I.

SUMMARY OF THE BOOK

Mr. Roque Arrieta Magno’s book entitled the History of the Urban and
Regional Planning in the Philippines is such an excellent guide book and
can be considered an invaluable reference for those who wants to pursue a
career in environmental planning. The book clearly depicts the historical
information relative to urban planning and its evolution throughout the
various periods in history since the start of civilization in the Philippines.

Historical data reveals that, during the pre-colonial period, our ancestors’
settlements headed by chieftains, had been scattered throughout the
archipelago mostly established near the bodies of water, for the purpose of
easy navigation of people and inter-island movements of goods. It is during
the Spanish period that the concept of “regalian doctrine” was introduced
wherein all lands are owned by the King of Spain. For easy colonization
and Christianization, natives were clustered into barangays and the Laws
of Indies provided for the sets of instructions on how to organize colonies,
however, economic and social issues were not addressed and housing was
not considered as a public responsibility.

The American colonization have made a major impact and large

contribution to the history of urban planning in the country. It is in this era
that various planners were sent to the Philippines. One of the most notable
plans, was the Burnham Master Plan made by Daniel Burnham, which
provided for the development plan for the cities of Manila and Baguio.
Other plans were also prepared and implemented in various places in the
country. In 1928, the city and town planning gained recognition when Act
No. 3482 was enacted to authorize the Bureau of Public Works to prepare
general plans for the improvement and future developments of cities,
provinces and municipalities. Various laws were also passed and enforced
to prepare the country for its self-rule and to address social and economic
issues. Lastly, the Torrens Title System was also introduced during the
American occupation to strengthened private ownership and subdivision of
land to improve security of tenure.

Other significant contributions that led to the development of urban

planning in the Philippines was during the time of the late President
Ferdinand Marcos. It was in his time that the paradigm of planning involving
the function of the state, as manager of the natural resources was
executed, and the ratification of the Urban Land Reform Law which aims to
promote equitable and rational distribution of wealth. The Ministry of
Human Settlements was also established during his presidency, which
served as the coordinating body for physical planning.

Under President Cory Aquino’s regime and the effectivity of the 1987
Constitution, the new land classification scheme was implemented. In
1991, the Local Government Code was also enacted wherein the principal
role in urban planning became a devolved function vested to the Local
Government Units (LGUs), creation of plans became mandatory and the
principle of Sustainable Development became the paradigm in resource
management and utilization.

II. REACTION TO THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK

The book is well written in such a way that it is reader-friendly. Historical

information and narratives were arranged in a concise and chronological
manner that the reader can easily follow. The author’s experiences serving
in various agencies in the government relative to urban planning backed up
with factual researches made the book interesting.

Some of the takeaways I have jotted were the following;

1. Philippines has laws involving physical planning which provide for a
rich content of guides on regulations and can high landmarks of an
ideal planning system. However, as pointed out, planning agencies
are established only to be replaced by new ones. There is also
duplication of functions among these agencies. Which can be
presently observed not only with urban planning-related agencies, but
other government agencies; and
2. While the intention of the laws is for the common good, it failed
miserably because of self-vested interest of people in power, and lack
of corresponding financial, administrative, and political support. I
agree with the author’s observation that it is during the Marcos
Administration have a strong, centralized and interventionist system
as the main characteristics in managing programs and projects.

In conclusion, urban planning is not as a simple as it seems but a complex

system that involved various factors involving the system of governance,
culture of Filipinos, and perennial conflict in inter-agency coordination. This
served as a challenge for aspiring environmental planners on how urban
planning is to be implemented taking into account all the factors mentioned.