Manila Urban Settlements Office’s Risk Identification and Mitigation for Pre-and-Post Relocation and Resettlement

Abstract

The challenge with housing in a highly urbanized city is evident through the years. The City of Manila, through its Manila Urban Settlements Office (MUSO), acknowledges urban settlements and development as one of the pressing issues in the locality, where people seek more significant opportunities and greener pastures. This situation made the nation’s capital a melting pot and one of the densest cities in the world. Risks related to housing pertain to lack of adequate shelter, displacements, developmental and environmental changes. These risks compel the local government to provide decent, affordable, and disaster risk resilient and climate change adaptive shelter with adequate facilities for a liveable and socially responsible community. The Local Shelter Plan (LSP) and the Relocation and Resettlement Action Plan (RRAP) are two of the most critical documents that show the City’s strategies to achieve its vision to make Manila a zero-slum city worth emulating by other cities in the country. Its mission is to award home lots to qualified occupants in city-owned lots under the land-for-the-landless program (LLP) and socialized housing program (SHP) and construct new housing units to benefit Manila’s homeless residents. This paper aims to identify the risks and sub-risks involved in pre-and-post relocation and resettlement and define specific steps to mitigate the said risks. Risks stem from gaps and challenges in implementing the City’s LLP and the SHP to provide shelter to Manila’s informal settler families (ISFs), the underprivileged, and the homeless. ISFs occupy dangerous areas, such as those living along rivers and creeks, those affected by government infrastructure projects, and fire victims. ISF households also need upgrading of land tenure, essential services, and infrastructures to make their houses resilient to various environmental elements. In addition, SWOT analysis of the internal and external environment is crucial to find systemic and other risks and relevant opportunities that affect adequate housing and urban settlements. This paper presents the current situation of four strategic places or areas for housing in Manila. Identifying and mitigating risks are part of the risk management process, specifically, risk analysis and response. Risk analysis covers the strategies and activities that identify risks, estimate their likelihoods, and evaluate potential consequences. Housing legal and policy bases such as LSP and RRAP are instruments that reduce or eliminate certain kinds of risk in pre-and-post relocation. It is essential to recognize primary and secondary risks in housing policy-making and program efficiency.