(a) 1995 Proceedings In its report to the Committee,7 the Government devoted some attention to various advancements in legislation and policy on housing and housing rights. It provided an extensive and historical overview of the architecture of government housing administration in the Philippines and a discussion of some of the legislative and policy instruments that regulate the activities of government in the provision of housingrelated services. Some additional points of commentary have been extracted here for interest. The Government noted that the housing shortage in the Philippines is ‘further aggravated by the existence of professional squatters and squatting syndicates who continuously prey on and victimize the urban poor families by collecting fees, selling land rights and sowing disinformation.’8 Reinforcing this notion, it was noted further by the Government that ‘[o]ne must likewise distinguish between the "legitimate squatters", those urban poor in need of government assistance for housing, and "professional squatters" or those who could afford housing but choose the squatting option to avoid paying for housing or, worse, for economic gain.’9 This distinction continues to pervade Philippine urban development policy and remains a contentious feature of the Government’s administration of housing services. The Government also took the opportunity to declare its preference for on-site redevelopment of informal settlements, as a matter of policy, noting that the: ‘declared policy of Government recognizes that: (a) Slum improvement or upgrading of sites and services is an acceptable approach and the primary strategy for dealing with squatter areas; [and] [...] (c) Relocation and resettlement are subordinated to on-site development and should, therefore, be undertaken only to complement improvement of the sites or to clear areas dangerous to public safety or designated for infrastructure development.” In its concluding observations, 10 the Committee addressed a number of matters concerning the administration of housing and the practice of forced evictions in the Philippines: i. While welcoming the commitment made by the Philippines to increase public expenditure in the housing sector, the Committee reminded the Government that it ‘should make every effort to ensure that a fair share of the resources available is utilized for making low-cost housing available to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors of society’. It was also noted that ‘existing expenditures appear to benefit higher income groups at the expense of the poor’ and that ‘consideration be given to increasing the proportion of 7 See: United Nations Economic and Social Council, Initial Reports Submitted by States Parties to the Covenant Concerning Rights Covered by Articles 10 to 12, in Accordance with the Second Stage of the Programme Established by the Economic and Social Council in its Resolution 1988 (LX): Philippines, 1994. 8 Ibid, para. 343. 9 Ibid, para. 369. 10 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Consideration of Reports Submitted under Articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant (Philippines): Concluding Observations, 1995. 22  Human Rights in the Rubble