CHAPTER 5 PHILIPPINE EVICTION AND RESETTLEMENT LAW AND POLICY The institutional framework of housing administration in Metro Manila is established by a legal regime of constitutive instruments, legislation, regulation and administrative guidelines. These legal instruments are important evidence of the Philippines’ de jure compliance with international human rights standards in relation to eviction and resettlement. Generally, the framework offers strong protections for communities facing eviction and resettlement, which has been identified by UN-HABITAT as ‘one of the better examples of national legislation dealing with the discouragement of forced evictions’. 57 Despite these positive hallmarks, some particular elements of this protection regime need to be updated and enhanced to fully comply with international standards. These elements are identified and analysed below. 5.1 Summary of Key Instruments (a) Constitution Article 13 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides the foundation for laws relating to housing and shelter for the underprivileged. (b) Legislation i. Republic Act No. 7160, The Local Government Code of 1991: to provide autonomy to the territorial and political subdivisions of the Philippines. ii. Republic Act No. 7279, The Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) of 1992: to provide for a comprehensive and continuing urban development and housing programme and establish the mechanism for its implementation. iii. Republic Act No. 7835, The Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter and Financing Act (CISFA) of 1994: to provide a shelter and urban development financing programme. 57 UN-HABITAT, Housing Rights Legislation: Review of International and National Legal Instruments, 2002, pp. 46-47. 31