PRESENT-DAY PROBLEMS OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS ARISING FROM

HYPER-URBANIZATION, FALSE URBANIZATION AND PREMATURE

URBANIZATION

SUBMITTED BY:

Jabez Rees D. Gonzales

SUBMITTED TO:

Ar. Lea Javier

Lack of Access to Land and Proper Housing

Data provided by the Bacolod Housing Authority (BHA) revealed that half of
Bacolod’s estimated 41,610 households are considered as “squatters”, or those
families not owning lots and houses or are living in “extreme danger zones”, and
without stable jobs and income.

According to the BHA, the number could have soared to as much as 60 to 65 percent
of the city’s population as the 39,921 listed as “squatters” were still lifted from 1997
database of the city. “If we consider the 1.38 percent annual population growth rate
of the city and the pattern and rate of migration from Negros rural areas to Bacolod,
the figure of 39,921 “squatters” is already understated as the number of squatters
most probably have gone higher considering the city’s present population of
499,497,” the BHA said.

The city officials are thinking of buying 30-60 hectares of land to accommodate the
existing over 1,000 “squatters” with pending court cases as well as those likely to be
ejected anytime soon, and to around 200 waitlisted household relocatees with
pending orders of demolition.

The city’s existing relocation sites in Barangay (village) Handumanan, Fortune town;
in Brgy. Estefania, and in Vista Alegre in Brgy. Granada are already filled up and any
move to allow more entry of relocatees in the said sites might only cause more
troubles to the city and the “squatters”.

But even this would not be enough because the number of “squatters” continues to
grow while the jobs available are so far inadequate.

The leaders and representatives of various urban poor associations in Bacolod

recently reiterated their demand for an immediate moratorium on all demolitions
and ejections while the city government has yet to settle the demands of urban poor
for on-site development, or guarantee the provision of viable and sustainable
relocation sites for all the affected communities and groups. (Benjie Oliveros, 2009)

Safety, Crime, and Health Concerns

The City Health Office has been catering mainly to first-aid and primary cases, while
the rest, especially major medical cases are referred to the Bacolod-based Corazon
Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH), or profit-seeking private
hospitals.
According to CLMMRH official sources, 75-80 percent of its patients are from
Bacolod City, but support from the city government is quite minimal: a few dozen
nurses and midwives, and half a dozen doctors rendering part time services.
Ironically, many ask, where do the millions being allocated yearly for health concerns
by the city, and the millions more in donations from various local and international
humanitarian foundations go? An accounting of the funds is being asked but no
report has been made public yet.
What is even more ironic is the fact that the city government has been spending
millions on salaries of 199 City Health Office personnel whose presence is hardly felt
even in the city’s most depressed and disease-stricken barangays.
No less than the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce, Inc. had once noted the
crime surge in the city, pointing to the rising incidence of holdups, robberies, and
numerous petty crimes such as snatching in the capital city.
MBCCI vice-president for external affairs Oscar Zayco noted in one media interview
that a crime against persons and property have surged in recent months with
incidents averaging three to four times a week.
Bacolod City Police Director S/Supt. Ronilo Quebrar also admitted that criminals in
the city have not only increased and become more daring in carrying out their illegal
activities, but seem to find it easier to stage their crimes.
He attributed the problem though to the city’s lack of police personnel. The city’s
police force numbers only 473, thus amounting to a ratio of one policeman for every
1,189 citizens. He said the ideal ratio for a big city like Bacolod is 1:500.

Joblessness

Official city and labor statistics processed by the author revealed that of the city’s
total labor force of 228,000 as of 2007, 74 percent have no stable jobs and incomes
and the rate is still growing. The rate of employment is a mere 26 percent and
economic trends show that prospects are not getting any better.
Of the 74 percent, 43 percent or 98,700 are underemployed or odd jobbers, while
the majority are either self-employed or working in family-based small businesses.
Thirty-one percent or 70,664 are unemployed or continue to look for employment.
Only 26 percent or 58,636 are employed as regulars, probationary and under
renewable job contracts, or with clear employer-employee relationships. Majority of
this section of the workforce are covered by the city’s estimated 21,000 registered
businesses as of end-2007.
Of the employed, 30,028 are in general and professional services, i.e. schools,
government offices, the communication and transportation sector, and other utility
services.
Around 22,854 are in agri-aqua farms, e.g. rice, sugar, fishing, fishponds, vegetables,
orchards and coconut plantations.
Commerce and trade accounts for 3,554 of the employed, while
processing/manufacturing accounts for 2,200.
The level of unemployment conditions in the city is not surprising given the city
government’s slow job generation vis-a-vis the rapid population growth and
migration rate.
The city government’s stress on the service sector is problematic because it is the
sector with the most unstable employment, while the agriculture sector which still
constitutes the biggest resources and labor reserves of the city remain largely
neglected. The city has 16,945 hectares of land, of which 9,101 hectares or 53.7
percent are devoted to agriculture; unless the city does something to address this
reality, it can never achieve an all-around development.
It is a must for the city to re-orient its thrust toward spurring growth with jobs and
development with equity, or it will be saddled with growing unemployment and
population in the long run. The region’s seasonal, mono-crop, sugar-based economy
that serves as the bastion of surplus labor and causes the continuous urban
migration to escape widespread and worsening poverty and hunger in the rural
areas is another factor to be blamed.

Outdated Infastructure

Emphasizing that infrastructure is crucial to the development of Bacolod, Benitez

said the city government is processing a PHP4.4-billion loan from the Development
Bank of the Philippines to finance the “golden age of infrastructure” in Bacolod and
pump-prime the local economy.

“This includes the construction, improvement or rehabilitation of roads. We will also

improve our public markets, build super health centers, establish a recycling center
and solar power generation facility, and construct government buildings,” he said,
adding that all these projects are “calibrated, calculated and approved by national
regulatory agencies and within our borrowing capacity”, the mayor added. Under the
public-private partnership program, the city government has received an initial
proposal of PHP4.5 billion for the rehabilitation of Manokan Country to promote
food tourism, and for an underground cabling project with an initial cost of PHP200
million.

REFERENCES:
Major projects usher in ‘golden age of infrastructure' in Bacolod |
Philippine News Agency (pna.gov.ph)

Almost half of Bacolod families are below poverty lines - report | GMA
News Online (gmanetwork.com)

A Glimpse of Urban Poverty and Other Basic Problems in Bacolod City - Page
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