Working together is not a choice, but a necessity  

Everybody wants to find solutions to the big, complicated problems of poverty and housing in our Philippine cities. 

But neither the state, cities, NGOs nor poor communities can make significant change by themselves. 

Lasting, large-scale change takes partnership. The work of the Philippines Homeless People's Federation is showing that the poor need not be seen as obstacles to change, but can be active partners in making our cities better for everyone.

 

Federation Diary

1994 : VMSDFI begins to support a community-based savings and credit program in Payatas.

February 1997 : Community people from Payatas visit India, where the National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) and Mahila Milan collectives challenge them to transform their savings and credit program into a community-driven federation.

1997- 98 : Exchanges between cities in Philippines begin in earnest with groups coming to Payatas

September 1998 : First national assembly held in Payatas, with community savings groups from six cities : Metro Manila, Iloilo, Davao, Mandaue, General Santos City, Calbayog. The Philippines Homeless People's Federation is officially launched the following month.

September 1999 : National workshop is held in Glan Sarangani to support the establishment of Area Resource Centers around the country.

January 1999 : Total savings in the national federation crosses the 25 million Peso mark.

July 11, 2000 : After a night of heavy rain, an early morning garbage slide in the Promised Land area of Payatas kills approximately 250 people living and working near the dump.

August 2000 : Second national assembly held in Payatas, in the aftermath of the tragedy, with an exhibition of nine model houses. Dialogue begins with HUDCC Secretary Lennie de Jesus.

September 1 : Payatas Urban Poor Development Fund is established, with 10 million Pesos from the Federation's savings and 15 million Peso contribution from the President of the Philippines.

October 2000 : Extensive poor community surveys and inventories of open government land are carried out by community people in 18 cities around the Philippines, with support from local NGOs.

November 2000 : Campaign for Security of Tenure in the Philippines is launched in Payatas, as a co-initiative of the Homeless People's Federation, Slum Dwellers International, the Government of Philippines, the United Nations, the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights and local NGOs.

 

 

When the Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), Lennie de Jesus, was invited to the Federation's Model House Exhibition in Payatas in August, she was afraid she'd face angry crowds and strident demands. Instead, she was welcomed with presentations of wide-ranging land acquisition and house-building strategies which poor communities have worked out themselves. She was impressed that communities were prepared to work with the state and had clear ideas of what they wanted to do. The dialogue which began in that meeting has yielded several breakthroughs for the federation: The President contributed 15 million Pesos to the community-managed Payatas Urban Development Fund, and pledged 15 million Pesos in each of seven other cities to establish similar funds; The federation is now coordinating with HUDCC to identify government land in several cities for poor people's housing; HUDCC and the President are working with the federation to support the security of tenure campaign in November.

 

The federation's dialogue with the League of City Mayors is so far focused on work in Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Iloilo, Mandaue and Davao. The support of Naga City's ex-mayor Jesse Robredo in the Mayor's Forum has helped strengthen dialogue with federation in those cities. Work includes conducting surveys to come up with a common understanding about slums in those cities, and negotiating for new city-based mechanisms for disbursing CMP loans, which cities guarantee and administer locally. These collaborations between local governments and the poor are seeking more comprehensive, city-wide alternatives to the traditional project-by-project approach to housing the poor, which has been scattered and has not solved problems on a large scale.

 

The Homeless People's Federation's close working relationship with it's NGO partner, the Vincentian Missionaries Development Foundation, goes back many years. The federation is also collaborating with a consortium of Philippines NGOs to conduct community surveys and inventories of open land in 18 cities, in preparation for the Security of Tenure Campaign launch in November, 2000.

 

The Philippines Homeless People's Federation has been involved in the Asian and African exchange loop since 1996. Through ACHR's TAP program and as members of the Slum Dwellers International (SDI) network,  community leaders from cities throughout the federation have visited community-driven initiatives in India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, Egypt, South Africa and Zimbabwe. 

These exchanges have set off a lively cross-pollination of ideas between poor communities in different parts of the world, created a powerful international solidarity, have helped groups in the Philippines develop many more tools for managing their own development processes.

Contacts

Philippines Homeless People's Federation
Contact person : Noli Pacquiao
c/o VMSDFI , contact info as below :

Vincentian Missionaries Social Development Foundation, Inc. (VMSDFI)
Contact : Father Norberto Carcellar
221 Tandang Sora Avenue, 
P.O Box 1179, NIA Road, 
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES

Tel (632) 455-9480 / 937-3703
Fax (632) 454-2834
E-mail : vmsdfi@info.com.ph

Homeless      People's Federation  Philippines 

Father Norberto Carcellar