The public housing provided by the government is to cater to the population that was relocated from the danger areas (i.e. river banks, shorelines) and those who are illegally occupying or squatting inside land areas owned by private persons or businesses. However, these housing projects also radiate dysfunction and social problems outward which primarily affects the tenants and their families.

Here are a few housing-related problems and issues existing in the Philippines setting.

Housing location is far from the tenant’s work/job – this is an observed problem like in the situation of Iloilo City wherein the relocation site is located in Brgy. Lanit, Jaro. The area is already on the far side of Jaro District and given that the tenants there are working in the city, they will take a considerable amount of time to travel and also the fare in riding the tricycles and jeepneys would be expectedly high. This is commonly the case as the government could not easily find a suited location in the city and would resort to utilizing the available land in the outskirts.

Basic services in the housing location are not met – housing projects are expected to provide the basic needs of its beneficiaries such as water, electricity, kitchen, etc. in reality, this is not the case as the budget cost may not meet the intended design of the project.  

The housing demand far exceeds the housing supply – Housing demand is generally affected by several factors including housing prices, individuals’ income, expectations and choices and so on, as a means of its demographic and socio-psychological contexts. In the case of the beneficiaries, they are usually forced to take the housing unit as times two to that of the number of families. They eventually ended up with at least two families living under one housing unit. Overcrowding is the common scenario.

There is an existing housing backlog – this means that there are still needed housing units to be constructed in order to cater to the housings needs which by estimate in 2017 is around 6.3M units. A few of the government agencies are in the process of resolving this with the assistance and partnership with the private entities and corporations.

There a lack of open space or recreation area in the site – as a result of rushed or poorly planned housing projects, the place usually ends up with just enough area for the housing units. Given that there is overcrowding of occupants, there are still additional stress experienced by them such as noisy neighbors, damped up spaces, conflicts, etc. These situations affect them emotionally and psychologically.