Sweep under the rug

 The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is doing yet another Oops I Did It Again of the singer Britney Spears. Slammed for hiding the urban poor in a resort during the visit of Pope Francis last year, the DSWD is once more hiding the poor from view in the coming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit from Nov. 15 to 20.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) says that a plan by DSWD to give P4,000 as apartment rent money to each homeless family roaming the streets of Metro Manila is akin to providing a temporary solution to a permanent problem. The housing backlog runs to 5.5 million units, according to government data.

Government’s effort to “hide” the homeless of Metro Manila during the APEC Leaders’ Meeting runs parallel with the hasty beautification campaign that saw hordes upon hordes of personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) going into planting binge along Roxas Boulevard and whitewashing the underbellies of bridges like the one in front of the World Trade Center in Buendia.

If the stock of elastomeric paint in terracotta color has run out, blame this APEC beautification campaign because the same has been used to doll up the street pavements and concrete fences to make them look like bricks or clay tiles.

This is not to nitpick, however, on the planting and painting that are going on as of this posting. This is to emphasize that government, at least the next administration coming in from the 2016 elections, must fully support mass or socialized housing schemes in communities outside of Metro Manila that can also support industries, commerce and the booming BPO (business process outsourcing) sector.

One such development that comes to my mind is the Lancaster New City project of Pro-Friends in Cavite (Kawit, Imus and General Trias). Covering all of 1,600 hectares, it provides housing units for every budget and is envisioned to host a techno park for BPOs and industries.

Now, this is a permanent solution in that you allow people access to affordable housing in communities or townships that also host their jobs. In contrast, what the DSWD is doing is like sweeping dirt under the rug, except that people are not dirt.

Image by: www.mb.com.ph