ARCH 3433 | Housing and Human Settlements

SULIT, Ma. Camille C.

BS Architecture V-1

THE STAGNANT HOUSING CRISIS

"The problem we are faced with is urgent, huge, and difficult. The housing crisis is a
ticking time bomb. The only way we can solve it is together...We must work with haste, but the
worst thing that we can do is to move fast in the wrong direction," Vice President Leni Robredo
said.

While we, and maybe most of the people we know have proper shelters that we call
home, the fact that around one third of the countrys population cant afford proper housing
remains. There are a lot of factors that causes this issue, like continuous population boom and
financial crisis. The housing situation in Metro Manila alone is already as burdensome as it is,
but the government seems to do little about it. Even though providing proper shelter is one of
the most important needs of a person, the housing crisis in the Philippines still remains as one
of the biggest crisis in the country.

The rapid increase in the urban population produces an enormous demand for shelter
and tenure security. But with prohibitively expensive lands and high rents in urban areas amidst
stagnating real incomes, it is not unusual for cities to have huge numbers of families living in
various types of unauthorized housing units with insecure tenure.

The Philippines is beset with a huge backlog in providing for land security and housing
for the poor. In the face of high rates of population increase and with urban areas continuing to
be magnets of hope for economic opportunities, the demand for affordable land and housing
remains a huge challenge. The concern for housing should even grow because the Philippines
is considered a part of the list of countries in the typhoon belt where disasters often occurs.

Its really frustrating that the solution to housing problems is often declined even though
it is perfectly obvious that this issue needs to be tackled on much further. For me, the
government has not taken serious efforts to directly and effectively address the problem of
poverty. Yes, there are a lot of housing projects given by private and non-private sectors. But
the pressing housing problems hugely depends on the government. Although some government
agencies addressed faces of poverty, none of them has actually dedication to fulfill it.

We should start valuing other peoples lives. Peoples money should go to the right
places, and those are projects and programs to uplift human existence. Some government
sectors may create projects to address the housing problem-- these are mere islets of supply in
a huge ocean of demand. To address the issue of informal settlers, the government should
pursue a truly large-scale program. We have to move forward and be open to innovations and
other technological breakthroughs. We may take small steps into fulfilling it but it is better than
completely neglecting the issue. Sometimes, these small things could be the solution to this
even bigger problem.