KABAYAN: PREPARE FOR SUSTAINABLE
URBANIZATION
04
October 2005
Urbanization
is an unalterable fact…and we need to prepare ourselves for the
opportunities and challenges it presents.
KABAYAN
IN WORLD HABITAT DAY. Vice
President and concurrent Housing Urban Development Coordinating
Council (HUDCC) chairperson Noli "Kabayan" De
Castro delivers his keynote address during the kick-off
of the
Millennium Development Goals and the City in celebration of World
Habitat Day. (OVP photo by Egay Montana 10/03/05)
This
was the main message of Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro, also
chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
(HUDCC), at the World
Habitat Day celebration at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel with the
theme: the MILLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND THE CITY.
In his speech,
Vice President De Castro cited a recent United Nations-Human Settlements
Programme (UN-Habitat) report on financing urban shelter saying
that by 2030, an additional 3 billion people, or about 40% of the
world’s population, will live in urban areas, this would translate into
more demand for housing, water supply, sanitation and urban
infrastructure services. Some of these are aptly included in the millennium development goals
(MDGs), a set of time-bound goals at wiping out poverty and the
worst of human deprivation and attaining sustainable human development
by 2015.
In the
Philippine setting, the Vice President reported that the high incidence
of urban poverty is a spillover effect of hardship in rural areas that
prompted people to migrate to the cities in the hope of finding better
opportunities. This in turn resulted to the fast
rate of urbanization that has produced new problems for the urban poor,
which include unemployment, underem ployment, poor housing, lack of
basic services and sanitation, and enormous pressure on the urban
carrying capacity, particularly in solid waste as well as, air and
water pollution management.
VP
NOLI GRACES WORLD HABITAT DAY.
VP Noli" Kabayan" De
Castro huddles with Amb. Rosalinda Tirona, former ambassador to Kenya
and member of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the UN
Habitat during the kick-off of the Millennium Development Goals
and the City in celebration of the World Habitat Day held at the
Makati Shangrila Hotel the other day. (OVP photo by Egay Montana)
Currently, De
Castro added, some 262,000 informal families are situated in what is
considered risky or danger areas, such as riverbanks, railroad tracks,
shorelines, and dumpsites.
Given this
situation, the Vice President admitted that it is imperative for the
government to improve the performance of the cities and urban areas in
addressing poverty reduction and ensuring a living environment that is
safe and secure.
He
acknowledged, however, that ensuring sustainable urbanization would not
happen overnight for it would require the adoption of a long-term plan
for the Philippine urban system, a process that necessitates a
decentralized approach that will harness the forces from government as
well as the private and civil sectors.
KABAYAN
GRACES WORLD HABITAT DAY. Vice
President and Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council
(HUDCC) concurrent chairman Noli "Kabayan" De
Castro delivers his keynote address during the kick-off event
of the Millennium Development Goals and the City in celebration
of World Habitat Day the other day. (OVP photo by Egay Montana
10/03/05)
In the same
gathering, Vice President De Castro estimated that P2.8 trillion pesos
will be needed to meet all the MDGs by 2015, indeed a
daunting and overwhelming task.
But he is optimistic that if available
resources can be channeled properly to the attainment of these goals,
and if necessary reforms are adopted at the national and local
government levels, then results desired could be progressively
realized. He cited the debt relief scheme introduced by President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the recent MDG plus 5 summit in New
York where debt servicing may be channeled to financing some, if not,
all the MDGs as a
welcome undertaking.
As the Vice
President congratulated the UN-Habitat
for organizing the commemoration of the World Habitat Day,
he also took the opportunity to commend the fourteen resource cities
and sites: Pasay City, Marikina City, Muntinlupa City, Tagaytay City,
Antipolo City, San Jose del Monte City, the Science City of
Muñoz, Sorsogon City, Calbayog City, Mandaue City, the Island
Garden City of Samal, Iligan City, Naga City and Butuan City for
spearheading the concerted effort to improve the lives of their
constituents through the MDGs.
Ref.
VPMEDIA 05-140