/** dev.worldbank: 191.2 **/
** Written 12:53 PM Feb 16, 1995 by gn:ecologist in cdp:dev.worldbank **
/** dev.worldbank: 191.4 **/
** Written 12:57 PM Feb 16, 1995 by gn:ecologist in cdp:dev.worldbank **
As part of its Resettlement and Development Review, the Bank commissioned a report from Philippines NGO Urban Poor Associates which severely criticized the Bank's operations in Metro Manila and the adjacent provinces of Rizal and Bulacan.
The report found that 36,767 people are currently threatened with eviction in this area. "No clear resettlement or resources for compensation are being set in place"S for the 19,680 persons who will be displaced in the Metro Manila area within the next year. Of 745 people evicted between 1989-1992 by the Bank's water supply and road network projects in Bulacan and Metro Manila "[a] majority of the oustees had no compensation."
The Philippine report found that people are often not informed or consulted about their impending eviction. The $363 million Angat Water Supply Optimization Project (AWSOP), co-funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, will evict over 19,000 people. Yet affected people only learned of their imminent eviction when they saw surveyors in their community. The report records that:
"During the survey [for AWSOPUs Aqueduct 4] in June 1993, the residents asked the surveyor what the survey was about, the answer they got was "We are simply doing a listing." Also, recently, groups of foreigners with Filipinos had visited the neighbourhood taking photographs of the site. When approached by the leaders, who inquired on the purpose for the photographs the visitors responded with vague answers and hurriedly moved on leaving the residents bewildered.
According to one resident, Mrs Lolita Darantinan: "We were simply told to leave the area. After one month, the people of the DMCI [the contractor] returned and bulldozed our dwellings. For a month, we had to spend time scrounging around for materials because most of the materials of our house were destroyed during the demolition. My children and husband had to spend many days away from work to rebuild our house."
Another resident, Mrs Nelly Horbana, recounts: "We were only given one week after the notification reached us that we were going to be evicted. Then the bulldozer came. Unfortunately, I was by myself as my husband was out for work. I was pregnant at the time and I almost had a miscarriage. My child and I had to do the dismantling of our house."
The review found that reactions by those facing eviction vary from resistance to passive acceptance. Successful resettlement occurred where grassroots organizations and NGOs took initiatives, not because of the actions of officials.
The Fifth Highways Project Component, Parallel Road of the Metro Manila Urban Transport Project was stopped due to displacement problems. In an interesting comment on Bank accountability and management, the review records that this road was not mentioned in the Bank's Staff Appraisal Report because it is a "rider project," created as an afterthought with surplus funds from another project.
Urban Poor Associates made a number of specific suggestions, but also drew attention to some general concerns. They found, for example that "Implementing agencies treat planning and implementation of development projects as purely technical and financial processes."
They concluded that the World Bank cannot just alter its attitude to evictions, but must change its whole outlook: "The Bank needs fresh and creative lending approaches to address the pressing social development needs of developing countries with a massive foreign debt."
Involuntary Resettlement In World Bank Projects, Recent Experiences In Metro Manila and Adjacent Provinces of Rizal and Bulacan, Urban Poor Associates, Quezon City, The Philippines, September 1993.