Informal Settlements
Informal Settlements
Informal Settlements
Areas where groups of housing units have been constructed on land that the occupants have no legal
claim to, or they are occupying the area illegally. Those occupants are called informal settlers.
About 4.5 million people are homeless or living in informal settlements in the Philippines, with its
population of about 106 million, according to the statistics office.
About 3 million of them are in Metro Manila, possibly the most in any urban area in the world, charities
estimate.
Bagong Silangan is infamous as a squatters' area after street dwellers from central Manila were relocated
here from the 1970s onwards. The name of the barangay came from bagong silang, the Tagalog word for
"newborn". The namesake of the barangay was meant to signify "a new hope" for most of its residents
who were originally relocated from slum areas in Tondo in Manila, Commonwealth in Quezon City,
and San Juan.
Environmental Impact
Last September 2009, tropical storm ondoy hit manila, wherein it dumped a one month’s rainfall in just
24 hrs, causing the Marikina river and the manggahan floodway burst into their riverbanks. The informal
setllers are the one to blame due to their illegally built houses.