MANILA, Philippines – Many houses in Doña Imelda are sprawling high. Informal settlements grew along the left bank of the San Juan River. To protect themselves from frequent floods, people built high levels in their houses.
Parts of the pile of paper that separates their houses from the river are broken. Ricky Calinaya, 52, said that for 16 years, residents living near the river were fighting for permanent housing.
Years of preparation led to recent victories. In 2025, the holding company Gregorio Araneta Incorporated donated part of the land they live on to Quezon City government. Now they want the city government to pass an ordinance that would reclassify the property from open space to residential use.
They have faced demolition threats before: time Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 and the following years, when the late environmentalist Gina Lopez took the lead Pasig River Rehabilitation Commissionwhich eliminated informal settlements together rivers.
Calinaya is the president of ULAP (Unayak Lakas of Affected Families), an urban poor group that advocates for better housing in Doña Imelda, Quezon City.
“We, on the other hand, dream of a better place to live,” Calinaya told Rappler. “We dream of peace, harmony.” (We dream of finding a better home. We desire peace and quiet.)
Calinaya and the residents work with the non-governmental organizations of the Partnership of Community Organizers, PEOPLE Philippinesand UP Task Force Arki – a student organization based at the University of the Philippines-Diliman – to design the house they want.
Calinaya said he moved here in 1994. Corrugated sheets and plywood plaster worn the walls of the vertical houses. Freshly laundered clothes are arranged to dry from the second floor overhang. Garbage had piled up between piles of paper and houses on stilts, floating on idle water or strewn across narrow paths.
Their residence is near Aurora Boulevard, and a little further, G. Araneta Avenue and Quezon Avenue. They have been given the chance to be transferred to Bulacan, said Calinaya. But their location in the most populous and largest city in the Philippines remains the most accessible and convenient for them. Calinaya said the delivery of welfare programs in Quezon City has improved since these programs were digitized.
“So we’ll just fight it as long as we can fight it,” said Calinaya. (That’s why we fight to stay here as long as we can.)
Arlene Lusterio, architect and executive director of TAO Pilipinas, said they have been working with the community of Doña Imelda since 2011.
Their work is mainly aimed at developing an alternative plan or “people’s plan” through a process that involves residents.
“Typically, consultations produce several plans and design alternatives,” Lusterio told Rappler via email. “Then the community chooses the best option and we move forward to finalize the design.”
Lusterio described the process as an “ongoing conversation” and that the design could change while incorporating city government input once it is submitted.
While the non-governmental organizations are helping residents design the homes they want, Calinaya said they are looking to partner with the Quezon City government or the Department of Housing and Urban Development for funding.
According to Calinaya, residents want a loft-type housing project that can accommodate growing families. For their community needs, an average of 616 families are looking for a small church, a daycare center, a multipurpose hall and a basketball court.
The government has classified the levels of economic and social housing through National Law No. 220. The law defines economic and social housing as “a type of housing project offered to low-income families with low interest rates and long payment periods.”
The basic needs in listed settlements are services and infrastructure that create a good environment: water, movement and circulation, storm water drainage, solid and liquid waste disposal, parks or playgrounds, and power.
The idea is that personal and community growth should be enabled even for the urban poor – a sector on the fringes of big cities, burdened by high commodity prices and low wages.
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Urban settlement projects for informal settlers along the waterways are one way to deal with the issues of Pasig River pollution and urbanization.
Earlier this year, Quezon City and DHSUD he agreed to carry out two housing projects for at least 2,900 people living along waterways or in dangerous areas.
But many residents in the riverside settlement in Doña Imelda want to stay. The offers to move are not entirely satisfactory to some residents who have put down roots in the country’s largest city.
We, on the other hand, dream of a better place to live. We dream of peace, order.
ricky calinya
In order to avoid frequent floods, residents are accustomed to building their houses higher. One of their requests for the design is an open ground floor so that no area is subject to flooding whenever there is heavy rain.
It will be a long time before their dream of housing becomes a reality, and design and consultation are still ongoing with residents waiting for the local government order. But the residents have remained patient. It is a process they are willing to go through to achieve the best results.
“If you’re going to build a permanent home, make it right,” said Calinaya. “That will also cost the government. If you use it, it will take a long time.”
(If you are building a permanent home, do it properly. That will be funded by the government. If you are spending money, it is better to build something that will last.) – Rappler.com
