Live in the Philippines

Live in the Philippines helps expats with visas, moving and other services regarding the Philippines.

How much do squatters earn?

Buy/Rent Property, Philippine Culture / by

Do you know what a squatter is?  Some of you might not, although it is likely that most of you do know.  The reason why some may not know what a squatter is is because there really are not any (or at least many) squatters in the USA or other more developed countries.

For those who are unsure, a squatter is somebody who takes up residence on land that he does not own.  So, for example, say you own a piece of land, and one day you go to check out your land and somebody has built a house on it and is living there.  Believe it or not, it is very common in the Philippines.

Recently, I saw a college debate here in the Philippines, and the question that was being debated by the two teams was this:

Should the Philippine Government continue to pay public funds to squatters?

Yes, you read that right, and yes, it is happening.  Squatters, who are basically stealing land from others who own it, are being paid by the Philippine Government.  The way I look at it, these people are criminals who are being paid for committing their crimes.  Sounds kind of crazy, but it’s really true.

Although this is happening all over the country, there is one case that has been in the news recently.  An area in Quezon City, part of Metro Manila, has an area where hundreds, perhaps thousands of squatters have taken up residence over the years.  These squatters build houses – some of them fairly nice houses made from hollow blocks, other houses are really shanties made out of whatever materials can be scrounged up.  Some of these squatters have been living on this land for a number of years.  The land is right n the midst of a big city.

Recently, some investors have put forward plans to build commercial buildings – offices, retail space and such – on that piece of land.  It’s a desirable location, one that will probably do quite well with such commercial spaces.  All of the permits have been gotten, the construction is ready to go.  Only problem is that the area is full of squatters who are living on the land, and thus, construction cannot proceed.

The City issued an order to the people to leave the area.  The government even found a new place where the squatters could relocate.  In fact, the squatters would be given the land in the new area for free.  They would have the title to the land, and thus become land owners.  In addition, the squatters would be moved at government expense.  Each squatter would also be given P10,000 to cover any hardship or other costs involved.  Since the government was paying all costs, the P10,000 was really just extra money that the squatters could save, spend on whatever they want, or maybe start getting an education for their kids.

Let me reiterate, this is a real situation that is ongoing.

Guess what.  While some of the squatters left and went to the new area, availing of the government benefits offered, a large number of them refused to leave!  They wanted more.  Many demanded government jobs in addition to the other benefits.   So, basically, it comes down to a group of people who are breaking the law by living on land that somebody else owns.   They are offered money, land of their own and other benefits if they will just stop breaking the law.  Many have refused, though.  To me, I feel like it is a very generous offer that has been given to the squatters, and I can’t imagine why they would not accept it.

But, this kind of situation is common in the Philippines.  I understand that these are poor people, but the person who owns the land has a right to do what he wants with his property.  The squatters, in my opinion, should be thankful for the years of free living they got to do on the land.

The debate was interesting to watch, and it brought issues to my mind that I had not thought about before.  I must say, though, it did not change my mind a bit.  I was on the side of the land owners, and I still am.  I also don’t think that the government should offer too much to people who are basically law-breakers.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Looks like they are pretty well settled in there a Bob. Squatters in a lot of places in the USA..live where ever they can find a place to hang it for a day..week..or what ever..Some under bridges..sleep in parks in the day time..back alleys..dumpster…..by rail road tracks…Under a tree along side the high way..what ever is available at the moment. I ever read that some were taking up house keeping in some places in the country in some of these vacant houses due to the down fall we have had here the last few days. But I am sure the squatters there have it better together than the ones here do…by the looks of the photos they built some pretty nice shacks there…never seen that here…..any way…fun read……

    • Hi Dan – I guess I kind of disagree, I don’t think there are squatters in the USA. What you are describing are homeless. Transients. Squatters are not transient, they have houses, they just don’t own the land where the house is! Squatters are not people who live on the street, under the bridge or next to the railroad tracks, rather people who find a clear piece of land, and regardless of ownership of the land, they move there.

  2. Oh! For got to mention….Do not know how much them there squatters make there..but some of the squatters here with the right kind of BS…make more in a day than a worker working a hard 8-5 job at $10.00 per hour….But I think the Fillipino could out jive and BS the ones here….

  3. I totally agree with you Bob.They cant just blame the government for poverty all the time.In Cavite, I’ve seen squatters with free water,electricity,and cable tv connections! wow!

  4. Bob;
    The same government paying to move them out, also allowed water and electric lines to be provided to those same squatters. The owners of the land did not preform due diligence in the protection of their land, and were the cause of their own problem, and lastly there are those squatters who want something for nothing. Land owners, squarters, and the government are all to blame.

