Filipino Revolution against the Spain.



October 10, 1938 - The People's Homesite Corp. purchases 1,529 hectares from the vast Diliman Estate of the Tuason Family as site of the future capital city.



September 28, 1939 - The National Assembly approves Bill No. 1206 proposing the creation of Quezon City.



October 12, 1939 - Pres. Quezon signs into law Commonwealth Act No. 502, officially establishing Quezon City, and assumes the position of Mayor in a concurrent capacity.



November 10,1939 - Tomas Morato is sworn into Office as Mayor of Quezon City.



March 11, 2003 - Assemblyman Guillermo Villanueva of Negros Oriental files a bill seeking to make Quezon City the seat of government of the Philippines.



December 17, 1945 - Pres. Osmena issues Proclamation No.32 launching the nationwide campaign to raise funds for the erection of a national monument in honor of Pres. Quezon.



January 1, 1946 - Ponciano Bernardo is appointed by Pres. Osmena as Mayor of Quezon City

J

uly 17, 1948 - Republic Act No. 333 slices Baesa, Talipapa, San Bartolome, Pasong Tamo, Novaliches, Banlat, Kabuyao, Pugad Lawin, Bagbag, Pasong Putik and other areas for Caloocan and cedes them to Quezon City.



February 4, 1954 - Pres. Magsaysay formally appoints Norberto S. Amoranto as acting Mayor of Quezon City.



June 16, 1956 - Republic Act 1575 is passed in the third session of the third Congress of the Philippines, amending and repealing certain sections of Quezon City. This law radically changes the geographic composition of the City.



November 30,1972 - The 1971 Constitution Convention is signed in Quezon City.



March 31, 1976 - Adelina Rodriguez succeeds Norberto S. Amoranto as Mayor of Quezon City.



March 31, 1978 - Pres. Marcos declares 1978 as Manuel L. Quezon Centennial Year.



January 1980 - In the first local elections after martial law, Adelina Rodriguez and Stephen Santo are elected mayor and vice mayor, respectively.



February 22-25,1986 - Quezon City is a site of the EDSA "People Power Revolution."



February 2, 1988 - Brigido Simon Jr., and Vicente Sotto are sworn into office as duly elected mayor and vice mayor, respectively.



Local Government Code of 1991 created a framework to transfer authority from the national government to the local government unit (LGU)

October 12, 1989 - Quezon City celebrates its Golden Jubilee.



July 1, 1992 - Ishmael A. Mathay Jr., is elected mayor with Charito Planas as vice mayor.



May 8, 1995 - The people of Quezon City gives Mathay another mandate . Herbert Bautista is elected vice mayor.



May 11, 1998 - Mayor Mathay is again re-elected for his third and final term. His running mate Connie Angeles is elected vice mayor.



July 1, 2001 - Feliciano Belmonte Jr., assumes office as elected mayor with Herbert Bautista as vice mayor.

Current History still to be studied…

Aquino steps in, stops QC demolition

ABS-CBN NEWS.com
Posted at 09/24/2010 2:58 PM | Updated as of 09/24/2010 2:58 PM

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III on Friday ordered an immediate stop to the relocation of thousands of families living in a shantytown near a major highway in Quezon City.

In a statement, Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr. said Aquino has instructed him to order the National Housing Authority (NHA) "to suspend the relocation of families living in the NHA property in Sitio San Roque II in North Triangle that oppose their transfer to the NHA's proposed relocation site in Rodriguez, Rizal."

"The relocation is suspended until the NHA provides a comprehensive plan that will ensure orderliness in the implementation of relocation activities," Ochoa said.

The executive secretary said Aquino is saddened by the events that transpired yesterday, which saw informal settlers rioting against NHA demolition teams. The riots injured 11 people and snarled traffic for hours on the northbound lane of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) after informal settlers blocked the highway.

The demolition was stopped after a local trial court judge issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the settlers.

"While the President respects the families’ right to oppose their relocation to Rizal, he nonetheless calls on them to exercise their right to protest in a peaceful manner. He has likewise instructed all authorities to exercise maximum tolerance and is confident that the issue will be resolved by the parties involved," Ochoa said.

NHA General Manager Chito Cruz earlier said at least 3,400 of the estimated 9,000 families on Sition San Roque have already transferred to relocation sites in Montalban and Rodriguez, Rizal. He said he is hoping that the remaining 5,000-plus families will follow suit.

Cruz said the NHA is spending more than P200,000 per family for the relocation. Each family can pay for their new homes for only P300 a month for the next 30 years.

He also brushed aside suggestions that the informal settlers should own the land since they have been developing it over the years.

"Not in all instances you can own the land you squat on. These are titled properties owned by the government," he said.

Quezon City Central Business District Background

The emerging QC-CBD, slightly more than 50 hectares compared to the current largest CBD in the country, offers the largest opportunities for large-scale urban development in the National Capital Region and can put not only Quezon City, but also the entire country at the forefront of global investment and business interest.

The 250.6-hectare CBD represents roughly 2% of Quezon City’s 16,112.12-hectare land area. The plan is to organize it into five “districts.”

The overall land use for the CBD is mixed-use, which will mean provision for the following principal land uses: office, residential, retail, institutional, recreational.

Expected to be the district with the highest densities of the QC-CBD is the 54.3 hectare-Triangle Exchange. It shall be a high traffic district, with the highest land values. Its commercial (office and retail), residential, and other land uses shall be fully integrated with EDSA’s transit facilities, thus providing the best regional link and commuter access. The Triangle Exchange is also envisioned to be the most active area of the Triangle Park, transforming its office daytime office and service environment into a dining and recreational center at night.

The Residences at Veterans shall be a mixed-use community with a residential focus in its 39.7 hectare land area. It shall allow a range of housing types, from high-rise condominiums to medium and lower density townhomes. Neighborhood retail and community services can also be developed, particularly along the North Avenue frontage.

The Downtown Hub (North and East) is a mixed-use, medium-density district with institutional services and facilities (medical, education, training, science, etc.) integrated with commercial and residential development. It may retain many of the existing facilities even as new residential and commercial developments are established. It has a land area of 54.1 hectares.

The Emporium shall be another mixed-use medium density district but focused on ICT activities, e-governance, public, voluntary, international offices or services along with commercial and residential developments. Institutional (e.g. university-based research and development) and commercial IT activities including customer contract centers, and other BPOs are perfectly suitable for this 37.9-hectare district.

Mixing culture, recreation, entertainment, and a bit of residences in a mixed-use park is the Commons (North and East) District. Residential developments in this 19.8-hectare district are comparable to the prime residences of Makati.

Massive infrastructure developments shall take place in the area within the next three years. It started with the opening of one of the country’s biggest malls, Ayala’s TriNoma. Programmed to follow in the coming months is the development of the Park Lane, designed to open up access to properties within the CBD.

It shall involve the extension of Mindanao Avenue that shall cut across the CBD up to EDSA. It is expected to significantly shave off traffic in the North Avenue-Mindanao Avenue intersection. Another is the redevelopment of the current road traversing the entire stretch of the CBD, from East Avenue to North Avenue with additional roads in the VMMC compound that carves a way to Quezon Avenue and cuts across from the middle of the CBD to EDSA’s busy highway. Basically, the road network shall pave the way for easy transportation within the CBD area and is expected to reduce significantly the traffic loads in tangential road systems.

February 3, 2011

-       Meeting with Arch. Lucille Chua, Head Urban Planner of Quezon City from the National Housing Authority via Marlin Espiritu, operative from the Center for Human Rights

Items discussed:

-       History of the area

-       Action Plan

-       Issues tackled

-       Relocation sites

North Triangle Development

-       Planned to be a CBD since the early 20^th century

-       Study pictures from Google Earth of the area to be allocated for the new CBD in Quezon City.

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North Triangle dwellers eye class suit vs. NHA over demolition

MARK D. MERUEÑAS, GMANews.TV

Residents being evicted from the North Triangle area in Quezon City on Saturday threatened to file a class suit against the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the violent demolition that left at least 14 people, including seven residents, wounded.

This was according to Edwin Nakpil, convenor of the North Triangle Coalition, which is composed of several residents’ associations in Sitio San Roque II, Barangay Bagong Pag-asa.

NHA personnel on Thursday started a large-scale demolition of houses in the community, as part of its P22-billion joint venture with Ayala Land to develop 29.1 hectares of the North Triangle into a so-called Central Business District that would supposedly to rival Makati City's business center.

Nakpil was quoted in a radio report as saying they will seek a dialogue with President Benigno Aquino III upon his return next week from an official US visit.

The convenor said the North Triangle residents plan to ask Aquino to form an independent body to investigate alleged abuses committed by authorities during the demolition.

While conceding that the NHA is the listed owner of the property, including Sitio San Roque, residents opposed the demolition, ultimately setting up barricades and physically resisting demolition teams on Thursday.

Hurt in the seven-hour long clash between the residents and authorities were not only residents but also firefighters and policemen, who were deployed in the area to maintain peace and order.

As a result of Thursday's violent clash, the President, through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. ordered the NHA to suspend the dismantling of houses until the agency is able to provide a comprehensive plan for an orderly implementation of their relocation.

Prior to the President's order, acting presiding Judge Luisa Quijano-Padilla issued a temporary restraining order against demolition activities that expired 8 a.m. last Friday.

On-site development

Meanwhile, at a press conference also on Saturday, the protesting residents of North Triangle urged the government to set up an "on-site development" center or "in-city development" area inside the planned business district where they could re-settle, instead of relocating them outside the city or driving them back to the provinces.

