An urban planner examines the viability of housing on stilts as a resettlement option for an urban poor community in Navotas

By Eloisa M. Pilapil

The Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Maralita ng Navotas(SANAGMANA) (Federation of the United Urban Poor Organizations in Navotas) is a federation of a community of informal settlers who live in the coastal and flood-prone municipality of Navotas located along Manila Bay. SANAGMANA is comprised of four subgroups: Sitio Mandaragat, Kapit-Bisig San Nazareno R-10, Sipac Almacen, and Little Samar.

A number of SANAGMANA households, especially those coming from Sitio Mandaragat, were relocated to Towerville, Bulacan in 2004 because their housing sites were affected by the ongoing CAMANAVA (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela) Area Flood Control and Drainage System Improvement project, the construction of a polder dike and road widening projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). But some communities refused to relocate to Bulacan and instead looked for an alternative site within Navotas. In 2005, with the help of Community Organizing in the Philippines Enterprise (COPE), the Urban Poor Ministry (UPM), a Catholic church-based organization, technical professionals from TAO-Pilipinas, Planning Resources and Operations Systems (PROS), AMH Engineers, and SEASTEMS (an environmental impact assessment group), they sought the attention of the Housing and Urban Development Council (HUDCC) about their plight. Read more »