Crafting the Shelter Code: Policy and Implementation Implications

The signing into law of the much awaited Comprehensive Urban Shelter Services Code of Davao City or the Davao City Shelter Code in short opens up new possibilities and opportunities for the urban poor sector.

The passage of the Code is the result of strong and sustained advocacy work by various urban poor groups, non-government organizations and alternative law groups. This resulted from the First Davao City Housing Congress held a year ago through the initiative of Councilor Arnolfo Cabling, who chairs the City Council Committee on Housing and Urban and Rural Development. During that congress various housing issues were raised by the participants. After the congress, continued discussions among the different stakeholders on how to address the issues raised kept going on. To formalize the discussions, a Shelter Alliance was formed. This alliance evolved into what will become the Shelter Code Technical Working Group.

The most prominent issue that was raised was: How can Davao City provide accessible and affordable housing for the urban poor? The answer to this question is as varied as the players in the housing sector. The need to rationalize the delivery of housing services for the urban poor was glaringly prominent. The only way to rationalize this was through legislation.

There were attempts in the past to come up with this specific legislation in mind. In fact, Councilors Leo Avila and Angging Librado - Trinidad prepared legislative proposals towards this end. Councilor Danny Dayanghirang sponsored a resolution pushing for a shelter code. These proposed legislation and resolution were picked up by the Shelter Code Technical Working Group, and then compiled into a working draft.

Brainstorming sessions and discussions were held regularly. Urban poor sector consultations became part of the process. Similar legislation from Naga City, Marikina, Quezon City and Mandaluyong were also reviewed. The final draft of the Shelter Code that was presented to Councilor Cablings’ committee was a product of intense discussions and debates among members of the Technical Working Group. These discussions were based on actual experience on the field and engagements with different housing related agencies and the implementation of housing policy.

The debates on the session hall of the city council were intensely and purposively observed by members of the urban poor sector and the technical working group. Some councilors were perceived by the observers as nuisance legislators, while others were seen as fence sitters. As the debates intensified, members of the alliance went into high gear in their lobbying efforts.

The ordinance signed into law by Mayor Duterte is the result of a very comprehensive process. Members of the Technical Working Group and the urban poor sector are confident that the ordinance is a tool that can be used to answer the housing concerns of Davao City.

How then can this ordinance answer the housing needs of the urban poor?

The Davao City Shelter Code mandates the representation of the urban poor sector in the Local Housing Board. They will have four representatives. These representatives will be tasked in ensuring that housing policy of Davao City will meet their concerns.

Housing concerns will now be addressed purposively on an annual basis through the Local Housing Board. With out the Shelter Code, housing concerns can be treated on a seasonal basis by city hall. Shelter planning in Davao City is now anticipated to be proactive and purposive through the Shelter Plan that will be put together by the Local Housing Board.

Housing developers with projects in the city is now required by the Shelter Code to implement their 20% socialized housing balance in Davao City. In the past, developers can comply with this regulation in areas outside Davao City. This provision in the Shelter Code ensures that urban poor housing projects by developers in Davao City will be implemented within the city for them.

A fixed annual budget for the Local Housing Board is mandated by the Shelter Code. This means housing concerns of the city will now be addressed on a sustained basis.

They way the Davao Shelter Code was crafted is groundbreaking. What remains to be seen is how Davao City will implement this innovative piece of legislation.

Members of the urban poor sector will closely observe this very crucial stage in the evolution of Davao City’s housing sector concerns. You can count on them to be watching closely.

I DEMAND AND EXPLANATION

Civilized Society exists because of set methods and procedures set by customs, traditions, regulations, ordinances and laws. These methods cover a broad range of human activity, which makes human interaction predictable. Uncivilized persons are those who behave unpredictably.

Ape may be creatures of the jungle, but our behavior are as unpredictable as the rising and the setting of the sun. Come to think of it, we apes are more civilized than most humans. It is for this reason, human cities are called urban jungles, while ape habitats are called Lost Edens. What a twist!

Davao City is a rapidly urbanizing jungle. And an uncivilized jungle it will become if legalese will have its way.

Just look at all those national and local government projects put on hold.

Take the Bankerohan Bridge for example. Before the elections, work on the bridge seemed to take place 24/7. Work crew were on location seemingly working as if to tell motorists that a new bridge will be put in place in a month or so. Now, not even an ant worker can be seen on location.

The same thing for projects done through the initiative of our congress persons and local officials who were candidates in the recently held elections. Not even a worker ant can be seen in place.

In Catalunan Grance where I live, the construction of an early childhood school building was going on day and night a few weeks before elections. Today, its just posts and beams and discarded wood on site, posing a danger to kids playing.

The drainage project at Matina Aplaya has ground to a half step. Before the elections, work went on 24/7. Now, only a token work force shows up on site. When it rains cats, dogs, fish and what not, the whole narrow stretch of the Matina Aplaya road is under water. Its as if the Matina River has been given a mandate to use the road on its way to the Davao Gulf.

Wow!