The residents said they would only agree to leave North Triangle if the government assures them of relocation within Quezon City, and not to peripheral areas like the proposed relocation site in Southville-8B, barangay San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal.

The residents do not want to move to the Rodriguez site, citing studies supposedly showing that the relocation area was prone to soil erosion, Nakpil added.

The residents' threats came on the heels of Vice President Jejomar Binay's visit to the relocation site, which is being prepared to accommodate about 3,600 families.

Meeting with Quezon City urban/Regional Planner (February 3, 2011)

Due to National initiatives, the passing of the UDHA Law by Joey Lina which is the declaration of Central Business Districts (CBD) in the Philippines and the Anti-Squatting Law 777; states that there is a rationalization on the use of the land in the prime lot bear the Quezon Memorial Park; that such prime areas within the urban center should be developed and upgraded by capable private companies, Ayala. The enforcement of clearance is being handled by HUDCC and NHA.

From the meeting, I have been informed that the area is being developed by Ayala Land Corporation, they are offering social services, green standards and suitable housing mechanisms such as water recycling, materials recovery facilities, planters cooperatives, and etc with the help of local agencies.

On September 24, 2011, under the decree of the President Aquino; the affected informal settlers are allowed to have non-violent rallies, yet the undertaking of forced relocation will still take effect. 50% of the area has already been provided socialized row houses with a set deadline of clearance on June of this year.

Families’ get financial help according to their family size. (5-6 members per household) ranging P200 – P 3000. The distance of their original settlement to the relocation area is about 30 km with a 30 min. ride via car.

SITE VISIT at SOUTHVILLE- 8-B, via the

Urban Triangle Development Commission (February 11, 2011, 9:00 AM)

The informal settlers, with the help of the Metro Manila Hills Communities, the governor Ynares of Muntalban, Rizal, and San Jose Builders have allocated areas for the relocation project. Which is 58 hectares, which will house 9,000 households.

This area of Southville 8-B has been allotted for the victims of Ketsana, (Ondoy), These residents according to government census range from 3,000+ families in the Quezon City area.

One unit is of socialized / market size which is the minimum, one household would be 20 sqr.m. (1.5 for the extended bathroom) with a option to increase the size with a permit to 40 sqr.m for both the frontage and the rear of the lot.

Current facilities which are provided, yet will be upgraded soon when an ample amount of residents are to be serviced, are health centers, a school, playgrounds, basketball courts, and day care centers.

There are transportation nodes already in place. Mini-Buses (Jeepneys) and Motorcycle (Pedi-cabs) are prevalent in the area. The total cost of travel to the city is 55 pesos. 10 pesos to the gate of the Southville 8-B, 25 pesos via Jeep to Commonwealth avenue and 20-30 pesos to Quezon Avenue, the area being cleared for CBD development.

Electricity is currently temporary; Meralco has provided generators, which will be activated during peak hours. Current residents pay p 5 (individual application necessary) for the gas usage of such generators, Electricity lines will be provided when 70% of the area has been occupied.  The current residents use electricity for daily morning activities such as music and television for entertainment, computer shops and small shops.

 Shallow wells have been provided; these pipes are 3-5 meters in diameter with a jet pump and are drilled to an depth of 60-100 ft. for the residents to use. The residents complain that not all the wells are clean; some wells have soil particles and rust residue. They use techniques such as “sock” filters to clean the water for house usage, yet not for bathing. Drinking water is bought in containers provided by Manila Water Company. The residents of the area have to pay 2 pesos.

On this day, we were accompanied by a group of residents affected by a fire calamity on February 9, 2011; they affected residents were interested in relocating to the site allocated for the Ondoy victims.  They were accompanied by the government architect of the site, NGO’s from the Claretian Ministry and Barangay (LGU) captains of the affected sites. They surveyed the land of it’s existing facilities, the size of the lots, possible extensions to the row houses, the water and drainage facility, the recycling and waste management and the size of roads. I was interested in the different frontages of the row houses, how they developed and extended their lots with the help of joint-agreements with their neighbors, planted gardens on the pavements and allocated parking areas for their transportation business of motorbikes.

According to the architect on site, this area is an option for them to choose from, another site is at Barangay Gaya-Gaya, which is the Towerville development at San Jose, Delmonte. This option is given to them since the area still does not have enough housing stock for all the relocated residents. The speed of development in the building of ready to occupy row houses is 500 - 650 houses per week.

These relocation areas are so-called a “one time” government award to these disaster stricken residents. A monetary arrangement for the residents to gain a Torrens Certificate of Title is provided after a 25 year amortization payment. The arrangement is that the first year is free, they have to yearly pay 20- 200 pesos until they graduate and disburse 700 peso payments. Residents who avail early are privy to special arrangements such as strategic locations. Examples of such choice lots are sari-sari stores (convenience stores) beside the schools where market proximity to consumers are important. This is the story of Ana, who has chosen to leave her core group to be located in this development. There are 5 core groups that are affected by the slum clearance in Quezon City, each core group have a range of 10,000+ households. She has decided on her own to separate from her core group and relocate with her family beside the school. Today, she now owns a store adjacent to the newly constructed school; She has extended her house to the full 40 sqr.m. and  expects to get benefits once the area is developed.

