TAMPEI Organized Site Development Workshop for RVHOA Members

ILOILO CITY (April 17, 2011) –A Site Development workshop on open space planning was organized by the Technical Assistance Movement for People and Environment, Inc. (TAMPEI) for the members of Riverview Homeowners’ Association (RVHOA) in San Isidro Relocation Site in Jaro, Iloilo City. The main reasons for organizing the aforementioned workshop were as follows:

Old Subdivision Plan of RVHOA

Proposed Subdivision Plan for RVHOA

• Recommendations based on the monitoring and assessment of external evaluators suggest to review and revise the site development plan which shows that the area allocation for the open space intended for the construction of their amenities, was greatly prioritized rather than the area for the Category A housing participants which is the lowest income group among the three (3) income groups which was categorized by the federation 
• Findings on land survey and evaluation by the federation’s technical assistants show the irregularity of lot sizes and shape as well as unleveled terrain which needs land filling. Land filling of the area would be an additional burden and expense for the housing participants considering their very limited loan for construction materials which only amounts to seventy thousand pesos (P70, 000. 00).
• Formulation and drafting of the plan only involved the first batch of participants which became a limiting factor in developing a more comprehensive and inclusive plan which is generally favorable and beneficial.
• The awarding of house units and actual transfer of the first batch of housing participants in CLIFF San Isidro Relocation Site raised concerns on the matters pertaining to the utilization of the open space and identification of amenities to be put up in the area.  

The workshop was divided into four (4) different parts namely:

Ø  Rationalization- considering the reasons stated above, the main goal for organizing the workshop is to make the housing participants and HOA members realize the need to revise the original subdivision plan and thus actively involve themselves to act on the proposed change. Community architects and interns facilitated the discussion and presentation of the original plan vis-à-vis the proposed open space location highlighting the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the two.

Ø  Visualization- to prompt RVHOA members to initially think about their priority facilities to be put up in the open space area given the size and the location, familiarization of the boundaries of the proposed site as well as mapping out of existing adjacent structures  are very important. With the assistance of the community architects and interns, boundaries of the proposed open space location were marked out and participants walked around the defined boundaries to have a clearer picture of the area.

Ø  Identification and Prioritization of Space Use or Facilities- to have a more diverse and comprehensive decision in terms of prioritizing facilities and consideration of its space use, participants were grouped based on various interest groups namely: men, women and youth. Each interest group were tasked to list down the facilities they want, rank it according to their priority and present it with the big group to discuss the reasons for choosing such amenities. After which, the ideas of the three (3) interest groups about their priority amenities were consolidated.

Ø  Planning- after the consolidation of the various group’s priority amenities, identification of the area in which to put up the identified priority facilities was done as part of the planning for the finalization of the site development plan for RVHOA’s open space. Participants used scaled grids and cut outs in illustrating their desired amenities and posted it on an enlarged map to show where they want to place them.

The following are insights which were shared by the housing participants during the workshop:

v  “Revising the subdivision plan of the RVHOA as a whole is timely and appropriate especially now that our members started to transfer here in the relocation site and occupy their new houses. We are continuously growing in terms of our population in CLIFF San Isidro Site which I think should entail better planning of our open spaces and its usage”, says Joel Sicat, RHOA President during the expectation setting and impression sharing part of the workshop.

v  Basketball Court, botanical garden, community mini-market, Material Recovery Facility (MRF), chapel, community hall and playground are among the amenities or facilities which were mainly considered by the participants. These are the things which the participants deemed necessary and are reflective of men, women and youth’s priority. The basketball court according to them can serve as a multi-purpose area for the community’s various activities. The botanical garden and the mini-market were primarily suggested by the group of women participants who consider it essential to have a source of herbal medicine and accessible market. While the youth particularly those age ranges from three (3) to eight (8) years old expressed their suggestion of a playground to be included as one of the amenities in the open space through their drawings.

The aforementioned activity is part of the organizational development workshop being conducted and organized for Philippine Alliance’s community members and partners. Such undertaking shows that in decision making, despite the fact that the alliance adheres toward ensuring that the community is in charge of determining the solutions for their problems as well as in recognizing the things which are beneficial for them, final decisions are always made in consideration with the recommendations of the federation’s community architects and engineers who have the technical skills, formal training and substantial background on the subject matter. This is a concrete manifestation of the importance of technical support institution like TAMPEI particularly in the slum upgrading initiatives of an urban poor federation like HPFPI.