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Annex 02 - Why Earth Cant Be Moved PDF
Annex 02 - Why Earth Cant Be Moved PDF
It has been more than a year since Typhoon Haiyan, indelibly scarred the terrain and people of
the Philippines. 171 municipalities in 14 provinces severely affected. The DOST estimates that
losses amounted to over 571-billion PHP. Official government records show that around 3.4
million families were affected and 890,000 families were displaced or rendered homeless.
The OPARR indicated in their expected deliverables – the construction of 205,128 housing
units (to house a little over 20% of the entire displaced population) and have identified 153
hectares of government-owned land for this purpose.
On the first year of commemorating the tragedy, we have scrambled for anecdotes, official
government releases and information from humanitarian organizations – to come up with a
semblance of an answer to what survivors are still clamoring for: Saan kami titira? Why is it
that only 2% of the targetted housing units have been built? Why are survivors still in tents
and temporary shelters – quite an aberration from establishing normalcy, the latter being a
requisite of resilience.
LAND COMPLEXITIES: Also, matters go far beyond procedural concerns; there are substantial
concerns in other aspects. In various areas, different configurations of the following concerns
are faced: (1) limited availability of “habitable” A&D land; (2) limited LGU resources to acquire
land; (3) available land has adverse claims or multiple encumberances; (4) the said lot only has
tax declaration, as opposed to having a land title – as required by the COA, and (5) the
contentious application / questionably interpretation of the “no build zone” policy – among
many others. In the first place our (6) Land Administration and Management System, including
cadasteral mapping has yet to be completely set up.
The government is exerting effort to improve the Fast-tracking of Housing Projects and the
creation of Regional One-Stop Housing Permit Offices (ROSHPOs) – but while government is
reviewing and changing policy, it has to execute interventions at the same time. Imagine having
to drive a car while fixing it on the run. However, securing the future and addressing the more
urgent concerns of the present should not be treated as an “or” option. The present and future
should be treated as a continuum in building resiliency, in that long-term goals of having a
harmonious land use are balanced off with the everyday needs of survivors such as food,
clothing and shelter.
This article is not intended to justify the delay in government intervention; what it seeks to
underscore is that we have a lot of problems to contend with. More than anything it serves as a
challenge for everyone: for government to be more committed with its responsibilities, for the
academe to help in policy review and improvement, for international organizations to assist in
aspects that need more attention, for civil society to contribute its collective historic and
indigenous knowledge as inputs to planning and for the private sector to lend its more
advanced technologies.
As a post-script I make reference to the title in its litaral and figurative sense. Earth-moving is
a term used in engineering and architecture to refer to the cutting and filling of rock material
(cut and fill) or the digging and pushing of “earth”. In the vernacular we refer to this as
“pagtatambak at pagpapatag ng lupa”. Earthmoving is a critical activity in site development as
it prepares the ground where buildings are to be erected. It is a befitting figure of speech that
implies accomplishing a close to impossible task – such as moving the entire earth. Why are
there still no houses for survivors? Why can’t earth be moved?