  5. Well light a match and torch the place I say, seems to be the only way to make them leave.

    You know people like them disgust me just like the family I saw on TV with more than a dozen kids and then blaming the government that they don’t have enough, are they retarded who told them to have that many kids, what LUNATICS!

      • Torch them !!!

        Well that seems like a typical reply from someone that idolizes and thinks more of animals than they do mankind ! shame on you these people have children that did not ask to be brought into this world !

        Ok you go light the match and stand there and watch these people burn ! then come back here with a smile on your face and tell everyone how good you feel !

        Bob ! this is a difficult call , firstly I think you have to consider the circumstances in each situation , in some cases people live quite legitimately on land , however if this land is in a desirable location , money paid to government officials in the form of ‘back handers’ can easily be used to forcibly remove them from their homes

        So now where do they go ? to the nearest most convenient place available to them , would you care if you had just lost your home and had children and elderly to shelter , I think not ! this happens regularly in South east Asia and I have witnessed it first hand .

        I think we as foreigners have to remember that Most of Asia is still third world and some of the things we see here may not be appealing to all , if it disturbs you that much Go home but for God’s sake don’t wish harm on these people they have a hard enough life as it is ! .

        • Tom you need to get your facts stright, GO HOME????? To where???? I am Filipino, not a foreigner!

          These people were offered LAND with a title and MONEY to leave land they did not own. The DECENT ones left and moved to the new LAND WITH TITLE and took the money to start a new life wit something.

          The others are staying behind on land they do not own to get MORE!

          What you do not understand is MANY OF THESE PEOPLE are professional squatters many of them have shanty houses IN MANY different squat sites, and they make money off the payments and the new lots.

          these new lots of titles they SELL for PROFIT!

          And many of the professional squatters are the ones who organize people to hold out for more!

          So Tom, I do know more about this than you do and you MAY GO HOME!

            • bob,

              I agree with cheryll, many of these so called “squatters” are professional squatters, what they do is very simple. they will squat a piece of land build their house and when the government awarded them a new house and money, they will take it and have their new house rented to someone else, after a few days they will go back again to that same place or find a new place to squat again.

              their house maybe shanty, but if you look inside, you’ll find expensive LCD tv’s computer, laptop, ipod etc..etc. some of them even own a car or a motorcycle.

              of course there are the *real* poor and most of them rather choose to be relocated and never comeback.

              how much they make? personally, i know a person who owns 3 houses awarded to him by the government, and he makes 6~8k (rent) from each house.

              • Hi dans – I agree. I think there are a large number of “professional squatters” as you say. Yes, there are a lot of truly poor as well, but these professionals are making the situation worse for the real poor, the land owners and society in general.

              • just to add –

                I don’t agree with cheryl’s torching them i am only agreeing about the “professional squatters”, there are many ways to evict them but torching them isn’t one of them.

          • Cheryll Ann you need to read what I said correctly ! I said ” We as foreigners ” if you are Filipino then this obviously does not concern you , what worries me more is that as a Filipino you would even consider torching your own people !

            • What worries me even more is that a person defends SQUATTERS!

              I get it Combodia kicked you out of your beach hut/bar whatever why don’t you take it up with them instead of coming to the Philippines and and trying to “help” people stay on land they don’t even own.

              You are better off helping those 62 other people in Combodia get their beach huts back.

              • I did help many of them to build new homes , fed their children , gave them work so that they could send the kids to school , it’s called Compassion ! .

        • I don’t think it’s a difficult call at all. The squatters are living on land they do not own, they have been offered other land. They should take what has been offered or go elsewhere.

          • Aside from the ‘professional squatters’ why should they just take what has been offered ? most likely it will be a shitty piece of land in an area where there are no facilities or utilities miles from nowhere !

            As I said individual cases need to be considered here , Do you think they all came out of nowhere on one bright sunny morning ! people will have migrated to these places over a long period of time for different reasons , and where people are gathered more will come .

            Maybe some of these people are victims of natural disasters which are common here , floods , typhoons etc , I think until you know the real reasons behind each person or family then you should not judge ! .

            Is there no compassion left in this world ? .

            • I agree with you, Tom. The family of the wife(Sa Ning) of one of my brothers-in-law lived in a squatter village, until an Ayala project pushed them out. They live & tend one of my wife’s properties, now. As I was unfamiliar with and curious about squatters, I asked Sa Ning a lot of questions. She told me that her grandparents & parents had owned properties in Davao, until pushed off their land by a developer in the late 1960s.

              Yes, as Cheryll Ann points out, there are also “professional squatters”, those who seem to have a finger in every pie, but I would think that they’d be the exceptions to the majority.

              With the tremendous size of the population in The RP, I can not see a resolution to these issues, unless the government restricts the size/amount of land ownership and re-distributes land that is freed-up to the squatters.

