Habitat for Humanity Philippines| Contact information | HFH Philippines
Unit A 26th Floor PET Plans Tower
444 EDSA
Guadalupe Viejo
Makati City 1211
Philippines
Phone: +63 28973069
Fax: +63 28973248
E-mail: info@habitat.org.ph
| | Web site | www.habitat.org.ph
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Philippines -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
THE PHILIPPINES encompasses a thriving economy and a multitude of vibrant cultures. It is also one of the world’s most urbanized places with just over half of its population living in cities. Metro Manila comprises 16 cities and one municipality. With more than 11 million people, it is one of Asia’s megacities.
While poverty remains largely a rural phenomenon, it is shifting, along with the overall population, from rural to urban areas. Currently, about 30 percent of the poor live in urban areas, but, by 2025, more than half of the urban dwellers will be poor. People who live in urban areas are confronted with the high cost of land, which the World Bank considers to be among the greatest impediments to improving housing conditions.
The government estimates that between 2005 and 2010, the country needs some 3.8 million new homes, with demand concentrated in Southern Tagalog, Metro Manila, and Central Luzon. In Metro Manila, more than 126,000 families live in the slums, particularly on low-lying floodplains, precarious slopes, exposed riverbanks and within highly toxic zones close to highways and railroads, along waterways, near transmission lines, as well as at airports, dumps, markets and other areas that are unfit for settlement. Those living in squatter communities also face fire hazards.
Since 1988, Habitat for Humanity Philippines has played an active role in providing decent, durable and affordable housing for families in need. It started in Metro Manila and is now one of Habitat’s largest country programs. Through a network of affiliates and project offices in rural and urban areas, HFH Philippines has built and repaired tens of thousands of homes. Habitat has also assisted more than 5,000 families displaced by typhoons, fire and landslides.
HFH Philippines uses mainly a Building-in-Stages housing microfinance model for the construction of core houses. These measure 20-24 sq. m. Once an initial mortgage has been repaid, home partners can add to their homes. Through its urban renewal program, HFH Philippines builds efficient and affordable medium-rise condominium-type structures in areas where land is scarce and expensive. Each unit measures about 26 sq. m. in size with an additional 9 sq. m. in common areas.
HFH Philippines works with governmental partners including the Department of Social Welfare and Development and local city authorities. Non-governmental organization partners include World Vision, Compassion International and the Philippine National Red Cross. Habitat also taps the expertise of such local microfinance partners as Center for Community Transformation and TSPI Development Corporation to extend its reach. In addition, corporate supporters contribute resources and send staff to work on Habitat build sites.
Several Habitat programs in the have been supported by multi-lateral funding agencies. The European Union funded multi-story residences in Taguig City, Metro Manila; the European Commission provided a grant to house people displaced by conflict in the southern island of Mindanao; and the Asian Development Bank supported a resettlement project for families living along railway tracks in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila.
To extend the reach of its programs, there is a Habitat Resource Center. The center has developed concrete interlocking block and modified hollow block technologies. Home partners can produce blocks on site, providing them with a source of livelihood and easy access to building materials. The center works with New Zealand steel frame technology that is cost-efficient, volunteer-friendly and typhoon-resistant.
Habitat undertook its first disaster response project at the BASECO Bagong Buhay community, in the port area of Manila, in 2004. It helped to build 1,000 homes for informal settlers whose shanty town was badly damaged by a fire. Subsequently, Habitat lent its expertise to construct and repair homes and classrooms in disaster-affected areas of Southern Leyte, Bicol and Iloilo.
HFH Philippines has a large, active and multifaceted volunteer program. The Friends of Habitat is a body of influential individuals from different walks of life who contribute their financial resources, time and talent to promote the cause of HFH Philippines. Church congregations and tens of thousands of students and young people take part in regular “Building on Faith” and “Youth Builds”, and other special events such as “Peace Builds” with Muslims in conflict areas in the south. The Philippines also hosts dozens of international work teams each year. In 1999, some 14,000 volunteers took part in the Jimmy Carter Work Project in the Philippines.
HABITAT HIGHLIGHTS
• To jumpstart the construction of 500 core shelter units for victims of 2008 Typhoon Frank in Jaro, Iloilo City, a groundbreaking ceremony took place in November 2008. HFH Philippines’s partners are the government’s Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Iloilo City government.
• In October 2008, HFH Philippines handed over four school classrooms, two each in Tawi-tawi province and in Sorsogon province. Habitat’s partners were Petron Foundation and Swiss Embassy respectively. HFH Philippines plans to build a total of 60 new school classrooms and renovate 480 classrooms in partnership with Petron Foundation and the government’s Department of Education.
• By September 2008, two years after the launch of the European Commission-funded Build for Peace in Mindanao project, HFH Philippines had built and renovated more than 600 houses in the cities of Tacurong, Midsayap, General Santos City and Kidapawan.
• Global Village teams of volunteers from Hong Kong’s Yew Chung International School and Korea’s Myongji University built at a project site in Kamarin, Caloocan City in June and July 2008.
• In a partnership with Compassion International, HFH Philippines handed over 151 new homes to families affected by Typhoon Reming in Albay province. Another partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development aims to build 495 new homes for typhoon-hit families in Albay, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon provinces.
COUNTRY FACTS
Population: 96.1 million (est. July 2008)
Capital: Manila
Area: 300,000 sq. km.
Ethnic groups: Tagalog 28.1%, Cebuano 13.1%, Ilocano 9%, Bisaya/Binisaya 7.6%, Hiligaynon Ilonggo 7.5%, Bikol 6%, Waray 3.4%, others 25.3% (2000 census)
Languages: Filipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official); eight major dialects: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan
Religions: Roman Catholic 80.9%, Muslim 5%, Evangelical 2.8%, Iglesia ni Kristo (Church of Christ in Tagalog) 2.3%, Aglipayan 2%, other Christians 4.5%, others 1.8%, unspecified 0.6%, (2000 census)
Updated January 2009
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