Slums in Metro Manila

An aerial view of the Manggahan floodway with shanty towns on either side. During the 2009 flooding of Typhoon Ketsana, the illegal settlements reduced the floodway's effectiveness.[9]

In September 2009 Tropical Storm Ketsana hit Metro Manila and dumped one month's rainfall in less than 24 hours, causing the Marikina River system, including the Manggahan Floodway, to burst its banks very rapidly. It is thought that blocked pipes and a poorly maintained sewer system, along with uncollected domestic waste, were major contributory factors in the speed with which the flood waters were able to engulf the surrounding area.[9]

Illegal settlers were especially blamed for flooding since their houses reduce the effective width and blocked the flow of the floodway. During the height of the storm, the Marikina River had a flow of about 3000 m³/s (106,000 ft³/s), and the head of the UP National Hydraulic Research Center stated that the floodway could have handled this flow without overflowing if there were no settlers on its banks.[9]

Consequently, in February 2010, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo revoked Proclamation 160 that reserved 20 parcels of land along the floodway for 6,700 urban poor families, and ordered the forcible relocation of the illegal settlers whose houses were blocking the waterway to Laguna de Bay.[10]

In 1975, Ferdinand Marcos signed a presidential decree that made squatting on private and government-owned land illegal.[11] Thus, resident of slums are also referred to as "informal settlers" and usually do not hold legal claim over the land they are living on. There are certain cases where the right of eminent domain has been pursued, although legal judgements rarely benefit those living in the slums.[8] Some have argued that while technically illegal, the forced demolitions of homes is a waste of housing property since residents have made significant investments in their homes—some worth more than several thousands of pesos each.[12]

Local groups and community-based organizations have lobbied for the rights of residents within slums and squatter settlements throughout the decades. In 1956, local associations successfully lobbied for Republic Act No 1597,[13] which allowed squatter communities to purchase land they were occupying—although President Ramon Magsaysay died before fully implementing the law. Another prominent squatter organization was the Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO)—they were very active in the 1970s. ZOTO had numerous successful initiatives: they obtained funding and material resources for Typhoon Yoling victims, they pushed back the land expansion of an industrial firm, they obtained relocation sites for people displaced by business development, and they were recognized by the World Bank at the community's representative in negotiations.[11]

The growth of local associations within slums continued throughout the decades. By 1990, there were eight major urban poor alliances within Metro Manila, which were composed of multiple local associations throughout the slums.[11] While mobilizations and organized actions throughout the years have won campaigns, some critics say that urban poor movements have mainly been reactionary and defensive, with minimal effect on the larger economic structure and political authority over the slums. Initiatives have mostly been reactionary responses to the policies and actions of the state and not necessarily pro-active.[11]

Scholars have argued that the development of slums is a byproduct of economic inequality, failed city planning, and racial inferiority.[12] Urban developments initiatives have prioritised large-scale commercial expansion while failing to provide adequate housing options for the working class. The current economic market of metropolitan Manila requires a large workforce with minimal compensation who can only afford squatting in slums.[12] Despite these less-than-ideal living conditions, Metro Manila - which contributes 89% of the Philippines' national gross domestic product - continues to draw large swathes of migrants from other parts of the Philippines which are often vulnerable to natural disasters and other social issues.[14] This has further contributed to the overcrowding problem - from 2000 to 2010, Metro Manila's population increased by 1.93 million, and a further 1.02 million from 2010 to 2015. The city of Taguig in particular had the highest growth rate of 4.5% with a population of 804,915.[15] Yet, there has not been any formal tracking of migration, given that there was no national registration system up till 2018, where the Republic Act No. 11055 "Philippine Identification System Act" was established.[16]

The Philippine government has faced significant challenges in reversing this trend thus far. Eviction attempts such as Marcos' Presidential Decree 772 in 1975 created serious human rights issues, while physical resettlement and social housing programmes such as the Community Mortgage Program saw poor service delivery and organisation.[17] The patron-client relationship and short electoral cycles has also limited the government's ability to offer long-term solutions to the slum issue, evinced by short-lived examples of poverty alleviation programmes such as Joseph Estrada's 1998 "Lingap Para Sa Mahirap" (Caring for the Poor) and Gloria Arroyo's 2001 "Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan" (KALAHI) which could not be sustained given the constant change in political leadership. Despite decentralisation providing the local government greater self-reliance, autonomy and ability to be responsive to citizens' needs through a more "equitable and systematic distribution of government powers and resources, there was a lack of strategic planning and reliable central data bank to ensure quality basic services and policies across the various cities. Hence, many initiatives and programmes aimed at addressing the slum issue were often ad hoc and fragmented.

• Poverty in the Philippines
• Squatting in the Philippines