              I recall that England had a “squatter’s rights” law – of some description – that allowed people to inhabit any building that sat vacant for more than a year. While it was far from a perfect solution, it did seem to be a more compassionate response than seen in most countries.

              There used to be a part of the Agrarian Reform Act of The RP that dealt with rights of ownership & possession accorded to squatters, but it may no longer exist and it has been too long since I read it for me to try to regurgitate it’s essence.

              I also agree that it is sad to know that there are people in this world who would actually suggest/support “torching” a squatter village. Disgusting!

              • Hi Mike – the Government restricted the size of land that an individual can own back in the late 80’s. Not sure if you are aware. It is part of the Agrarian Reform Act.

              • Yes, however, development corp.s seem to be immune to this. I don’t need to point out to you the large tracts of land that Ayala Corp. holds.

        • Well Tom, I have a question for you or two for you. Do you live here in the Philippines? Are you married to a Filinipo and if so does your family own land?

          If you answer YES to all the question above then offer your land to the squatters and let them do with it has they want.

          Yes you answer NO to the questions above, then what would you do if I moved on your land and started to builda house in your backyard. Would you let me do it. This is land that you paid for or are paying for. Your house and family live there and now i’m living in your backyard and not paying for anything. I’m using your water and and thing that I can get my hands on. So what am I now, a squatter that you will help, or someone that is breaking the law.

          You tell me.

    • Cheryll Ann
      Wow I wasn’t expecting that type of comment. Someone didn’t have their fiber today.lol

  6. It seems to me this is a big issue here ,there are millions of squatters here ,why maybe because of lack of education,jobs ,high cost of land and no means to get ahead.Yes many of them have jobs also but its still barely enough to feed their families.Many are lucky to earn 150 pesos a day ,whats that buy ?Well maybe some rice ,a can of sardines and some bread not much left if you have a family.These people arent as lucky as U.S. families and other places who get everything handed to them,like almost free rent ,food cards,free medical etc.I know many older people here in the Phills that have worked all their lives and only can draw 1000 pesos a month retirement .In my own opinion it all starts with family planning,education and jobs for these people and alittle more help from their government.

    • Hi maynard – You are correct too. The people are poor and don’t have the means to pick themselves up. Seems that they are being offered an opportunity, though, to move to a new area, have the land that they live on, a little extra money, etc.

      • Great Bob i hope they take the offer and use the money wisely even ifs its only 10000 p. Maybe some can salvage what they have and try to make a new house.Its better than having no land to go to.

      • Bob

        Wish i could get some free land there and build a house. I would just give them an ultamatum to take the offer and move and if you don’t physically remove the people and bulldoze the houses down like they do in israel moving people out of settlements there. Good topic Bob.

    • they were offered land and money and they said that wasn’t enough. Tell them to move by the end of the month and then a bulldozer is coming through. Arrest anyone that resist. Maybe need to build a temporary jail on the new land. It’s really an unpopular subject here, but they are stealing rent, electricity, water, etc…

  8. Bob,
    I just thought I’d toss my 2 cents in the discussion. In the past I had heard (heresay to me) when I made a misinformed comment (keep my mouth shut now – wiser) about Marcos, that during his term there were few squatters, and after the People Power phase following his ouster, the squatters took over.

    Does anyone, better informed than me, have information to clarify what I heard?

    Thanks,
    Jade

    BTW: Gloom and Doom scenario; could anyone imagine conditions like this occurring in the US if the financial collapse runs out of control. Look at pictures of the shanty towns during the depression. We seem to be on a ‘Nantucket Sleighride’ at present…

    • Hi Jade – I have not heard that before, so I don’t know for sure. Regarding the USA question you raise… I could not really comment on that, perhaps others will, though.

    • I believe it. Something many are willing to say behind closed doors is that Marcos was the best leader this Country ever had in modern times. While he was corrupt, he kept corruption in check so it would not interfere with the Philippines marching into the 20th century toward the modern era with better infastructure, schools, etc… People had pride in the Philippines. It was Imelda people could not stand and she brought aboout the downfall. Marcos was a true leader. And the whole thing bout punishing the opposition under Marcos. Yes it was bad for the opposition under Marcos but if you think Aquino would have been better please!!!. Just ask people who knew the real Benino Aquino. And just look at the dictatorship Singapore was under Lew Kuan yu. He only created the most successful economy in the history of the world and is hailed as a hero despite being a dictator along the same line as Marcos.

      • It boils down to the leader, sometimes hard measures need to be taken to ensure discipline. Something that this country has lacked since they supposedly got their freedom. So they now they are paying the price, ah well.

      • Ask the people who had their businesses stolen,those who lost loved ones, students who were jailed and tortured etc., if Marcos was a good leader.The Philippino people are still paying back the debts that were incurred to fill the mans bank accounts with billions.I think you have a romanticised view of a murderous dictator and his wife. Do a little research and you will come to a very different conclusion.

