BASECO: Research Paper

A Proposed Socialized Housing for Flood Mitigation in Dubai Street, BASECO Compound

Metro Manila’s rapid urbanization has caused a massive influx of informal settlers, a great deal of whom came from rural provinces as they embark on the false hope of better life in the urban city which eventually results in subpar livelihood. As the population of rural migrants increases, poverty has also caused affordable housing to become a rising problem.

The biggest vulnerability which is brought about by natural disasters present in Metro Manila would be flooding. Wherein houses and the lives of people are at stake. Although it has been innate in the Filipino culture to be emotionally resilient in these kinds of situations they easily adapt; however, due to this cultural norm, necessities are compromised as the impoverished undergo more poverty-stricken situations.

Nonetheless, initiatives such as housing projects have been implemented to reduce the risk of flooding in these vulnerable areas yet most projects fail to adapt to the disaster that threatens the community. These housing projects compromise the design by meeting the bare minimum of the housing standards. With proper implementation of these projects through in-depth research and guided application, along with the help of the community and other sectors that are affected by this development, the reduction of disaster risk would be successfully managed and improve the quality of life of the residents.

Statement Of The Problem

The Philippines has been exposed to numerous natural disasters (UNDDR, 2019) because of its geographical location. BASECO Compound is one of the prominent cases of disaster specifically flooding due to its proximity to an estuary and an open body of water. The area consists of informal settlements that are congested and have inadequate housing. Given that the community is highly vulnerable to flooding, there is a need to address their housing conditions to adapt to the disaster at hand.

Significance Of The Project

The significance of this project is to be able to provide an understanding of the lifestyle and culture of the informal community of BASECO. In understanding this, the design aspect of the housing project would be innovated and improved fulfilling their basic housing necessities and personal preferences. This not only suggests physical solutions but also recommendations that would help develop and support their livelihood.

The outcome of this research would voice out the root of the problem and provide ways how to resolve this. The proposed housing solution is not limited to Dubai, BASECO alone Other areas may as well make use of these solutions, given that the modifications and culture of the particular area are applied.

Site Analysis

BASECO is built on reclaimed land and an estuarial community that grew from numerous waste materials and breakwaters bounding the Pasig River and Manila Bay. The first use of this land was a port and repair yard for the National Shipyard and Steel Corporation (NASSCO) Based on the research informant of this project, Augusto V. de Viana, BASECO remains to be government property and NASSCO was part of the vision of the Filipino First Policy of former President Carlos P. Garcia. In 1964 it was acquired by the family of then-First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, and by that time it was given the name Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Company which eventually came to be known as the BASECO Compound. It was then sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government during the administration of President Corazon Aquino (de Viana, 2020). Eventually, BASECO was acknowledged as Barangay 649, Zone 68, and it formally became part of Manila’s geopolitical sphere in 1982. From 1990-1993, informal settlements in Quezon City and Metropolitan Manila were being demolished and BASECO was the chosen relocation site of the government. Due to these events that have transpired, BASECO suffers extreme growth in the barangay population.

Community Background

The population of BASECO Compound is 59, 847 with an annual population growth rate of 3.12 percent (Graph 1). BASECO garners a high percentage of 89 67 of the total population of the city of Manila (PhilAtlas, 2015) Out of 56 hectares of reclaimed land, 52 hectares of the area consists of high-density informal settlements. The majority of the residents are migrants from rural provinces in which they falsely hoped and expected greater opportunities residing in urbanized Manila. These migrants, unfortunately, resulted in becoming industry workers fulfilling the demands of big corporations and alienated as an extremely low-income community (Graph 2). They are classified as informal settlers because they do not possess a land title that would support their claim (Navarra, 2016). The community occupied the BASECO Compound due to its proximity to the established industries near their homes, which later on resulted in congested and substandard housing (Figure 1).