There are control measures in place that are necessary for such residents to avail of these sites and services with furnishings are provided only after a resident is secured of his lot allocation to prevent from stealing of the furnishings such as doors, windows and a toilet. Some of the control measures are family pictures, birth certificates, marriage contracts, SSS, working permit (PRC) and etc. These requirements will be very hard for the informal settlers to avail since flood disasters and/or fire victims have had their documents and requirements ruined and/or burned.

SITE VISIT at SOUTHVILLE- 8-A, via the

Urban Triangle Development Commission (February 11, 2011, 11:30 AM)

After our visit to newly built relocation site, we decided to visit an earlier development of the area which is SOUTHVILLE 8-A. We saw significant differences; such as Meralco lines with meters, water meters from NAWASA and houses which have been upgraded to two floors.

SITE VISIT at KBR Action Center at the Downtown Hub, via the

Urban Triangle Development Commission (February 11, 2011, 1:00 PM)

This area was barren and was the base for the National Housing Authority to gather and collect date from the fire stricken victims of the area. They have made a census of the people in the area, yet this census is dated 2009. Documents from the Barangay Hall and the NHA are required for them to transfer to SOUTHVILLE at Muntinlupa, Rizal and/or TOWERVILLE at San Jose, Del monte. According to the census, a basis was made according to a lot allocation system, which is based on contracts, and legal documents that are necessary for transferring residents. The census counts 7,000 families with X,XXX households.

From my visit, I noticed many trucks, vans and a shuttle bus which are being donated by the government and the developer for the smooth relocation of the informal dwellers. During this day, I was told that the next day at 7:00-9:00 AM, a new batch of relocated settlers will be availing of their lots; they will be offered air-conditioned vans for their trip, trucks to carry their belongings and a shuttle bus for officials and NGOs.

During this day, the Botanical Clean Up Drive was in effect, they are located at the residences of the veterans in the Google earth map (East Triangle Development); they were the victims of the fire just days ago. The government officials were there to make a census of the affected people, to get personal information of families, their size, birthdays and etc. There were rumors of syndicates who have rebuilt their houses on the burned remains of the area. There is need to inform them of the free houses provided by the government which are in good condition once it reaches a proper population density of 70% meant to be prime for usage and utilization of vital utilities. I see that these people who have rebuilt their houses with light materials as a sign of early mitigation measure for their children and health in the coming month’s in their relocation experience.

1^st Short Meeting of PIAC in the National Housing Authority via the

Urban Triangle Development Commission (February 11, 2011, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

People Involved in Project for Inter-Agency Committee (PIAC):

Marlin Espiritu + Arnold from the Center for Human Rights,

Architect Lucille and Engineer Victor Lava, the chief project manager for the National Capital Region from the NHA

Office of the Speaker, Congressman Delmonte reprasentative, Santos

The Quezon City Police Department; from Camp Caringal

            Senior Inspector & SPO2 Arman

2 Barangay Captains from the Botanical Incident

            Christopher Irko, Estemino Amili

6 Barangay Representatives from Barangay Central

4 from the NGOs (+ Claretian Missionary Immaculate of Mary Parish)

            Niser Natulya

This meeting was an urgent response to a request of a crying victim (to be interviewed) to the be allowed to relocate after the demise of their livelihood and informal settlement after the fire. This meeting was a social preparation for proper planning as explained by Eng. Lava. The names and attendants were recorded, as well as the minutes of the meeting. 

The objectives of the meeting was to explain the predicament of the current displaced settlers and how they can properly mitigate relocation. NGO’s and GAMBANA were in attendance. There was a need for a common vision, where everyone could have a say. The NHA was given the chairman role of the meeting.

The concerns expressed by the residents of East Triangle were their feelings regarding the site, the water, it’s delivery and the electricity.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/303219/quezon-city-fire-leave

By JEFFREY G. DAMICOG

February 8, 2011, 7:08pm

MANILA, Philippines – Eleven persons were hurt while some 4,000 families were rendered homeless during a fire that lasted for around eight hours until Tuesday morning and razed a neighborhood in Quezon City.

Investigator SFO3 Renato Delamidi said around 600 homes, mostly shanties, were burned in Barangay Central.

Delamidi said 11 residents in the area suffered injuries during the fire, including difficulty in breathing, lacerations and puncture wounds.

The fire also left some 4,000 families homeless in the area where an estimated P20 million worth of properties were destroyed.

It was found that the fire originated from the second floor of the two-story shanty of Antonio Dionido.

The fire was reported to have started at around 10:45 p.m. Monday.

