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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