Palawan, Philippines – The national government has unveiled a housing project that would give Puerto Princesa 47 five-story buildings to help rid the city’s coastlines of informal settlers.
The project in Barangay Irawan, about 12 km from downtown Puerto Princesa, would bring the city government of Puerto Princesa closer to its goal of doing away with coastal informal settlements.
The buildings would provide 5,640 housing units under the auspices of the national government’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program (4PH).
Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron called the project a flagship program of the government, funded by the Social Housing Finance Corp (SHFC), an agency under the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD).
Local officials said the original plan was to build high-rise buildings, but this was scrapped due to apprehensions that the local electric distribution utility, Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco), would not be able to meet the demand for power, as high-rises would entail using power-consuming elevators.
The city government said there were at least 9,500 informal settler families in Puerto Princesa, and more than 7,000 of them were living along the city’s coastlines, coastal easements, and in mangrove areas.
Bayron said informal settlers, especially those living along the city’s coastlines, would get priority, in line with the local government’s campaign to free its coastal areas from pollution.
In 2019, the city government acquired a 22-hectare property for the relocation of informal settlers.
Bayron said the quality of the bay has been threatened by human activities, such as dumping of untreated wastewater, garbage, and even human and animal waste.
“Aminin natin ang totoo kung ano ang nag-cause ng pollution. Unang una ang indiscriminate na pagtatapon ng basura. Dahil sa mga tao (Let’s admit the truth about what has been causing pollution. It’s the indiscriminate dumping of garbage. It’s because of people),” Bayron said.
A 2020 research paper titled “Water Quality of Puerto Princesa Bay: Impacts of Informal Settlements along Coastal Areas,” authored by Rhea C. Garcellano and Loida Japson from Palawan State University’s College of Sciences, concluded that informal settlements significantly impacted the city’s water quality, particularly evident in increased levels of fecal coliform and alterations in the distribution of five phytoplankton genera.
Gerry Abad, a former barangay chairman and now village councilor of Mandaragat, noted that informal settlers have inhabited the city’s coastlines for years, predating his tenure as its village chief in the 1990s.
Abad lauded the proactive efforts to clean Puerto Princesa Bay.
Civil society organizations such as the Palawan Artist Collective said they would help the city government in cleaning and beautifying the coastal areas by adorning walls with murals to attract visitors and inspire and motivate people to do their share in conserving the city’s coastlines.
“As part of the art community, we are glad to use our expertise to help the city government in the Save the Puerto Princesa Bay project. Art is a vital tool in shaping our identity. Art is an effective means of communication,” said Jonathan Benitez, who led Palawan Artist Collective and part of the local artists’group in Puerto Princesa, who have been supporting the City Government’s Save the Bay.
