Core Problem: Informal Settlers are destroying the authenticity and beauty of Intramuros.
Introduction
Informal Settlements have been a huge problem that the Philippines is facing right now. It all started in
the Second World war where victims from different parts of the country take refuge and built houses all
over metro Manila, one of this is the Intramuros. There were about 894 families whose known for being
an informal settler living inside the walled city. Informal Settlers in Intramuros are destroying the
authenticity and beauty of the history of the place itself.
The purpose of this pitch is to know the root cause of this problem, how this problem affects the
heritage site and how can we resolve this kind of problem to avoid affecting the Intramuros beauty and
improve tourism experience while letting the informal settlers to have a proper way of living, good
sanitation for their safety. We wish to make Intramuros stays being a historic district to have good
ambiance and to make people safe for students, those who lived and work in the walled city.
Questions and Answers:
1. Why there is tons of informal settlers in Intramuros?
- Because after the recovery to the war squatters from the provinces started to move into the ruin of
Intramuros. It is also a Byproduct of economic inequality and failed city planning. Urban development
initiatives prioritised large-scale commercial expansion while failing to provide adequate housing
options for the working class.
2. Why informal settlers choose to reside in Intramuros?
Because most of them is belong to the workforce of the old city with minimal [Link] chose to lived in
the city even it is illegal because they can only afford there and is near to their job. Therefore, the
government or the land owner in Intramuros let them temporarily reside there.
[Link] most of the informal settlers dont want to be relocate to other place
Because most of them born and raised there that makes it memorable for them and makes hard to leave
Intramuros. Another reason is the could not leave their job and they don’t think that there is a job
waiting for them if they will be relocated.
4. Why they should not be in the intramuros?
Because Intramuros is a very beautiful historic place and has this reputation they need to protect,
informal settlers may ruined the image of the walled city if they insist not to be relocated.
5. Why it takes a long time for the government to relocate or to solve the problem with the informal
settlers
One of the reason is limited fund because there is a lot of infromal settlers, they only have a limited fund
for each area. The patron-client relationship and short electoral cycles has also limited the government’s
ability to offer long-term solutions to the slum issue.
The root cause of this is inability of the government to offer long-term solutions, there’s also a lack of
strategic planning, minimal compensation or job offers for those who will be relocate and reliable
central data bank to ensure quality basic services and opolicies. Many initiatives and programmes aimed
at addressing the slum issue were often fragmented.
Stakeholders who directly and indirectly involved in the root cause
Intramuros Administraton
Manila City Government
Government Agencies - Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council , Social Housing
Program
Local community- tricycle and pedicab drivers,kalesa (carriage) drivers, tour guides, informal
settlers.
Landowners- Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
The SIMPLE program or Strategy for the Effective Mainstreaming of People’s Living Entitlements
program. which aims to address the informal settler problem within the walled city. The program
provides beneficiaries subsidized socialized housing units outside the District, amounting to
P450,000/unit, which they can eventually own.
We can see that this program will be effective in solving the informal settler problems in Intramuros.
There are more funds for this program that is why it is possible to fully resolve the problem with the
informal settlers. The informal settlers is already coordinating with the administrators and considering
their opinion in terms of the choice of the selection of the relocation site in Tanza and Silang, cavite
since they are the one who will relocated. Nowadays, there are more job offerings in and near cavite. To
make this program more successful and sustain the Old City’s aesthetic beauty with PLM- IA partnership,
we would like to have a strict policy that everyone in the city including the landowners must give a
blueprint I they want to build or renovate their structure. It should be check first and coordinate with
architecture look of Intramuros.