Urban Slum Areas

[Skyblade]

Found out about it thanks to Eric.

Must......help......this......organization.....but.......have......too......many.......to.......support....

[Thunderflip]

Our family supports this organization.Last year, the GK in Germany gathered in a hall in Frankfurt witgh thousands of visitors for the launching of the first ten German Villages in the country.There,they explained the gola and purpose of the foundation.

[ryanr]

Yeah...they had a GK forum in Indonesia last Friday. the videos, sharing and stories really touched my heart. That is why im pretty dedicated to this organization.

there's a GK in indonesia? how come? isn't indonesia at a desperate state as the philippines? how come they would donate when they too are in crisis?

[ryanr]

No. It was a GK forum for Filipinos and other foreigners in Indonesia to help out in the Philippines. There is an "Indonesian Village" in Tondo, but they people involved are filipinos living in Indonesia (Including my family!). Some Indonesians do contribute. But yes, you are right that Indonesia needs a similar organization to help out Indonesians.

the idea of sustainable development being employed by GK should be emulated by our government.

kasi naman yung mga politician natin, puro papogi lang.....they feed fish but don't teach how to fish

[mhe-ann]

Originally Posted by ronnaveth

kasi naman yung mga politician natin, puro papogi lang.....they feed fish but don't teach how to fish

kaya nga mga politician eh... hehehe. peace po.

[Solblanc]

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
a thrilling and compelling masterpiece by Stephen Sondheim about
friendship, compromise and the high price of success.

The story begins in the present and rolls back in time, tracing the lives of wealthy, jaded composer Franklin Shepard and his two estranged friends through each milestone of their personal and professional lives. The show ends with a touch of rueful irony, as the three best friends at the start of their careers face a bright future: young, talented and enthusiastic about the worlds waiting to be conquered.

A poignant and emotional contemporary story about the importance of staying true to one’s ideals, Merrily We Roll Along is a show that crackles with wit, humor and intensity, touching the heart of anyone who has ever dared to pursue a dream. The message is simple: it’s our time…breathe it in…worlds to change and worlds to win. Whether we look back, look around or look beyond, there is this to believe in – We can change the world.

----------------

Proceeds of this show will go to the Gawad Kalinga Program, an organization backed by the whole Ateneo community with the aim of not just providing housing for the poor but more importantly of building the whole nation through the development of socio-spiritual homes and communities. Together, we can dream of changing the world.

Show dates are scheduled on December 10, 11, 17 & 18 (8pm) and December 12 & 19 (3pm) at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Buendia corner Ayala Avenue, Makati City. For tickets and other inquiries, contact JB Pascual at 0916 5565404 or log on to www.bluerep.org or me 09162142282.

[ryanr]

Gawad Kalinga leads typhoon rehab effort
By Perseus Echeminada
The Philippine Star 12/12/2004

The tragedy that befell typhoon-stricken provinces has rekindled the bayanihan spirit among Filipinos.

At the helm is Gawad Kalinga, which is conducting the rehabilitation effort in typhoon affected areas in Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Aurora and Mindoro provinces in coordination with the Department of Social Services and Development (DSWD) and other national government agencies.

Gawad Kalinga, or GK, which was tasked by President Arroyo to lead the rehabilitation effort has started a massive fundraising campaign to help victims of the calamities rebuild their shattered lives the Kalinga way.

"We have received pledges for typhoon victims from all over the world," Tony Meloto, Gawad Kalinga director, said.

GK, ABS-CBN, The Star, Ateneo de Manila University, Couples for Christ make up the core group that is now working out an action plan that will rebuild devastated communities and restore homes, dreams and dignity of the victims of calamity.

GK, a movement founded by Couples for Christ volunteers five years ago, has been building low cost houses for poor communities in various parts of the county.

The group is a growing multisectoral partnership with a vision to address the slum problem in the metropolis. Most of the benefactors of the GK are big companies and donors from all over the world, particularly in the US.

The group recently launched "GK777" which stands for building 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in the Philippines in the next seven years.

"GK is not a work of charity, but a mission of nation building and crusade for all Filipinos. It involves every sector of society," Meloto said.

Beneficiaries of GK homes help in the construction of other homes as part of the so-called sweat collateral, which they contribute to the mission.