  9. I see the ‘victim mentality’ virus has permeated the RP ! I don’t know who’s the fool here Bob…the government for perpetuating the crime or the squatters who abuse it. I’ve heard squatters how make a living by squatting several properties at once. They build a shelter at each and every few days move to the next one, leaving only after a payoff from the owner. Myself I would not hesitate to break out the Ohio Blue Tips when they were not home…I have little patience for such behavior.

    • Ha ha.. that’s a classic, brian, regarding the Ohio Blue Tips! Love it! You are right, there are squatters who make a living doing it! Those guys are entrepreneurs! 😆

  10. At onetime we had this in the US, now they are known as ‘welfare recipients’ that are unwilling to work, and obtain everything they own through the gov or gov programs ….and at the expense of tax payers. Same thing really, using & taking what they have not earned.

  11. I have a friend that had a shanty 1/2 way on his property and half way on the beach in front of his his property. No one was living in it so one day he burned it down. I mean it was half on his property. Then the squatter showed up and complained and the Mayor of this particular community demanded that my friend rebuild it. This particular mayor hates foreigners despite all the employment they generate in this partcular area from domestic help to construction jobs through ongoing building. Go figure. My friend did not rebuild and has been hasseled ever since by the mayor in different ways that eventually forced him to sell out of frustration. Now the new foreign owner faced the same insanity. Fortuntely the mayor lost in the recent election. Thankfully. Oh and the DENR did nothing either despite the illegality of building this shanty in the first place on a public beach.

  12. One more thing. The previous mayor demanded restitution to the squatter from my firned who politely told them it wasn’t happening

    • HOW TERRIBLE for your friend! But Tom who posted above seems mad that they should be torched and think its OK for the squatters to just build wherever!

        • actually went to his blog and i think i now know why he’s defending the squatters.

          something about the Combodian Government destroying his plac and 62 others near the beach.

          • Cheryll, research why many foreigners go to Cambodia to live and it isn’t the economics. Scary

          • I am not defending all squatters , take the time to read what I am saying and you may learn something , each case should be treated individually because nobody the circumstances which brought these people to where they are now ,

            No , I am not a button pushing church goer , nor a sex tourist , before you judge other people go out into this big wide world and discover what it’s really like ! .

            Leave your torch at home though because you will most likely be shot if you said or tried anything like that !

            • Bob , are these not personal attacks !

              “Cheryll, research why many foreigners go to Cambodia to live and it isn’t the economics. Scary ”
              and ” he’s probably a religious button pusher just ot create discussion and anger “

  13. Wow;
    Ah, the old scorched earth policy, no liberals reading LiP today. Lets all just turn on FOX News and let the RP government deal with the squatters. (lol)

  15. Well, as someone who is dealing with the squatter issue, it is infuriating. An Bob is 100% correct that it is very difficult to get them to leave. It is theft, plain and simple.

  16. One more reason why I thought the Philippines lacked discipline. The present squatter problem tends to support the hearsay that the squatters as they behave today barely existed during the reign of the Strongman when he was able to whip an undisciplined society in line.

  17. Just a thought and something my wife and I have done is to put a tenant on your vacant land. Let them stay and actually cultivate the land if they want (grow stuff for their own consumption) and in our case actually give them a small monthly stipend but with the clear understanding that they are temporary tenants. It has worked for us and helps someone out. Wierd I didn’t mention this before. Seems even more wierd the wealthy families that owns these kinds of properties didn’t do this themselves. Cheap Bast..ds

    • Hi Thomad – Yes, Feyma and I have done things like that too. On our land in Samal we have a caretaker who watches over it to keep squatters out. It’s a good thing to do.

    • Fabulous idea! I know someone else who doe sit Tita Ann, I had lunch at her place and the man and his wife who had lunch with us were gonna be raising goats at her property and she was not charging them just wanted someone taking care of the place. The man and his wife were very nice people. I even bought rabbits from them. (as food)

      • Noooooooo! Not the cute fluffy bunnies. Unless they are the wild ugly stringy rabbits and then you can eat all those you want. 😀

    • It’s best to put in writing whatever verbal agreements made with respect to the tenancy to avoid any possible misunderstanding in the future. I’ve done the same thing by letting a destitute distant relative who had no land to build a home to live on a piece of vacant property my family owns in the province. The relative was allowed to build a temporary dwelling on the property (no cement, no hollow blocks), and was allowed to raise pigs, plant vegetables, and maintain the mango trees that abound in the property in exchange for the permission to live there. I guess you can call that, “compassion”, but with the explicit understanding that the tenant would have to give it all up within 90 days upon demand by the landowner, as spelled out in a written agreement notarized by the municipal attorney.

