Metro Manila, Philippines - UCL

1 I. INTRODUCTION: THE CITYA. THE URBAN CONTEXT1. National Overview In 2000 the total population of the Philippines was76,498,735. The population has increased by percent annually since 1995. The average populationdensity at the national level was 260 people per km2with the National Capital Region (NCR), otherwiseknown as Metro Manila having the highest populationdensity at 15,617 persons per km2. The total land areaof the Philippines is 294,554 km2. In the same census year, the national annual averagefamily income and expenditure were estimated atPhP144,506 (US$2,890)1and PhP119,276(US$2,385), respectively. The annual per capita povertythreshold was set at PhP13,916 (US$278).

2 About cent of the total household population or millionfamilies live below the poverty threshold. On average,each household has 5 to 6 members. 2. The Physical CityMetro Manila has a land area of 636 km2accountingfor approximately per cent of the country s total landarea. The metropolis is divided into 4 districts with 12cities and 5 municipalities. The second district is thelargest accounting for about 40 per cent of the total landarea. The first district is the smallest at 6 per centThe case of Metro Manila, Philippinesby Junio M Ragragio Contact:Junio M RagragioNo. 80 Boston Street, Cubao, Quezon City, PhilipinesPhone: +632 721-8370; +632 411- 5988 Fax.

3 +632 721-8370E-mail: CIA factbookFigure 1: Map of the PhilippinesUrban Slums Reports: The case of Manila, Philippines2comprising only the City of Manila. Among thecities, the largest is Quezon City with an area km2while the smallest is Pasig with only 13km2. As of December 1996, about per cent ofMetro Manila s land area was certified as alien-able and disposable and per cent wasconsidered to be forested land. This forestedland includes fishponds, established timber-lands, national parks, and unclassified land. 3. DemographicsIn 2000, Metro Manila had a total population million of which per cent are femalesand per cent males.

4 The top three cities interms of total population are Quezon City, Manila, and Kalookan. The Municipality of Pateros hasthe lowest population at 57,407. From 1995 to 2000, itwas estimated that Metro Manila s annual populationgrowth rate was at percent. During the same period,Taguig had the highest growth rate at per cent andPara aque posted a negative growth rate of Average household size is 4 to 5 persons. Nearly half of the families in Metro Manila fall underthe PhP100,000-249,000 (US$2,000-$4,980) annualincome class. This translates to roughly PhP20,000(US$400) monthly household income. Recent newspa-per and television broadcasts report that a family of fivein Metro Manila would require at least PhP15,000(US$300) to meet basic needs.

5 In 1990, million occupied dwelling units werelocated in Metro Manila out of the Philippine total of (National Statistical Co-ordination Board 2001,Table 1)2. Of the total of million households, live in dwelling units that are owned or being paidoff, 907,051 are rented, 1 millionlive in dwelling units occupied forfree with the consent of the owner,and 30,110 live in dwelling unitswhich are occupied for free withoutthe consent of the owner. Figures2and3further illustrates this Brief History of Metro Manila3 Metro Manila evolved from asmall tribal settlement ruled byRajah Sulayman. It was a thrivingMuslim Community when theSpaniards discovered it about thirtyyears from the time FerdinandMagellan set foot on the islands in1521.

6 The Spaniards transferredthe capital from Cebu to Manila, and from that time began the 309years of Spanish colonisation. Inthe same year, the Spaniardsstarted building Intramuros, theWalled City, and made it the seat ofthe Church and the State. Guarded by Fort Santiago, thenew city became a Spanishenclave from where missionariesand armies were sent out toconquer the countryside. While theSpaniards kept to themselves inIntramuros, the natives, calledindios by the conquerors, lived inthe suburbs, or what are nowdistricts of Tondo, Sta. Cruz,Quiapo, and Sampaloc. The sang-ley or Chinese merchants, lived inthe parian, a district which becamepart of the present Binondo.

7 By theCity /MunicipalityLand Area(km2)20001995199019801975 First DistrictCity of ,581,0821,654,7611,601,2341,630,4851,479 ,116 Second DistrictMandaluyong ,474286,870248,143205,366182,267 Marikina ,170357,231310,227211,613168,453 Pasig ,058471,075397,679268,570209,915 Quezon ,173,8311,989,4191,669,7761,165,865956,8 64 San ,680124,187126,854130,088122,492 Third DistrictKalookan ,177,6041,023,159763,415467,816397, ,855347,484280,037191,001174, ,403229,039187,479126,14697,098 Valenzuela City47485,433437,165340,227212,363150,60 5 Fourth DistrictLas Pi as ,780413,086297,102136,51481,610 Makati ,867484,176453,170372,631334,448 Muntinlupa ,310399,846278,411136,67994,563 Paranaque ,811391,296308,236208,552158.

8 974 Pasay ,908408,610368,366287,770254, ,40755,28651,40940,28832, ,375381,350266,637134,13773,702 Table 1. Land Area and Population by City and Municipality, 1975-2000 Source: National Statistical Co-ordination Board (2001)municipalities was officially designated as the NationalCapital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila, by virtue ofPresidential Decree 921 issued on March 4 of the sameyear. In the last few years, eight municipalities wereupgraded into cities in accordance with existing laws. Asof December 31, 1998, twelve cities and five municipal-ities comprised the metropolis. 5. The Urban EconomyIn Metro Manila, 65 per cent of the total millionpopulation over 15 years old are in the labour employed persons are engaged in production andrelated types of work in transport equipment operations(31 percent), services ( percent), and sales (20percent).

9 Only about 1 per cent are engaged in agricul-ture and related work. Of the top 50 corporations basedin the country, 41 have major offices in Metro City had the highest number of corporations (19)whose combined gross revenues amount to aboutPhP465 billion (US$ billion) (National Statistical Co-ordination Board, 2000, pp 2-7). Figures 5and6illus-trate the distribution of employed persons by majoroccupation group and by gender/sex. According to a barangay survey conducted in 2002 bythe Asian Development Bank under the Metro ManilaUrban Services for the Poor Project (MMUSP)4averageunemployment in depressed settlements located inMetro Manila is nearly 40 per cent.

10 This is more thanthree times the Metro Manila average of 10-12 percent(ADB 1999) and the Philippine average of per cent(NEDA 2001). Approximately 54 per cent of the jobs indepressed settlements are generated through self-employment. The government sector provides only cent of the full-time jobs (see Table 2). The labour force constitutes 66 per cent of the popu-lation in depressed settlements5. The labour participa-tion rate6is fairly high at per cent. However, cent of the labour force is unemployed, while cent are either part-time or full-time employed. Withthe family size between 5 and 7, this indicates that onaverage each household has about 2-3 employedmembers.