Apart from low cost housing, GK also undertakes livelihood skills and assistance programs and medical missions

Terence Grana, GK coordinator in Quezon City, said that with the rise of GK homes, slums are disappearing with rich and poor, Muslims and Christians government and the private sector building communities together.

"The poor are re-discovering their dreams, and are being empowered to build a better future for their families," Grana said.

[bustero]

This is to start a discussion on one of my missions to be able to give affordable housing in the city. As everyone here knows a big contributor to urban blight is informal settlement, which basically is a rejection of the 2 -3 hour commute from where they can afford to buy housing. Considering 4 million official squatters are in the city plus how we fix this problem is important, lets see what going on in this field. You never know when the next smokey mountain condo (an architecturally internationally recognized project!) may rise beside you.

This is not only of course to discuss what's going on in Low Cost Housing within MetroManila but to highlight the latest projects that serve this market.So let's see where the good deals are, and the good projects are within the lowcost price range. Also comments on the architecture/design, engineering safety etc will be welcome.

As the BIR has recently announced that VAT exemption is now raised to Php 1,500,000 values, lets use this round number as the defining guideline as to what projects should be discussed here.

Special points for Php750,000 flats which are officially low cost and Php 225,000 (if you canfind any) which are socialized.

Post away.

Socialized housing in Mandaluyong City

Presidential Response : Under the government’s housing project in the
101-hectare Welfareville property in Mandaluyong City, the 18,000 families of informal settlers at the Neptali A. Gonzales Integrated Day Care Center in the Welfareville Compound would have a chance to own a house under a 50-year, renewable lease contract.
The settlers would be given the necessary title, which they could use as collateral to borrow capital to start livelihood projects. The monthly rental of a housing unit would not exceed P1,500, and upon the expiration of the lease contract, the settlers could acquire the property through lease purchase. The houses would be awarded to the informal settlers on a 50-year lease contract pending the revision of Republic Act 5260, which authorizes the sale of the property through public bidding. I wanted to make sure that poor settlers would have equal access to the project, that’s why I rejected the proposal to conduct a public bidding for the housing project.
– PGMA, PND News Release, 20 January 2005

[sandrin]

The government has started to move the squatters out, they only need to add small scale industries near the relocation site to employ them.....

The only low cost housing I know is the Bliss project from years back......Is there something new...

[Edmundtanso]

yeah the gov't need to work on building more low cost housing flats, hopefully we will see some built in the comming year

[renell]

I remember Atienza introduced some 5-story low-rise cheap affordable gov't building housing somewhere in Manila (duh)

Relocating squatters to far off places won't help without building industries and employment opportunities, how about building low-cost commieblocks near industries? They should give it again another shot, like the ones beside the rail road tracks along Osmena highway.

However the problem is that people want to live without hearing what's happening in the next door. So step in more budget for erecting these buildings.

Did that make sense?

[bagel]

Another component to what Renell proposed is the development of local industry in the provinces. Many government resettlement programs end up failing because as Bustero suggested, there is a rejection of the long commute, but even before the problem of the commute, there is also the problem of employment in the provinces. Government resettles informal settlers only for the informal settlers to find what forced them to head to Manila in the first place: that there are few, if any, employment opportunities in the provinces.

[renell]

Indeed. Rural to urban migration cannot be stopped, what the government can do is develop cities, or encourage such, so that this migration will be evenly spread out, not just in MM.

[thomasian]

The Residencias de Manila, low-cost low to mid-rise condominiums in Paco Manila.
I think it's a project of Atienza and PGMA.

[ewh1]

err.. i don't think so http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southea.../FJ02Ae01.html theres a tiny pic of Residencias de Manila. Looks Posh to me. and i was doing some searching. and Atienza gave a Unit of that place to Manny Paquiao..so i don't think its Low Cost

[bagel]

That was a really interesting article btw. Thanks.

[thomasian]

But it does look uhmmm... "cheap" (read: inexpensive) when you look at it up-close.

[ewh1]

Haha well my bad then.. its confusing when the article says that this is suppost to be another "Greenhills" sort of development.

Boybaha: yea. it is a interesting article.. very depressing one though