    • Thomad, my family (grandparents) were landowners when I was a little girl. It was no hacienda by any means but large enough to need a tenant. The tenant farmers had been toiling the land for generations, just the same my family had owned the land for generations. I can’t remember which year, but it was sometime when Marcos was in power. He introduced land reforms and this included landowners like my grandparents being ordered to give – yes, give a portion of their land to these tenants. The tenants are now wanting more land for nothing, in the guise of land reform rights. And because of these land reforms, same tenants can not be evicted from our lands even if they were proved to have been stealing. It’s just a mess now that my grandparents have put the lands up for sale, minus the tenant’s portion. How’s that for socialism Pinoy style, huh?

      • Christine,
        Yes, I agree with your life experience. During the Marcos regime, because of the land reforms, my wife’s great grandfathers land holdings were reduced substantially, and through the desires of greedy relatives the land is now reduced to a fraction of what once was. So many descendants living on a sliver of what was once a large plantation… Sad…
        Jade

        • P.S. And these people were not the elite, just successful farmers. Guess those untouchable elite people were immune to the land reforms. I don’t know.
          Jade

          • Hi Jade, yes people like my Grandparents weren’t elites, just successful farmers who were lucky enough to inherit, and wise enough to keep it. But it boggles my mind that landowners like my family and your wife’s family (active contributors to society by way of tax) can have our lands taken off us with no compensations, whereas squatters and tenants can be given land and money for breaking the law?? And yes, I have heard that the larger haciendas with ties to the then government (read active contributors to their campaign funds) remain untouched.

  20. If you are a foreigner here you just have to adapt to the mindset of the local people and accept that social issues such as squatters are a very different issue here as compared to the liberal approach to such issues in your home country. Hard though this may be …

    The core issue here is that many hard working families in Mindanao have legally bought their own lots and built their own houses, often this has been quite a struggle financially and at a high personal cost due to the low incomes and also the onus of the support that may be needed for their relatives and others.

    It is therefore not a big surprise that this group will be very against squatters and have strongly polarised feelings. While support should always be given to people in real need this problem will go on as long as there is perception that there is a potential profit element in squatting, this is the point that needs to be addressed.

    Scott

  21. Bob, what the government here does not seem capable of calculating is the COST of squatters to society in general. Businesses are unable to build, so no new jobs are created. Payments to support squatters must come from tax revenues, hence the constant push for higher BIR revenues, and why customs fees are so high. All of which comes from the pocket of the average law abiding Filipino businessman, or consumer. This is why the stores are full of poor quality Chinese crap. When higher quality goods come into this country, it’s like Christmas bonus time for customs officials. Hence that cost must be passed on to the comsumer as well. A good durable long lasting kitchen faucet can be purchased for under 30 bucks in the USA. Here, if anything of higher quality can even be found, that same faucet would cost 60 bucks or more. So instead, people are forced to buy Chinese reject goods, which fail in a month or so, and then they must go out and buy the same thing again! All in the interest of increasing tax revenues, so more can be given to squatters. The US taxpayer is just beginning to see that Socialism does not work, hopefully people here will be smarter than their US “cousins”.

    • Hi Dave – The cost to society for all of these problems is huge, no doubt. You are sure right about high quality goods… it only leads to corruption. How can anything be fixed when any attempt to improve things only leads to additional corruption. It’s a never ending spiral downwards.

  22. Hi Bob, great post. Traveling to North Cebu was a scenic drive if you can ignore the eyesores called squatters occupying prime beach lands. Each time I come home seems there are more and more little shanties build perched on the cliff, some on government lands, some on private lands. My brother says that the succeeding government don’t want to touch these people. I guess it’s a tough job to evict and relocate, so everyone ignores them. The owners of a vacant land next to my brother’s place in my town are in the US. I was surprised returning home last year to see a squatter had set up a shanty on this vacant land. It’s quite an eyesore because it’s the only one in this town and it’s made up of anything the owners could gather, i.e. plastics, wood, pieces of bamboo. While visiting last year, I was offered a parcel of land close to the beach. A bargain really at $30K for 2000 square meters, but it was full of squatters! So I declined. 🙂

  23. Looks to me since peoples power, the succeeding governments have not been able to deal with mass unemployment, overpopulation and the homeless. One solution which is common in Philippino politics is to ignore the situation and hopefully the problem will go away.
    The securing of public lands and the fencing of private properties would have helped to combat the squatters in the first place. I am surprised with so much manpower here that they don’t employ “Rangers”, men who drive around public lots and private lands making sure illegal occupation does not take place.
    Further to that point “Rangers” can be in charge of things like open burning, garbage littering and the list goes on.

