8.1 Informal Settlements Four informal settlements were visited inside Metro Manila as case studies for the review, two in Quezon City and two in the City of Manila. Each community visited had noticeably different experiences in terms of both their degree of organisation and their interaction with government. These experiences are detailed in the sections below. San Roque C OMM UNITY OR G. San Roque Community Council – North Triangle Alliance (SRCC-NTA) MUNIC IPALIT Y Quezon City EST ABLISHE D 1962 (approx.) P OP ULAT ION 5,000 households The San Roque settlement is located in the North Triangle section of central Quezon City, on a substantial portion of government-owned land. The settlement is not classed as a ‘danger area’ under section 28 of the UDHA and as such is not subject to the Government’s current resettlement programme. Since its inception in the 1960s with approximately 10 families undertaking subsistence farming, the community ballooned to approximately 5,000 families by 1992. Prior to 1992 many settlers had established an informal system of land tenure, transferring rights to lots in the area for PHP1,000. The settlement is represented by the SRCC-NTA, which is an umbrella alliance of smaller, local community organisations that has been functioning for over 20 years. The SRCC-NTA is noticeably well organised and active in advocating with government and policy-makers through a variety of avenues. Leaders reported that the land on which they reside was initially identified for the construction of the National Security and Intelligence Agency, but has been since transferred to the National Housing Authority. An inter-agency committee was established in 1993, by virtue of Executive Order 58 of that year, chaired and administered by the National Housing Authority to convert the property into a commercial area through private sector participation. The SRCC-NTA leaders reported that during the initial planning stages of the project there were no attempts 69