Poverty and Squatter Syndicates Squatting - 4474 Words

I. Introduction According to studies, the population in the Philippines is growing at the rate of 1.95% per year. Much of this growth is attributed to the urban societies. The rising rate of population in urban areas is not only caused by the increasing birth over death proportion, but also by rapid rural to urban migration as well. Relocating to urban areas has become an alleged solution to improve the quality of life and provide better income for the household. This stimulated a substantial flow of migrants to cities. However, their migration has only caused them another dilemma – adequate housing. In most cases, these migrants are financially incapable, leaving them with the option of illegally residing in an unoccupied land. They go†¦show more content†¦Squatting syndicates took over public or private lands identified in cahoots with employees of the local assessors offices, Bureau of Land Management, Land Registration Authority and local Register of Deeds targeti ng tax delinquent owners or mall subdivisions which had no security of its own. In the case of public or government lands, very often syndicates were in partnership with national agency staff who partook of the profits from the informal housing development. The squatting syndicates subdivided these into small parcels; built makeshift housing units; and provided water and power connections illegally. Other syndicates used fake titles. Contacts within the Register of Deeds replaced the original titles illegally. When this was discovered by the real owners, the syndicates contested this in court. Many owners were left with no alternative but to settle for a compromise where the owners incurred tremendous expense to buy back properties they already owned. In established squatter colonies, syndicates convinced squatters that they held titles to the land and charged exorbitant fees to legitimize the squatters’ occupation of the land. Syndicates issued Certificates of Occupancy and Deeds of Donation to squatter families. Rights to some of the parceled lots were sold for as high as P50,000 ($1,000) and house rent ranged from P500–P1,500Show MoreRelatedEstimating Informal settlers in the Philippines2360 Words   |  10 Pagesthe multi-faceted approach provided in RA 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 or UDHA in identifying â€Å"homeless and underprivileged citizens† or more broadly, informal settlers. UDHA does not use the term â€Å"informal settlers† nor â€Å"squatters† but adopts the term â€Å"homeless and underprivileged citizens †2 . At the same time, the law mandates LGUs to undertake a Registration3 of Socialized Housing Beneficiaries, subject to eligibility criteria4. Special considerations are also provided