  24. @David: Oh wow! Really? Are you even sure about your comparison their buddy? The poor people in the Philippines (or in any third world country) are NOT the same as the poor folks we have here in the States – not even close! Granted there is poverty and homelessness in America also, but if you compare them both side by side, at least the poor in America do have Social Welfare help, such as Medicare, Medicaide and Food Stamps. The poor Filipinos have barely any help whatsoever. So please, don’t give me that “They are unwilling to work” and “Taking what they have not earned” bs. First of all, it’s not a matter of unwillingness, it’s a matter of having no work whatsoever. And they are not taking what they don’t earn. They are Filipino citizens and they have the right to live and support their family, just like any human being. Get off your high horse, sir and take a stroll down any slums in Manila, Visayas and Mindanao.

  25. I had a squatter in a $800,000 home, Corona California.
    I went to the house,intending to flip it.
    I found one of my brother-in-laws squatting in it.
    When I asked why, he was paying his sister $1550 a month (not my wife, her sister).
    The payment on the house was $5k a month By the Way.
    After I evicted him, and installed locks (he had removed the originals), the “sister” came over and started a fight. During which she drove through my garage. I had her arrested. During the trial, her lawyer brought in a quit-claim deed designating her boyfriend as “owner” voiding the civil claim of vandalism. The corrupt Judge refused my right of “discovery” and accepted the claim at face value without examining it. Pointing out I had no superior court of review, since it was small claims. She was eventually convicted at a criminal trial, but the house was gone by then. And all the court offered was $1000 for the door. These were NOT Pinoy, they are Lao.

  26. How much do squatters earn?? My wifes brother, got job the other day in Dava0, at a well known establishment that serves Bar B Q.. He worked from 6am to 11pm and they gave him 150P.. He is not a squatter…..It goes deeper than just being a squatter, some people here just value the Peso more than dignity..

    • Hi Lenny – I feel sorry for your brother-in-law, but unfortunately, wages are paid based on what the market price is. I guess for the kind of work he is doing, there are people willing to work for such a wage, unfortunately! I truly don’t see how a person could live on that, though.

  27. Informal settling is a huge problem in the Philippines. Those who say there are ‘squatters’ in the US are a bit unclear on the concept as it works here. Another of those English words that doesn’t really mean the same thing in different cultures.

    In the present issue in what’s called the North Triangle area in Quezon City, rumors indicate a former QC mayor paid the settlers to migrate there in the first place. They vote.

    Who can say if that is true …but the problem is, even the rich and powerful have big problems getting squatters off their land. The owner in the present case is the Ayala Corporation, one of the most powerful companies here in the Philippines. The President of Ayala even accompanied President Aquino on his recent trip to the US. So they are certainly among the country’s “rich and famous”. Yet they currently are ‘on hold’ under Presidential decree. Even money and power are no assurance of the outcome in these cases.

    I frequently advise folks who plan to buy property in advance of a move here to consider this risk very carefully.

    You can buy property, but if you don’t occupy it immediately, you may find someone else living there … and it can be a huge (and expensive) undertaking to get them off your property. Also, removing squatters can lead to years of very hard “family fued” feelings … the cause of many a “non-judicary execution” in the Philippines … bad blood between families. Personally, I wouldn’t be comfortable living in close proximity to someone I had thrown off my property … even though I might be 100% legally justified in doing so. Resentment runs deep.

    There is a lot more to the term “Culture Clash” than eating balut.

    • Hi Dave – How right you are. Buying a house on an absentee basis is risky here. In fact, for most people, my family included… you don’t even leave the house to go shopping without somebody staying home. Most Filipino houses are rarely left vacant, even for a few hours. It’s a different world here. Like you say, eating balut or bulad is only a small thing compared to the real cultural issues.

      • Bob: Buying land here is risky for foreigners in so many different ways. The preoccupation that so many expats have with owning land here is so perplexing…. Land transactions here are such a minefield that I wnder why people put themselves through it at all. With our problem, what should have been a straightforward transaction quickly turned into a P-I-T-A that has cost over 4X the price of the property. It is imply not worth the risks. (If Ayala has problems, what chance does an expat have?)

        As to Ken’s comment below, I respectfully disagree… Squatters are stealing. They are thieves. Our squatter denied my wife the use of her land that she paid for, in good faith, from money she earned….No one gave it to her and in no way was she entitled. We have zero, repeat ZERO, sympathy for her or any other squatter’s “rights”. They are stealing from their own people, since foreigners cannot own land.

        (BTW… It told the mayor, in front of the squatter, that in my opinion, she was no better than a common thief. Hiya, or not, risk of deportation aside… I don’t care for people who steal from my wife and son).

      • That’s interesting Bob, my family have never left the house unattended for even a couple of hours there is always someone here and in the houses next door and either side. I was thinking just yesterday, no one around here ever seem to go out as a family.
        I had secured the house many months ago with solid front and rear doors with deadlocks and a hollow block fence around the perimeter making it “virtually” secure against most intrusions, yet still the family resists going out all together, well there you go, mystery solved.

