Saturday, November 4, 2017

History of Planning in the Philippines



Pre-Spanish

·         Pre-Hispanic Filipino Settlements – communities called barangays settled by separate kinship groups within their respective defined territories.
·         Manila was already a homogenous population of 3,000 inhabitants before Spain came. It was an important Muslim outpost held by Rajah Soliman.

Spanish

·         Spanish Colonial Period – gridiron arrangement … “plaza complex”. The church and town hall were the dominant structures. Streets were laid to provide a continuous route for religious processions.

·         The compact villages provided a framework for rapid Christian indoctrination and societal organization. (Fort Santiago)

·         Towards the end of the 19th century, road building programs were introduced by the Spanish government … the Manila-Dagupan railway.

·         Similar settlements were built by the Spaniards throughout the country … Fort Del Pilar in Zamboanga, Davao, Ilocos, Visayas, etc.

American

·         American Era – saw the urgent need for guiding the urban growth and physical development of the country … concentrated in planning of cities where growth was inevitable.

·         Examples: development of waterfront; location of parks and parkways as a means of recreation to every quarter of the city.

·         Street system securing direct and easy communication from one district to another;
·         Location of building site for various activities;

·         Development of waterways for transportation; and

·         Summer resorts.


Commonwealth
·         Settlements During the New Republic –the problem of housing, health and sanitation became the major concerns.

·         The People’s Homesite and Housing Corporation (PHHC), now the National Housing Authority (NHA) purchased 1,572 has. in Q.C. (including UP area) for Php2.0 million … for the different housing projects.


Post Colonial and Third Republic
·         Settlements During WWII – about 4/5 of Greater Manila Area was devastated. Manila was a “giant slum”.

·         Pres. Roxas instructed the National Housing Commission in 1946 to build houses for the US-Philippine War Damage Commission.

·         The National Urban Planning Commission was created to prepare general plans, zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations.

·         Post War Settlements – President Quirino created the National Planning Commission (NPC) … for more integrated planning in the urban and regional areas.

·         NPC has prepared a master plan for Manila by 1954 with the following objectives:
1. Make Manila a convenient and ideal place for settlement, work, play and own;
2. Remedy the critical traffic congestion;
3. Prevent overcrowding of population;
4. Use land optimally;
5. Distribute schools and playgrounds;
6. Protect and promote healthy property values;
7. Utilize existing improvements


Marcos Era

The Urban Land Reform Law [PD 1517] was passed during the administration of Marcos. With its impressive rhetoric, it states that "it is the policy of the State to liberate human communities from blight, promote their development and modernization, and bring about the optimum use of the land as a national resource for public welfare."

One of the basic urban planning problems is housing. For the past decades, legislators formulated and accumulated laws regarding the provision of one of the basic human needs that is housing. For one, there is the Presidential Decree 957 of 1976, which mandates the protection of subdivision and condominium buyers. Two years later, another law [PD 1344] was enacted empowering the National Housing Authority[NHA] to regulated and police the real estate trade and business. In 1982, Batas Pambansa 220 authorized the Ministry of Settlements to urge the private sector to provide "economic and socialized housing" for the middle and lower income earners.

Fifth Republic

Later, legislations like the Local Government Code [RA 7160] and the Housing and Urban Development Act [RA 7279] further developed the capabilities of the local government units [LGUs]

Others like Executive Order 71 [1993] seeks to ensure the efficient devolution of powers to the local government units and provide for an orderly and smooth transition as well as definition of future relationships between the national and local governments. Passed almost simultaneously with EO 71, Executive Order 72 provides for the preparation and implementation of the Comprehensive Land Use Plans [CLUP] for the Local Government Units. These two executive orders aim at complementing the Local Government Code of 1991 and other pertinent laws. In addition, the local government can also reclassify agricultural lands to other uses by virtue of Memorandum Circular 54 of 1993.

The Philippine Constitution of 1987 is also a source of planning ideals regarding urban land reform and housing. In Section 9, it declares that "the State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to under-privileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the implementation of such program the State shall respect the rights of small property owners." In Section 10 it continues that "urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner. No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated."

How does the history of planning in the country contributed to the integration and linkages of plans as a result of the previous events or past experiences in planning?

Local planning in the Philippines used be in a chaotic condition which is owed in part to the persistence of pre-devolution practices and also the failure to implement to their full implications the Local Government Code provisions on local planning (Serote, RPS.)



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