Delamidi said the fire lasted for around eight hours. Firefighters had the fire under control at 4 a.m. Tuesday and put out the last flames at 7:02 a.m.

Meanwhile, a one-hour fire hit Monday afternoon a residential compound destroying some 40 houses in Malabon City.

Chief Insp. Rodrigo Reyes, Malabon City fire marshal, said the fire started at about 2 p.m. in a house along Palmario Street in Barangay Tonsuya which quickly spread to adjacent structures.

Probers said some residents suffered burns and bruises while trying to save their belongings from their houses.

The fire was the fourth to hit the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela area in a span of one week including a fire in Navotas City which killed 12 persons.

The cause of the fire is still being determined while damage to properties is still being assessed by arson probers. (With a report from Willie L. Catapat)

Good Governance Thesis Notes

List of  Acronyms

Global Urban Observatory (GUO)

Urban Governance Index (UGI)

Millenium Development Goals (MDG)

Global Observatory of Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD)

The Philippines is beautiful and rich; it has the potential to really be a functioning government with an expanding economy. Filipinos are people with compassion, hope, and beauty, yet beauty does not waiver other governments from overlooking past inaccuracies and mistakes of past administrations. The local infrastructure is plagued by crime, corruption, and struggle, and no public support to break out a system lacking of adequate public education, an effective criminal justice system, or accountability of undemocratic government-fund allocations.

In result, the judges viewed her naïve response as a lack of humility and depth, perhaps. Maybe the Philippines is perfect. Or maybe it was pride to cover up the inevitable act of human error or initial response to deny any wrongdoing. Some of the best lessons can be learned from mistakes whether spanning on an individual case, or to organizational and governmental decisions. Or maybe it’s the fear of being viewed of having flaws.  This is something that is embedded in our culture.

Urban Governance Index Indicators

5 Points of Reference for Urban Governance Index

Accountability- According to field test reports and the conceptual foundation of the UGI, Accountability implies that mechanisms are present and effective for transparency in the operational functions of the local government; responsiveness towards the higher level of the local government; local population and civic grievances; standards for professional and personal integrity and rule of law and public policies are applied in transparent and predictable manner.

-       Formal Publication of contracts, tenders, budgets and accounts

-       Independent audit

-       Control by higher Levels of Government

-       Codes of conduct

-       Disclosure of Income and Assets

-       Facilities to receive complaints

-       Anti-corruption Commission

Participation- According to field test reports and the conceptual foundation of the UGI, Participation in governance implies mechanisms that promote strong local representative democracies, through inclusive, free and fair municipal elections. It also includes participatory decision-making processes, where the civic capital, especially of the poor is recognized and there exists consensus orientation and citizenship.

-       Elected Council

-       Local elected mayor

-       Voter turnout

-       People’s Forum

-       Civil associations

Need to prove strong local representative democracy with the help of the local officials and community participation.

Equity- According to field test reports and the conceptual foundation of the UGI, Equity implies inclusiveness with unbiased access (be it for economically weaker sections, women, children or elderly, religious or ethnic minorities of the physically disabled) to basic necessities (nutrition, education, employment, and livelihood, health care, safe drinking water, sanitation and others) of urban life, with institutional priorities focusing on pro-poor policies and an established mechanism for responding to the basic services.

-       Citizen’s charter

-       Women’s Councilors

-       Pro-Poor Pricing Policy

Effectiveness- According to field test reports and the conceptual foundation of the UGI, Effectiveness of governance measures the existing mechanisms and the socio-political environment for institutional efficiency (through subsidiary and effective predictability) in financial management and planning, delivery of services and response to civil society concerns.

-       Local Govt. Revenue per capita

-       Predictability of Transfers

-       Published Performance Standard

-       Consumer Satisfaction Survey

-       Vision Statement

Security- According to field test reports and the conceptual foundation of the UGI, Security of governance implies that there are adequate mechanisms/process/systems for citizens’ security, health and environmental safety. It also signifies there are adequate conflct resolution mechanisms through the development and implementation of appropriate local policies on environment, health and security for the urban areas.

The Philippines has been investigated by the global campaign on urban governance which I want to test by site visits to improve the local conditions through capacity building and to improve the linkage of policy objectives based on the indicators and signify the principle of good governance.

Background

UN-HABITAT launched the Global Campaign on Urban Governance in 1999 to support the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and to eradicate poverty based influx by good governance and promote the Millennium Development Goals. The UGI was expected to catalyze local action to improve the quality of urban governance at the LOCAL LEVEL. NAGA Good Governance.

Relevance of GOLD as a potential data collection channel

Proposed components of GOLD

-       Contribute to the development of indicators

o   Application of the UGI framework in identifying local relevant indicators.

o   With assistance from UCLG, promote the UGI and indentifying capacity building needs of cities that emerge a to and fro application of the index.

-       Information gathering on decentralization and state of local governance

o   With technical assistance from UN-HABITAT, train association of local authorities in data collection methods and analyses.