          • Hi Bob;
            With our girls grown and gone, when Mayang and I go to town our house is left empty while we’re gone for those few hours, but any trip involving overnight someone from her family will be there while we’re gone. The short few hours trips, our 18 dogs help, even if 15 are small (but they work as a team) and only 3 are large.

              • Bob;
                I’m not pulling your leg, but one of my dogs might hump your leg. Bob I didn’t even count the 4 new puppies. Have you never picked up on whe I mention “My dog Army”? I’m a very odd man!

              • Paul- have you trained them to salute you when you walk by yet ?
                How about to open the refridgerator and get you a SML ? lol [ i’ve seen the last part on tv actually]

              • Ian;
                They also prevent squatters (oops, Shelter Challenged People) and liberals from moving on my land.

              • Cheryll Ann;
                That’s far better than us being known as the Crazy Cat Person! Dogs prevent bad moods and heart attacks. (but not blog attacks)

            • Paul

              I like that 18 dogs. Your own platoon. I guess you buy dog food by the pallet. As Ian said maybe you can train them to get you SMB then you would be set. Take Care

              • Randy;
                Have you ever seen a bunch of recruits their first day of boot camp? Well that’s how well trained my dogs are. But they are great handymen, they do odd jobs all over the property. None will get me a beer, yet Moto-san, my big white Spitz will knock over my beer so he can drink it.

  29. I agree the squatters are wrong and have been offered a good deal to move.I also know all
    squatters are not professionals there to just make money.I would hate to think that most people agree burning them out is the best answer,they will do that at night when every one is sleeping,i think bulldozer is a better choice for these terrible people. Have a nice day

  30. I won’t say much because my views are obviously contrary to the majority opinion here.

    My partner’s family are all squatters in Metro Manila. They have no alternative, having been forced from their homes in the provinces decades ago by the very real threat of starvation. At least here they can get a little casual work, enough to pay the rent and electricity and water and feed themselves.

    Yes that’s right, they have a legal Meralco connection, and they pay rent to a landlord who lives in Bulacan. They are recognised by the barangay as fully-fledged members of their community. But it’s a squat. So it’s not quite as clear-cut as it might appear to people acculturated to think of land as a commodity that gives the owner the right to deny access to fellow human beings. That conception of land rights is peculiar to developed capitalist societies and quite foreign to societies based on collective principles of tribalism. When disruption caused by industrial development meets traditional tribal subsistence living, widespread misery is the result. Ask a Scottish crofter from the 18th century, or a Pacific Islander from the 19th, or an Australian aborigine from the 20th.

    Our family has been given notice to quit their home, along with the rest of the neighbourhood, to make way for a new road. They have been given vague promises of new homes somewhere in Rizal province. Many people have already been forcible evicted from areas close by and transported to Montalban. A lot of them have come back to live in the streets here, because there is no way they can support themselves in Montalban.

    My partner and I are trying hard to help our family find a new home they can afford, which means with rent less than P2500 a month. So far we have had no success. Suggestions that they go into the provinces and cultivate someone’s vacant land for food are neither helpful nor realistic.

    There is room for lots of constructive discussion about how these situations have come about and what should be done to improve these people’s lives. But to vilify the people concerned and treat the issue as one of law enforcement is, I respectfully suggest, not only misconceived but also a failure of empathy and compassion.

    • Hi Ken – Your family is squatters. So, if the government came and offered them a piece of land with a title, do you advocate that they should turn it down? That is what is going on here.

      • Depends on the nature of the land, Bob. If it’s a worthless piece of scrub in the middle of nowhere, it’s of no practical value whatsoever. And if it’s just land with no house it’s of no use no matter where it is, because my family has no money to pay for a house to be built.

        Just giving people land remote from family networks and work opportunities is not solving problems of social dislocation. However as I said I don’t intend to get into an argument with people who see the issue in very simplistic property rights terms and obviously have strong feelings about it. I only wanted to present some factual information for the benefit of people reading.

        • Wow, Ken. They are stealing now. Offering them another piece of land for free is not good enough to make them go honest? It is just hard for me to understand that.

          • Again Bob, ‘I don’t intend to get into an argument with people who see the issue in very simplistic property rights terms and obviously have strong feelings about it.’

            • Hi Ken – I don’t feel like we are arguing, just discussing the issue. I hope you don’t feel that I’ve been argumentative with you, because I did not intend to be.