Graph 1: BASECO Population

(Philippines Statistics Authority, 2015)

Graph 2: Monthly Income of BASECO Residents

(Navarra, 2016)

Figure 1: Substandard Housing in BASECO

(Flickr photo by Carol, 2009)

Livelihood

The livelihood available to BASECO Compound varies from informal employment to formal employment found along with the ports or in the business districts Kabalikat also contributes to supporting their livelihood as they have provided activities (recycled foil and water hyacinth plant accessories, eco-bricks, and plastic bag cleaning for reuse) and then sell the items they created (woven purses, wallets, sandals, tablet covers) at their headquarters. They pay them for their work and let their income be used for future house repairs or other emergencies.

Figure 2: Women of BASECO

(Photo by Pata, 2017)

The common set-up for a family in BASECO is that the men work under contract outside the compound and send money on a weekly or monthly basis, while the women and grandparents usually stay home and ensure the security of the house. The children (Figure 2) also play a part in providing for the family; by collecting recyclables after school for extra income (Alejandria, 2020).

Figure 3: Children of BASECO

(Flickr photo by Cade, 2010)

Moreover, the ongoing operations found in the compound could be divided into four categories: storefront or vendor stalls, at home, transportation, agriculture, and junkshop. Livelihood activities at storefronts or vendor stalls include building materials and hardware stores, restaurants, food markets, food stalls, sari-sari stores, electronics, salons, internet cafes, and karaoke rooms (Smith, 2020). Livelihood activities at home: recycling (redemption and plastic bag cleaning), and garlic and onion peeling (for wholesalers receiving food goods from the port). Although when faced with calamities, this operation is put to a halt due to the lack of access to the places. Transport and agriculture activities are also available such as pedicabs, tricycles, jeepney drivers, and fishing (Smith, 2020)

Lastly, junk shop activities serve as a model for recycling activities and help alleviate the job of solid waste management. There are around 6 junk shop operations in the compound; based on a focus group discussion by PlasticBank, junk shop operators would like to have proper junk shop training operations regarding micro-business policies, operations, and guidelines. Junkshop operation plays a big role in the informal economy of the compound since this is another source of income for a family especially 50 percent of the street sweepers and waste collectors consist of children who usually spend their afterschool time with this operation (PlasticBank).

Figure 6: Children of BASECO

(Flickr photo by Carol, 2009)

Flood Vulnerability

In a recent lecture delivered by Maria Carinnes Alejandria last February 2020, she addresses the resiliency of the BASECO Compound community—a case she has studied for six years Based on her personal experience and interaction with the residents of BASECO themselves, she explains that the community members perceive flooding as a form of “blessing” since resources come to them post-disaster.

Alejandria states that the reason behind the vulnerability of informal settlers is exclusive development wherein industries are situated at the urban center. Rural migrants move to the city without low-cost housing available and face a lack of work equivalent to their skills, resulting in informal labor. Despite the 2015 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, Alejandria suggests a more accurate population estimate of 72,000 people living in the 52-hectare area wherein the government only provides an evacuation center that has a capacity of 3,000 (Figure 7).

The basic understanding of the concept of resilience is easily associated with emotional resilience; making it easy to conclude that Filipinos, in general, are resilient due to the happy disposition they seem to have despite being in the midst of a disaster. Alejandria claims that even when people who live in slums such as the BASECO Compound put on a smiling face does not equate to high disaster resilience. Poor communities are simply subjected to structural violence—that itself is the norm. These slum areas possess a normalized cycle wherein aspirations and ideas of oneself are withheld as long as the structural components of society such as this remain. (Alejandria, 2020)

Figure 7: Evacuating Residents of BASECO

(Flickr photo by Ascano, 2010)

Based on research published last 2016, Rizalito M. Mercado extensively gathered data regarding risk perception and response to natural disasters of residents within the BASECO Compound. The survey made use of eight key composite variables: Awareness of disaster risks / belief in climate change, Concerns over disaster risks / climate change, Risk Perception, Distress, SelfEfficacy, Responsibility to act, building sustainable Resilience, and increasing Adaptive Capacity.

His findings show that a strong Awareness positively influences the rest of the variables. Another relationship between the variables finds evidence between the result of high Distress negatively impacting the community’s Resilience Among the eight variables, Resilience scored the lowest; based on a scale that determines the ability of the residents to support themselves financially after a disaster has struck. Adaptive Capacity also received weak responses. Both Resilience and Adaptive Capacity resulted as negative variables that were not influenced despite the positive response of Concern and Risk Perception. The small effect of Concern and the medium effect of Risk Perception is not high enough to positively impact Resilience and Adaptive Capacity at an ideal rate.

