Tag Archives: eviction

WHO CAUSED THE FLOOD

Ondoy no sooner began to subside than government once again blamed the poor families- estimated to number about 80,000 families (400,000 men, women and mostly children) — for the unprecedented flooding.The government prohibited these poor families from returning to their homes from evacuation centers. Lastly, housing officials talked publicly about evicting all 80,000 families and relocating them outside the city, far from jobs and basic services.

These government actions are based on the belief that the poor cause the floods by blocking the esteros and rivers. Luckily there were other explanations for the flooding. Architects, geologists and urban planners reminded us that the causes of the floods were much more complex, cabinet and city officials conniving with developers to violate sensible planning rules played a big part. So, too, those who logged and quarried in the mountains around Manila. Climate change played a role. Guilty, too, are those city officials who ignored the instructions of the Urban Development and Housing Act (1992) that each city should set aside land for social housing. If that had been done 17 years ago, there would be fewer families on the rivers and esteros. Continue reading

Posted in Human Settlement and Environment | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment