PHILIPPINE LAWS ON HOUSING AND

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
I. PHILIPPINE LAWS ON HOUSING
A. Urban Development and Housing Act (RA 7279)
(Date of Effectivity: 29 March 1992)
1. Constitutional Basis:
Art. 13. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Sec. 9. The State shall, by law and for the common good undertake, in cooperation
with the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which
will make available at affordable cost decent housing and basic services to
underpriviledged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It
shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to citizens. In the
implementation of such programs the State shall respect the rights of small property
owners.
Sec. 10. Urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwellings
demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner.
No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate
consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.
2. Objectives:
a. Make available to underprivileged and homeless citizens decent housing at
affordable cost;
b. Provide for rational use and development of urban land;
c. Regulate and direct urban growth and expansion towards a dispersed urban net and
more balanced urban-rural interdependence;
d. provide for an equitable land tenure system that shall guarantee security of tenure to
program beneficiaries but shall respect the rights of small property owners and ensure
the payment of just compensation;
e. Encourage more effective people's participation in the urban development process;
and
f. Improve the capability of local government units in undertaking urban development
and housing programs and projects.
3. Beneficiaries:
> must be male or female Filipino underprivileged and homeless citizen
(individual/families in urban/urbanizable areas whose income/combined household
income is within poverty threshold and who do not own housing facilities and those
who do not enjoy security of tenure)
> must not own real property in urban or rural areas
> not a professional squatter or not a member of squatting syndicates
4. Salient Provisions:
National Urban Development and Housing Framework
a comprehensive plan for urban and urbanizable areas to serve as basis for
achieving the objectives of the law
formulated by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) under
the direction of the Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council
(HUDCC) in coordination with all local government units and other concerned
public and private sectors
UDHA Socialized Housing Program
The housing program of the law provides for:
a) Beneficiary listing (coming up with a master list of beneficiaries within one year
from the effectivity of the law)
a) Land inventory (within the territorial jurisdiction of LGUs)
a) Identification of socialized housing sites
a) Acquisition of identified socialized housing sites
a) Disposition of lands for socialized housing
UDHA Resettlement Program
resettlement of persons living in danger areas (esteros, railroad tracks, garbage
dump, riverbanks shorelines and waterways) and public places (sidewalks,
roads, parks and playgrounds)
the LGUs, in coordination with the National Housing Authority, are tasked to
provide relocation or resettlement sites with basic services and facilities and
access to employment opportunities sufficient to meet the basic needs of the
affected families.
the law requires that this program be undertaken within 2 years from the date of
its effectivity (March 29, 1992 - March 29, 1994)
Balanced Housing Program
Developers of proposed subdivision projects are required to develop an area for
socialized housing equivalent to at least 20% of the total subdivision area or total
subdivision cost with the option tocomply instead through any of the following:
development of a new settlement; slum upgrading; joint-venture projects with LGUs
or any housing agency; or, participation in the community mortgage program
Eviction and Demolition (Rules and Procedure)
- The law discourages demolition as a practice. Eviction or demolition may be
allowed only when:
a. persons/entities occupy danger areas
b. persons/entities occupy public places
c. place occupied is a gov't. infrastructure project site
d. there is a court order for eviction or demolition
e. construction falls under the category: new illegal structure (construction after
March 29, 1992)
f. structure belongs to a professional squatter or a member of a squatting syndicate
- In the execution of eviction or demolition involving underprivileged and homeless
citizens, the following are mandatory: (Sec. 28, UDHA, Implementing Rules and
Regulations)
* 30-day notice
adequate consultation
only during office hours and good weather
presence of LGU officials
all those participating in demolitions must have proper ID
the Philippine National Police shall be in proper uniform (their task is not to
demolish but for law enforcement and disturbance control only)
* heavy equipment shall not be used except for concrete structures
Moratorium on Eviction and Demolition
- There shall be a moratorium on the eviction of all program beneficiaries and on the
demolition of their houses or dwelling units for a period of 3 years from the effectivity
of the law (March 29, 1992 - March 29, 1995), this while the program components,
i.e., the Housing Program, Resettlement Program, Balanced Housing Program are
being accomplished or otherwise set in place.
B. Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act (RA 7835)
Increasing and regularizing yearly appropriation of the major components of the
national shelter program. It consists the following major component programs:
1. Resettlement Program
2. Medium-Rise Public and Private Housing
3. Community Mortgage Program
4. Cost-Recoverable Programs
5. Local Housing Program
Resettlement Program (Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 5.2B)
Target Beneficiaries: families displaced by government infrastructure projects;
those occupying danger areas such as waterways, esteros, railroad tracks, etc.;
and, those qualified for relocation and resettlement assistance under UDHA
It has 3 types of program delivery scheme:
1. NHA-Administered Resettlement Program
2. Resettlement Assistance Program for Local Government Units (the
LGUs shall provide the land while the NHA provides funds for land
develoment)
3. Resettlement Program with Other Government Agencies and the Private
Sector (may include 20% balanced housing by developers)
Medium-Rise Private and Public Housing (Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 3B)
Target Beneficiaries:
o For Medium-rise Public Housing: city relocation alternative for families
affected by relocation activities and qualified for assistance under
UDHA
o For Medium-rise Private Housing: housing option to low-income
families and to provide rental housing stock in high-density urban areas
Implementor: National Housing Authority with the participation of other
government agencies, local government units and the private sector
Manner of Acquisition: units are to be disposed either through: outright sale or
lease, depending on the affordability of the beneficiaries
Community Mortgage Program (Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 12.78B)
Governed by all existing CMP guidelines issued by NHMFC
Key Players: NHMFC - primary implementor
Gov't. agencies, LGUs, NGOs and POs as originators
Community Associations
Landowner
Cost Recoverable Programs (Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 2.542 B)
Undertaken by government through the National Housing Authority in
cooperation with LGUs, housing cooperatives, NGOs, POs, landowners,
developers and other government agencies
Cost of land, land development and housing construction are to be recovered
from the target beneficiaries
At least 60% of the total number of the house and lot packages to be produced
under this program shall correspond to the lowest loan package under the
Unified Home Lending Program.
Local Housing Program (Total Appropriation in 5 Years: 3B)
Purpose: o ensure the equitable distribution of housing benefits nationwide
Scope: elected urban and urbanizable areas in all congressional districts
Local Government Units may avail of the program, subject to the following
conditions:
C. PD 772 : ANTI-SQUATTING LAW (Criminal Law)
* committed by any person who succeeds in occupying or possessing the real property
of another against the latter's will through any of the following means:
> force
> intimidation
> threat
> taking advantage of the absence or tolerance of the landowner for residential,
commercial or any other purposes
D. EJECTMENT LAWS (Civil Law)
* Forcible Entry: committed by any person who deprives another of the possession of
any land or building by any of the following acts:
> force
> intimidation
> stealth
> threat or,
> strategy
* Unlawful Detainer: committed by any person who has an expired or terminated
right to hold possession by virtue of contract, express or implied unlawfully
withholding possession from landlord/vendor/vender or other
person legally entitled to possession
WHY THESE LAWS ARE OPPRESSIVE TO THE POOR:
Lack of security of abode (house/land tenure) makes the poor vulnerable to ejectment
and anti-squatting laws. In particular, PD 772 which criminalizes squatting and
prosecutes people who are more the victims of government inadequacy than criminals.
(Source: Input shared by Atty. Caloy Ollado, Coordinator for Urban Poor of SALIGAN, Inc.,
during the 1996 Young Professionals' Summer Camp on Social Housing held in Cebu City)

II. INTERNATIONAL LAWS ON HOUSING
Introduction
The International Bill of Rights which consists of 3 Instruments, namely: a) The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); b) The International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966); and c) The International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (1966). This bill is at the core of the UN action in the
promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
These instruments define human rights and fundamental freedoms. They form the
foundation of many UN human rights conventions,declarations and sets of rules and
principles. Covenants are international legal instruments. When members to the UN
become parties to a Covenant or other conventions by ratifying or acceding to them,
accept major obligations grounded in law.
State parties voluntarily bind themselves to bring national legislation, policy and
practice into line with their existing international legal obligations. By ratifying these,
States are accountable to their citizens, other State parties to the same instruments and
to the international community by solemnly commiting themselves to respect and
ensure the rights and freedom found in this documents. Many of these international
human rights treaties also require States parties to report regularly on the steps they
have taken to guarantee the realizations of these rights, and also the progress they
have done towards this end.
Right to Adequate Housing
The right to adequate housing is one of the economic, social and cultural rights to
have gained increasing attention and promotion from the United Nations Centre for
Human Settlement (Habitat). It strarted with the implementation of the Vancouver
Declaration on Human Settlements issued in 1976, followed by the proclamation of
the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (1987) and the adoption of the
Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, and by the United Nations General
assembly in 1988.
Adequate housing is universally viewed as one of the basic human needs but the UN
Centre for Human Settlements estimates that throughout the world over 1 B people
live in inadequate housing and with an excess of 100 M people living in conditions of
homelessness. Added to this, access to potable water and adequate sanitation facilities,
which are important basic needs associated with housing, are inadequate. Based on the
1990
Decade Assessment report released by the World Health Organization, 1.2 B people in
developing countries do not have access to drinking water and 1.8 B people live
without access to adequate sanitation. These situations only reveal the need of a global
struggle to fulfill the right to adequate housing.
The International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (1987) facilitated the raising of
public awareness about the housing and related problemsprevalent throughout the
world. As a follow-up, the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000 has propelled
to push the housing issues forward and had resulted in housing rights being placed
prominently on the human rights agenda of the United Nations.
The right to adequate housing forms a cornerstone of the Global Shelter Strategy:
"The right to adequate housing is universally recognized by the community of
nations... All nations without exception, have some form of obligation in the shelter
sector, as exemplified by their creation of housing ministries or housing agencies, by
their allocation of funds to the housing sector, and by their policies, programmes and
projects... All citizens of all States, poor as they may be, have a right to expect
their Governments to be concerned about their shelter needs, and to accept a
fundamental obligation to protect and improve houses and neighborhoods,
rather than damage or destroy them."
Within the Global Strategy, adequate housing is defined as:
adequate privacy, adequate space, adequate security, adequate lighting and
ventilation, adequate basic infrastructure and adequate location with regard to work
and basic facilities, all at a reasonable cost.
Legal Formulation of Housing Rights
With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the
right to housing joined the body of international, universally applicable and
accepted human rights law. Adequate housing is the right of every child, woman
and man everywhere as phrased in many human rights instruments, namely:
Art. 25.1 of the Universal declaration of Human Rights proclaims that:
"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-
being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical
care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of
unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of
livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."
Art.11.1 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ratified or
acceded to by 108 States and which contains the most significant foundation of
the right to housing found in the entire body of legal principles comprising the
international human rights law) declares that:
"The State Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an
adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food,
clothing and housing and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.
The State Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this
right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international
cooperation based on free consent."
UN Declaration on Social Progress and Development (1969) and the UN
Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements (1976) are other instruments
that recognize the rights of everyone to adequate housing.
Various International Conventions and UN Declarations also contain
provisions on the housing rights of women, children, migrant workers,
refugees and indigenous peoples. In particular, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and includes the
obligation of States Parties to:
"prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in all forms and to guarantee
the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color or national or
ethnic origin,to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of
economic, social and cultural rights in particular... the right to housing."
Government Obligations in the Operationalization of Housing Rights
In relation to the operationalization of the right to adequate housing, the legal
obligations of governments concerning the right to adequate housing consist of: a)
duties found in Art.2.1 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes the steps, individually and
through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical to
the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the
full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate
means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures); and, b) the more
specific obligations to recognize, respect, protect and fulfil this and other rights.
Towards the Justiciability of Housing Rights
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has affirmed that the legal
principle or provision of domestic legal remedies are applicable in the following
areas: a) legal appeals aimed at preventing planned evictions or demolitions through
the issuance of court-ordered injunctions; b) legal procedures seeking compensation
following an illegal eviction; c) complaints againstillegal actions carried out or
supported by landlords (private or public) in relation to rent levels, dwelling
maintenance and racial or other forms of discrimination;d) allegations of any form of
discrimination in the allocation and availability of access to housing; e) complaints
against landlords concerning unhealthy or inadequate housing conditions; and, class
action suits in situations involving significantly increased levels of homelessness.
What to Do When There is a Violation of Housing Rights
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (4th session) noted that,
"the right to housing can be subject to violation and as such, acts and omissions
constituting violations will need to be explored by the Committee, especially in
the context of evictions". The Committee stated that tolerance by Governments of
forced evictions on their territory constituted a violation of the norms of the Covenant.
On the other hand, the Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 1993/77
affirmed that, " the practice of forced eviction constitutes a gross violation of human
rights, in particular, the right to adequate housing.
So far, the UN has only considered violation of housing rights in the context of forced
evictions either conducted or tolerated by the State. Likewise, the Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has not yet create formal mechanisms by which
individuals could submit complaints alleging non-compliance by their Governments
with their housing rights.
Since there is no formal mechanisms to lodge complaints with regards to housing
rights violation, affected persons and groups can work with NGOs which are active at
the annual sessions of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and
can draw the attention of the Committee to practices and legislation of State Parties
that are inconsistent with the obligations of the Covenant.
Likewise, the complaint mechanisms under the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Fact Sheet Nos. 7, 12), the the
Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Fact Sheet Nos.7,15),
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (revised Fact Sheet No. 10), the Economic
and Social Council resolution 1503 procedure and the enforcement mechanisms of the
ILO could be used by persons alleging that they are victims of certain types of
housing rights violations.
Furthermore, specific issues and cases relating to the right to adequate housing can be
raised by people or entities in various UN Forums such as the Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, the Commission on
Human Rights (either directly or through its country-oriented Special Rapporteurs or
Working Groups, if appropriate), the Economic and Social Council and the General
Assembly.
Role of Non-Governmental Organizations, Groups and Individuals
Both international and local NGOs can be key actors in the promotion and
enforcement of the right to adequate housing. At the local and national level, NGOs
can carry out various initiatives to promote the realization of the right to adequate
housing through:
publication and polurarization of the Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights particularly to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
participation in the reporting process engaged in by the government
provision of legal education, training and advice with the purpose of informing
poor people of their right and how to enforce them
For individuals, groups and other NGOs without consultative status with the UN can
forward their concerns to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and
other UN bodies dealing with housing rights issues through NGOs that have
consultative status, as these entities have rights of participation in the UN system.
Individuals or groups can also send information about violations by any State party of
any rights found in the Covenant directly to the Secretary of the Committee at the
Centre for Human Rights as these communications are distributed to Committee
members.
(Source: People's Decade of Human Rights Education docum