Mercado states that in order to improve these two variables that affect the vulnerability of BASECO, the following must be harnessed to the fullest: Awareness, Self-Efficacy, and Responsibility for these three variables were found to be the strength of the community.

From similar research also published last 2016, Nappy L. Navarra produced results aligned with Mercado’s research in terms of the community’s Awareness, Risk of Perception / perception of the cause of flooding, Responsibility / contribution to solving the flooding, and Adapting Capacity / adaptation to flood.

Graph 3: Residents’ Perception of Causes of Flooding

(Navarra, 2016)

The results show that the community is highly aware of the flooding. Their perceptions of the cause of flooding are the proximity of their houses to the bodies of water, clogged waterways, and low elevation (Graph 3). Moreover, the contribution of the residents in solving the flooding would be the removal of the wastes that are blocking the waterway, planting trees, and elevating the area of their housing by filling in more land. The residents adapt to flooding disasters in terms of their willingness to stay (Graph 4). Half of these respondents believe that there would be a solution to the flooding problem despite their knowledge that the threat would continue to increase over the next decade.

A great majority of the respondents cited that they will remain in their residences, and yet consider that they would leave the place if there would be cases of extreme flooding conditions, frequent flooding, a disease caused by the flooding, and demolition of their present housing and/or better housing and job opportunity elsewhere (Graph 5). The rest of the responses claim that nothing can make them move out of the community.

Graph 4: Willingness to stay in the community

(Navarra, 2016)

Graph 5: Willingness to be part of the solution

(Navarra, 2016)

Despite the BASECO Compound residents being aware of the disaster risks of the site, they still choose to stay since their fear of poverty outweighs their fear of natural calamities. Both Mercado and Navarra express the need for honing the core characteristics of the community in order to reduce vulnerability and increase the disaster resistance of the urban poor. Mercado particularly believes in strengthening the integration of science-based and indigenous knowledge The collaboration of experts and users will produce successful strategies against the extreme threat of flooding in the area.

CONCLUSION

The BASECO Compound is a controversial setting with the National Capital Police Office considering it a high-risk area (de Viana, 2020). Despite the natural disasters and frequent crimes committed by people there still exists a community that thrives and adapts to its violent environment. The striking fact that this community of residents garners the majority of the population of the entire city of Manila, must be sufficient to trigger concern amongst those in the position to support and aid the compound. The provided project brief for this research project requires that there is no option for the vulnerable community to relocate to a different site. Although in the case of BASECO, it would be highly unethical to maintain the persisting residents in this classified hazardous area.

As stated by de Viana, formally making BASECO a barangay only legalizes the illegal. Therefore the design interventions for this research project do not provide a long-term solution for the community. It is, however, an initial step in assisting the community to transition into adhering to the true land use of the compound Josefina S de Asis mentions in her interview that the proposed socialized housing in this project serves as a short to medium-term design solution since the long-term is establishing a better location for BASECO residents through the crafting and implementation of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Comprehensive Development Plan of the Local Government Unit. The integration of science-based and indigenous knowledge (Mercado, 2016) may better produce successful strategies not only against the extreme threat of flooding in the area but also in implementing other solutions beyond design This is because indigenous systems are mostly direct solutions to the localized prevailing conditions (de Asis, 2020). The researchers of this study incorporated Mercado’s concept by addressing and ideally satisfying the user preferences unavailable to the existing socialized housing design of Dubai, BASECO. The proposal of this project is intended to cater to the varying lifestyle of each household by providing flexibility to its space and flood mitigation through design solutions

Stated in another interview conducted with Antonio L. Fernandez further suggests the significance of setting targets for the community. Targets are measurable goals for which people must understand why they aim for such things. A sense of responsibility should be cultivated among the residents (Fernandez, 2020). Ownership is essential in implementing successful strategies to develop the community into a suitable setting for people to inhabit The highest potential of this study is trailblazing the beginning of structures adapting to society and not the people settling with insufficient conditions present in their environment.