You and I know what is going on with the Traffic signalization project being undertaken by the city. In a few months, the traffic scheme will be celebrate 1 year in – aaaarghhhh! – making lives of drivers and commuters inconvenient. We still have flashing red lights on very strategic intersections during peak travel hours, with the ever unreliable dancing traffic aide in the center who sometimes forget which lane should go next.
I won’t elaborate any more because you dear reader is not ignorant of all of these goings on.

We, the electorate have been had by the candidates of the last elections. Now that they have been elected to their desired positions, isn’t it time that we ask them to account.

In the forest where we Apes live, Silver Backs are respected for as long as they are able to keep the peace. Lions are King for as long as they are able to control and minimize threats.

The tragedy that could befall the Davao City is the complacency of the citizen electorate.

Hey Voter, don’t you understand that you have been short changed by those you voted into office.

To be honest, this Ape got short changed.

I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION!

Encounter with the Bomb Squad

The whole day yesterday was uneventful and actually boring. I had to sit through 8 hours of not so interesting presentations about real estate brokerage. The evening was real cool. The result of downright stupidity on my part.

After the 8 hour ordeal I went through with a friend, we decided to eat durian in one of the many durian stalls in the city. I had with me a brown envelope filled with hand outs and a notebook containing notes of past and current projects.

After eating our way through 3 kilos of durian, we decided to go home. The jeepney route to our place was just next to the durian park. While waiting for the jeepney to come, we decided to sit on the steps leading to a bank.

We spent the time waiting for the jeep talking about our day the the possibilities for the rest of the evening. After one cigarette stick, a jeepney crawled its way through the almost empty street. So we both took off and rode on the jeepney.

After around five minutes of riding, we reached a major intersection where the traffic light turned red. I then noticed the envelope I had was missing. I told my friend we had to go back to get the envelope.

We both walked back briskly to the bank, which was 4 to 5 block away. My friend told me to slow down a bit to avoid perspiring profusely. We slowed down a bit. I was worried someone will see the envelope and take it.

When we reached the junction next to the durian park, we noticed emergency red and blue lights flashing from police and Task Force Davao vehicles. The road was closed to traffic. Then we noticed the presence of Bomb Sniffing Dogs in the vicinity.

Cold sweat dripped from my arms when it dawned on me that the dogs were there to sniff on the envelope I left behind. I sprinted to the bank. Indeed, a couple of bomb sniffing dogs were sniffing the envelope and policemen and Task Force Davao personnel had their flash lights trained on the envelope.

I rushed to retrieve the envelope and explain the contents to the public safety personnel.

The whole experience was so embarrassing, and yet it showed to me the dedication these highly trained personnel had in them to keep the city safe from terror.

For that I salute them.

To the City I go

It's a Monday Holiday today. I have a meeting to attend down town. I hope traffic is not that bad today. I'm actually starting a bit late today.

I'll keep my eyes open and find out how things are. I share my observations when I get back later in the day.

Back from Limbo

Hi!

This urban jungle called Davao City has drastically changed over the last 330 days. This ape has kept cool and hidden from view, observing in silence.

Having access to this forum allows this ape to share what is seen from its perch.

So from Limbo this Ape has come, on to the forum of webspace this ape will go.

Read on.... my friend. Read on.

AERIAL SPRAYING LEGISLATION: JUST THE START

This September 26, 2006, Davao City’s Legislative Council will vote on a landmark measure that will affect the operations of Export Cavendish Banana Companies – the biggest agri-industry in Southern Mindanao.

How Davao City’s councilors will vote on the proposal to Ban Aerial Spraying in banana plantations located in the second and third districts will serve as an indicator on how serious the legislative body is in pursuing legislation that will directly affect an industry capable of indirectly “assisting” political candidates in next years electoral exercise.

Davao City’s involvement with the Banana industry goes a long way back. It is no secret that political careers in Southern Mindanao have been closely linked with the support – direct and indirect – of personalities behind the industry. The interests of the industry has always been implicitly defended by politicians through the years.

This protective stance of politicians is being tested inside the august halls of the Davao City’s Sanguniang Panglunsod. This test does not imply that politicians are beginning to steer away from protecting the interests of the biggest economic player in the region.

What is happening inside the session hall of Davao City’s legislative building indicates a sea change in how this industry is perceived by citizens groups, a change in perception that will directly affect political careers. A transformation that will go on until reforms in the industry are put in place.

It is very important to take note that the initiative to propose a ban on aerial spraying in Davao City did not come from members of the Council, but from citizens groups who were audacious enough to propose it.

It may be recalled during the previous council (2002- 2004), the banana industry was also subject to intensive scrutiny and intense public debate. The issue at that time was the rapid expansion of the Cavendish banana plantations at the watershed areas of Davao City. The proposal, by environmental groups; for a moratorium on plantation expansion at the city council died by default. The previous council took it up at the last session, right before the campaign period started. The proposal was stonewalled and obstructed in every other way some members of the council saw fit. They made it appear that the discussion was needless and just a waste of their time. Efforts to engage the local chief executive was met with indifference.

Today, the game has changed – drastically.

The mayor has made public his stand. He wants to see an ordinance banning aerial spraying in Davao City, with out the ordinance, he has publicly declared he will come out with an executive order banning the same.