-       Development of regional observatories

o   With assistance from UCLG, mobilize regional associations of local authorities as the main collectors of data on local democracy and decentralization.

-       Awareness raising

o   Important for monitoring trend on governance and sharing experience from other cities.

Benchmarks are required on the basis of addressing the four principles (effectiveness, equity, participation and accountability) and the overall index could be established for various cities as measures of performance monitoring. Within the training, benchmarks would be used for action planning to achieve those targets.

Efforts of Quezon City to move towards good governance? People in slum communities can be relocated and can be improved through urban revitalization.

Aims of SPRING Research Series:

How decentralization and Governance Shape Local Planning Practice

            - Rhetoric, Reality and the Lessons from the Philippines

-       Study aims to define in what direction the process of decentralization has moved and to what extent 10 years after the onset of reforms.

o   Investigate the degree to which local planning processes carry forward planning styles reflecting new and innovative forms of decentralized governance.

o   Looks at how effectively the process have provided learning or political, social and intellectual capital for the agents involved.

o   Trace the changing role of spatial concepts in the process of local plan making is of particular interest.

Objectives:

-       Broaden the understanding of the opportunities and limitations of decentralization reforms for sub-national (local) governance

-       Uncover the changes in local planning practice as a social process and particular style of local governance and of the direction they are currently taking

-       Examine trends in the specific role of spatial concepts and practices in local governance and of the direction they are currently taking

-       Examine trends in the specific role of spatial concepts and practices in local governance

Aim are practical, his study was focused on the theoretical content of planning. It followed the views of (Forester, 1989) “theory is what planners need when they get stuck”, his study seeks to establish a dialogue between local planning practice under the conditions of decentralization and new governance concepts in the Philippines and contemporary planning theory.

Objectives are to:

-       Review the suitability of communicative planning theory as a frameworks to guide decentralized planning practice in the reform context, with it’s opportunities and limitations

-       Examine how this theory applies to the case of decentralized planning practice in the Philippines

Limitations of the Urban Governance Index

How can you say it was good? How can you explain local level to the people who control the government? We should define LOCAL LEVEL as the governance on a social, moral, or intellectual standard in a real or notional hierarchy of the state, preferably on-site.

1)   The UGI is a work in progress and is presented on a conceptual basis

2)   Larger sample of the city is necessary

3)   Starting point for local adaption and development yet still leads to incomplete assessments

4)   Applied research and tool development purposes as primary focus

5)   City data does not differentiate between urban agglomeration, metropolitan and municipal areas. (2004)

Good governance is not based on performance of the state but of the mayor to defend the poor in court.

The relationship of decentralization, governance and local planning in the Philippines states that in the late 20^th century, the country experienced a global movement for government reforms in the form of a development strategy and a public sector reform model. The development strategies at the macro-economic scale were unable to solve development problems.

Culture: context of governance and planning à Indicators

Civic culture, planning culture, organizational culture, governance culture, social capital and cultural traditions.

Advice from Tito Al

Project Inter Agency Committe

this was made for the victims of the fire last week

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100925-294179/Aquino-stops-shanties-demolition-in-Quezon-City

this was on september

11:52am

Undoubtedly the project is going to offer a much better and improved quality of life for them. Issues to cover with the squatters are 1) Distance between their homes and their work. How does this present a problem to them and their families. 2) Cost of living conditions that made it more expensive to live in the project. 3) Availability of water, electricity, sewage and trash collection facilities. 4) Proximity to Hospitals, schools, transportation facilities. etc.

Availability of sports and recreation facilities. Availability of work. This are only some of the content of your questionnaire.

http://kuro-kuro.org/index.php/archives/2047

Reflecting on the context of Philippine Urban Management, how globalization led to the decentralization of government powers to help the community, who have the power of making decisions; I wondered how the power of information and income may curb widespread poverty.

I shall first reflect on the meaning of urban management; It is the undertaking of sustained responsibility for achieving particular objectives, with the hopes of development for economic growth/base or social change/justice, with regards to the actions of a city for its residents. I wonder about the features of urban management such as its barriers to the work force which require much needed inertia, and how we can eliminate our confusion about un-sustained actions to strategies and proposals that do not fit. We have to adjust our priorities by cooperating with the community to avoid conflict between the different actors’ direction, efforts and objectives. We have to coordinate the different perspectives and points of views of our urban divisions towards better conditions for all.

As I reflect on the movement of information, its context and content dissected, criticized and disseminated by tests and experiments, I understood this movement as a share of experiences, skills and knowledge. The people, its citizens, our communities, should cooperate in sharing vital information which shape strategic policies through the help and motivation from our government. One objective of urban management is empowerment, or bringing about the capabilities of others, where leadership roles can emerge from the public sector as social workers and non-violent activists. People are not meant to be led by relations of patronage or clientelism, we have to participate in budgeting our allotted LGU funds to eliminate the exploitation of the poor. The government is our producer and provider, it knows the necessary priorities for our country and it will find strategies in building mechanisms for feasible proposals, holding them accountable for transparency. I ponder on the difference of governance an government, we are actors in the relationship between those who govern and those who are governed; governance is the action to manage and steer society, it is up to us if the quality of this relationship is good, this is good governance.

Globalization has helped our society yet its speed must be dictated by our culture and values as Filipinos. Culture in the extent of local “bayanihan” efforts and values as to finding proper strategies dictated on the basis of complete trust. It is a community responsibility, to be sensitive in catering to the needs and priorities of our citizens who have rights to the city. We can all have a better standard of living if we take the appropriate speed in our journey to develop the country.

Decentralization in a nutshell, is the decrease of powers of national government to the local and regional level; while Devolution is the decrease of powers of national government to semi-independent government agencies. As we empower local units which motivate the community to participate, I wonder about the decisions of our private sector where de-regularization without proper research on return become detrimental… or successful like the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) which is a socialized housing program that provides community ownership. I then wondered about the privatization of necessary services such as water, electricity and roads where the poor may have subsidies and pay less for the sake of the rich; this is where partnerships with diverse companies can screen and help those with low-middle incomes through legal-binding agreements and contracts.

I wondered how healthy the increased competition of goods be in this global market economy; as firms compete funds will be lost. Who wants a loser? Let’s join the winning team, we should judge and monitor the private sector, and maybe penalize them based on measurements of performance. A Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a government service or private business venture that is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies. Through joint agreements or PPPs, we can Build, Operate and Transfer direct benefits to the impoverished society, where poverty has multi-dimensional aspects from single mothers in shanty towns to child laborer in our streets.

I reflected on government and public finance, in a nutshell, its the flow of sending and receiving money. You have income tax where you send money to the national government which then sends it to our provinces, districts and tribal communes. You will have business licenses, Value Added Tax and real property tax which the local government should manage properly to make profit with the help of loans from legal entities. The private sector may play important roles in this flow of money, as they get involved with loans and bonds; a bond is like borrowing with a rate, or in other words, a risk when there is a collapse to the capital market. We should spur the sales and production of the private sector, with the help of incentives from the government, to benefit the public sector. We should nurture our Community Based Organizations and offer donations, develop partnerships and get organized in our spending.

Reflecting upon the management of our urban economy, I think of the city as the source of our employment, where it is our job to drive the country towards a healthier and wealthier environment through potential industries of service and manufacturing geared in detailed tasks for future-productive and existing-productive activities. There are government sectors of service, such as banking and tourism, and sectors of manufacture, like small paper-cup businesses to high-technology parks; this is an example of economy of scale, once we as a nation learn how to apply technical knowledge with the help of high-technology in all sectors, we then will begin doing and developing into a research and resource based view. The urban planning of the country is fragmented due to market forces and splintering urbanism, it grows from its core city Manila and expands outwards as it should, since we are islands which should mature in compact ways to safeguard our depleting resources and dying rivers. We have to start growing with our government and seeing the results of its urban design. We have to aim towards sustainability of the society and do this efficiently by knowing “the what” and “the how” in the relationship between resources and outcomes. We as citizens are the engines of development in our country, our culture is coordinated with our city’s development, thus we have to be responsible and accountable for our actions which will affect our orientation of the future of the country.

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Stop, look and listen to the cries of the poor after the demolition of their homes. They cry like you and me, people with aching hearts, bearing a culture of Philippine poverty. Poverty is the consequence of income differential in society and is defined in its absolute terms as the state in which an individual lacks the resources necessary for subsistence. The demolition of illegal settlements without the reassurance of relocation, safety of tenure, social welfare and vital funds for building a house and starting a business to pay his debts; will ensue violence from the resisting poor. To understand their situation and how this came about, we must first reflect on the multi-dimensional aspects of our fragmented city, negotiated citizenships, lost cultures and a greater understanding of the impoverished filipino people.

We all agree that our country has and will face global ignominy due to the consequences of global restructuring and the failures of past administrations to counter corruption in its ranks. Our country is still under development yet the number of its cities grow, fragmented as they abound and fade. Due to the selective process of push and pull factors, gender equality and mass unemployment; rural to urban migration will always proliferate once mechanisms are in place. The structural adjustment program adopted by Asia shows how the state has withdrawn from catering to social issues. Accordingly, non-government organizations take into consideration this new form of clientelism due to high expectations and demands; yet they do not consider the hard times we the citizens need to function, live and work, in the context of such rapid globalization. The poor will survive as they seek alternatives to sustain themselves, even through an informal means of livelihood.

The mutations of citizenship in our country is caused by mis-guided planning, scam constructions and unprofessional development schemes causing karmic results that has already affected real lives. Our primitive and barbaric allure of being labeled as third world has unduly guided us to what we think civilization should be, our countrymen’s mutated eyes journeying through a euro-centric point of view; we are best described as countries of the south, influenced by indifferences based on societies and cultures embracing neo-colonialism. Neo-colonialism was born from the creation of economic blocks which serve as safe borderless economies, our membership an achievement during the Arroyo administration. The current global trend of oversees Filipino workers who live away from their families, subsisting for our country through hard earned remittances is an indication of the consequences of immigration; to the “quality” of their life.

We must look and understand that these poor citizens still have rights, yet as inhabitants in an impoverished society, they are trapped in the urban city without the comfort of belonging. By looking clearly and listening to how people relate and interact in our society can we then identify them into the different aspects of our daily urban lives. We should make sense of it all, only then can we will begin to accept their “sense of being” in relation to our hustling society; we should apprehend how they fit in society according to the different social, cultural and national points of views. An impoverish debased society will have many factors that will affect the identity of it’s destitute residents. It may be based on formal to informal relationships; such as dealings with their landlords as maids and drivers to rackets with contraband in the red light districts, national sports like basketball, billiards and bowling, to melodious original Filipino music and “motherly care-giving” bred by our faith; I pray “bayanihan” still exists in their society so the masses can relate and interact through non-violent activism. The impoverished can always informally identify themselves into the different aspects of our personal lives. Once we make sense of it all, we will begin to accept their sense of being in relation to society, and we will then understand how they fit in society according to our divergent social, cultural and national point of views.

Globalization is the catering of goods and services around the world, it is the sharing of ideas, culture and technology. I shall reflect on James Holston’s context of globalization, that our cities are spaces of citizenships where the insurgent poor can win their rights by exercising social power from the bottom up, these marginal citizens can be organized, mobilized and collected as social movements of protest against corruption, fraudulence and covetousness. Yet there are also significant consequences to the globalization of democracy for it allows the generation of new urban citizenships. As of today, democracy towards equality and freedom has become a global value since it is adopted by mostly all diverse societies and cultures. Political definitions alone are inadequate to evaluate democracy and that political democracies do not necessarily produce a democratic rule of law since it aims to integrate the social sphere but imposing a future embodied in city planning, development, law and government. Formal membership in the state is not sufficient to prevent exclusion of, in fact or law, from the rights of citizenship and effective participation in its organization. This will result in destabilization of dominant regimes as the insurgent remain entangled and entrenched in their plight. These dominant historical regimes of citizenship produce and limit possible counter formulations to the challenges of democracy. The localization of global forces of capital, labor and democracy in city regions may generate an urban citizenship at fundamental odds with principles of national membership. The urban poor experience and its engagement with global democracy may build the basis of a new kind of urban citizenship. Democracy is questionable, constructed and reconstituted. Right are negotiated and the values of belonging, identity, equality and differences are to be reconstituted until they are resolved, hopefully through participatory means.

To be a citizen, one must be part of a city as an active member, this means that you have to contribute and have a common interest as a right. These rights are beneficial, but if we consider globalization it could also be detrimental. There are times the rights of impoverished people are trampled upon, this is due to the speed and demand of globalization which breeds segregation amongst the people in their way of life or understanding of it. We believe in the provision of the necessary such as schools and hospitals, yet deprivation and exclusion of areas from these necessity services will suddenly and surely happen; and when it does, the association of ones devoid identity is created inside the city. These new identities embraced by the poor, may it be for belonging, membership or communal interests, may still be aimed towards the diminishing role of the government. Due to the globalization of capital where money has more power than state, rules are being forced to change. Capital has no territory, and money will always move, the state adopting a neo-liberalistic system will not regulate the economy for everyone. Due to the adjustment of laws for the upper class elite, the state will offer flexible citizenships in the creation of borderless job opportunities. Flexibility, mobility and entrepreneurship now become valuable mechanisms the impoverished can capitalize on.

We have to reflect on the growing urban under class, the guerrilla movements which may pose as a political threats in government destabilization. There are four types of poor people according to the theory of poverty. These are the passive poor who aren’t capable yet make ends meet; the powerless yet surviving poor who require empowerment at the cost of their selves or others; the political poor in their urban territorial movements participating in party politics and elections to have a share in urban services for collective consumption; and the resisting poor who are sensitive to injustice and pray for better days. Ours streets are arenas for politics, here the poor engage in passive networking in sites of contestation; factor in the rising rate of population growth, splintering urbanization and baseless economic spending and you have your recipe for poverty.

People are wrong to judge the poor as a whole, we require good governance, sufficient housing stock and critical mechanisms for job generation and poor self-help. People will always quietly encroach; it is a silent, projected and pervasive advancement to improve their lives, expanding their space to better their position. Due to government restructuring, agricultural failure, social hardships, civil war and displacement, also called zones of conflict, the rights to the city is not given to everybody but only for it’s citizens; it just depends on how the city is matures through history and governance.