The City council is now clearly divided into groups closely identified as against or for the ban on aerial spraying.

Move’s to discredit groups pushing for the ban is an exercise in futility. Propagandizing and name calling won’t do the job of making the whole issue go away OR highlighting the issue in dramatic form. Even the remote possibility of these groups closing shop and leaving the city won’t mean that the banana company’s merry ways of yesterday will and should continue.

Banana companies, placed on defensive positions once again, still use the same strategy in dealing with the issue. The usual sidestepping of the issue at hand and asking for support and endorsements from other government agencies will not serve the purpose.

An on going groundswell calling for reforms in the industry is now growing from many small farming communities in the region, directly affected by the industry.

It is imperative that the Banana Industry closely examined and made to reform its ways.

Inefficiencies within the industry need to be weeded out. Its methods of doing business and its inefficient production practices need to be brought to much higher efficiency levels compared to the present.

These reforms need to be done, since whole communities are made hostage to their operations. Their quality of life and their future - economic, social, physical and environmental - well being is directly affected by company operations.

The whole region has been made hostage to its whims. The regional economy is so dependent on the industry that a 15 to 25 per cent cut in export quota’s would mean a regional crisis like the Asian Financial Crisis. A collapse in the international banana market – some say an unlikely event, but not a remote possibility- would mean death to many small farming communities.

A slowdown in the international banana market would figuratively mean just a case of runny nose for these companies, while whole communities would end up under intensive care, this poor government cannot afford.

Davao City’s dependence on the banana industry ought to be properly examined and assessed. The call for a ban on aerial spraying is just a start.

The companies have resorted to using host communities as pawns in their game. Small farmers who have entered into growership contracts and depend on aerial spraying for crop protection feel threatened. They will be directly affected by the ban, while the companies can move to other places for their supply.

The concerns of these small farmers are valid and should be looked into.

The writer personally recalls an encounter with them three years ago. They vehemently objected to calls for a moratorium in the expansion of the plantations in their upland farming areas – “gusto pod mi maka tagam-tam sa kaharuhay sa kinabuhi nga gisaad sa plantasyon. Nakit namo nga nakatagam-tam ang uban niani nga mga saad. Wala ba diay kami katungod makasulay niana. Demokrasya man kaha ning Pilipinas” (We also want to taste the good life that the plantations have promised. We have seen that others are experiencing this promise now. Don’t we have the right to try the same? Isn’t the Philippines a Democracy?)

With the proposed ban on aerial spraying put in place, these small farmers have become reluctant pawns in a complex political game, which in reality is political black mail at its finest. Because these farmer had no real choices available at the start. Today, they still have no other choice.

Democracy is after all about being able to make a choice on ones own free will, without fear or compunction, without pressure or threat. Choices made freely, are choices made without worries or concerns about fall out.

Can members of Davao City’s legislature do the same? Or are they in the same bind as those small farmers. Voting on a measure, compelled by the interests of a few, and not of the larger public they are suppose to serve?

Is the chief executive of Davao City willing to wrest the economy from the hold of these large banana companies? Can the city government look into a future where dependency on the banana companies is reduced to 15% of the direct and indirect economic dependence on the banana industry?

These questions are indeed hard to ask, but these have to be brought out, so it can be discussed by the public at larg

Next: The Banana Supply Chain Inefficiencies
An examination of the methods of land acquisition, crop production and fruit purchase practiced by the banana companies

Of Farms and Chains

At the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and Europe, the nature of work shifted drastically from farm to factory. In a span of 50 short years, settlements and factories could be found next to each other, while farming areas were slowly depopulated.

Farm based enterprises were seen as vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather and the infestation of pests and diseases. Early industrialists also saw farm based enterprise as a constricted labor generating resource.

Populations increase every year, while land area remain fixed. The only way to increase land was to go to war - a primitive method, or to acquire colonies in the “new world” – a primitive form of globalization. It was observed that farm input cost tended to increase over time, while the purchase value of farm products tended to decrease over time. Farming could no longer provide work to a growing population, and was seen as unsustainable over time. Industrialization was seen as the solution to this debacle.

Farm based employment in the old world decreased through the years compared to factory based work. Most residents of farming areas migrated to places where factory work was available, while the more daring ones moved to the colonies in the new world to become industrial farmers.

You can fill in the details as to what happened to the places that got colonized by the European powers, which is a long story in itself.

Factories produced tangible goods that were needed by an increasing population. The increase in demand for these goods increased with population. Factories could continue to provide employment for a growing population. One simple product produced by factories was soap. All permutations of soap based products were produced by the Lever industrial complex.

Every thing that we do not eat comes from a factory somewhere. Factory or Industrial based economies are more versatile.

But this does not mean there is no hope for Farm based initiatives. We are now living in the future that people living at the start of the Industrial Revolution envisioned. We have access to information at our finger tips. We have access to technology dreamed of a long time ago.

We need to find ways to make farming in Mindanao more efficient. Achieving efficiency will need a purposive decision to assess present farming practices through a comprehensive approach involving all stakeholders – from all levels of the farming supply chain, so points of inefficiency are weeded out.