          • Bob,
            I always like to agree with you. You are very agreeable and I agree with your comments. Here I do not want to disagree with you. But the virtue of the original ‘tribal’ ‘familial’ culture of the Philippines, is so endearing to us due to it being pure and true. VS The harsh western attitude of ‘put granny in the resthome’ attitude, one needs to step back and re-examine the western culture of EXTREME capitalism of greed which destroyed ‘the american dream’.
            Housing is unaffordable due to the profitmakers, this should not be so.
            Yes, a squatter on your land is a problem, after all you paid for it and they did not.
            I do not have an answer, but it is not right or moral.
            Jade

            Yes, there are people, squatters, who work the system, but here, this is not what I am talking about. People on the high end work the system too.

            • Hi Jade – No two people can agree all the time, and I have no problem with that. I don’t see any reason why two people can’t remain friends even if they disagree on an issue or two.

    • Ken,
      I learned from your comment. I read it more than once to understand the depth of your thoughts. I agree with you. RP is a country in transition and cannot be measured by western standards. That is why I am attracted to the Philippines and it’s traditions and culture. What a breath of fresh air (although sometimes stinky) compared to the west and it’s strictures.
      We built our house 4 years ago in the family compound and paid for part of the property on land that was once sold by an uncle – still trying to get a deed…………………….
      Jade

      • Hi Jade – So, if I go to your family compound and build a house on your land, move in my wife and kids, and 15 or 20 of my nieces and nephews on your land… you’re OK with that?

        • Bob,
          I didn”t mean to be confrontational, only philosophical. I am too small of mind to answer the deep questions of society. I am not a communist (in it’s pure definition) nor a venture capitalist at it’s worst manifestation.
          Yes, you would be welcome, but the land you would have available to build upon would be owned by PHESCO, due to the uncle, unless you built in the road. All of the available land is occupied by family memders. It is all built out. We need to build a high-rise!
          We’re still trying to resolve this title issue.
          Jade
          I’m only pondering, not dictating.

          • Hi Jade – I don’t think you were confrontational, and I don’t think I was either. I was just asking you a question. Based on what you said, it seemed that all squatters would be welcome on your property… I was just testing it out! 😆

            • Bob whether you perceive it or not, for a blog owner to aggressively cross-examine a commenter with questions such as ‘you’re OK with that?’ is confrontational. The question implies that the commenter is stupid, and creates a mental picture of you stepping forward and thrusting your face belligerently into that of the person you are addressing. Similarly, sneering at my family for ‘stealing’ after I went to some trouble to explain their situation is confrontational.

              I have learned how pointless it is to be baited into continuing this kind of argument online. I’ll leave you and Cheryll to start burning down the slums so the Ayala Corporation’s owners can get rich by using PUBLICLY OWNED land for private purposes. I mean what right have citizens to use publicly owned land for things like sheltering their families when deserving causes like the Ayala Corporation can use it to make profits for their owners, eh? How else can they afford to bribe and corrupt officials if they are not allowed to appropriate public land?

              The demolitions are going to displace an estimated 16,000 families. Anyone who sincerely believes there are 16,000 vacant houses and lots in Montalban waiting for these families, as the Quezon City mayor claims, is truly living in an alternative reality.

              • Boy, Ken, I just thought I was joining the discussion that everybody was having. I didn’t realize that I was “thrusting my face belligerently” at anybody, nor did I intend to. Anyway, I truly am sorry if I did something out of line. It was not my intention, or my feeling that I did. I guess I am better to write the articles and let others do the discussion, because I feel really bad that anybody would feel that I am being belligerent or thrusting myself at anybody. Honestly, and sincerely, I am sorry if I did anything or said anything to make people feel that way. I am honestly dumbfounded.

              • Hi Bob, It seems lately either consciously or unconsciously you are answering and instigating responses from people. In the past you always seemed to present issues and respond in a more non-judgemental way, often trying to see all points with equal merit.
                It’s your site ultimately though, and you have the right to conduct any way you want. Not the best way to elicit responses from readers IMHO.
                I’m not angry at you in what I’m saying, this is just my own observation.

              • I found the suggestions of torching squatter villages & that squatters were nothing more than common thieves to be very offensive. In fact, I felt that Ken shared a perspective that others should give thought to, because it is not uncommon in The RP. My wife and I have experienced squatters in the past and probably will again. I agree with John M. that it is a real pita for property owners. At the same time I wonder how much someone really needs land that is left to sit vacant for years. If someone squatted on one of our properties, tomorrow, I’d be just as upset as John is. But, we don’t get to pick & choose what we like and don’t like when living there. This squatting issue is a risk that we have to take if we wish to live there.

                As for P$ 10,000 being acceptable compensation; not in my opinion. the “going rate” when I was there was double that in Davao. If you support the removal of squatters in the name of development, what will happen when someone influential wants your property for a development? will a piece of land of their choice and P$10,000 suffice?

                Perhaps, others are like me and still have much to learn about poverty. By shear luck, I had parents who were professionals & owned their own companies, so I attended private school, had a maid & cook, could choose to attend any university. When I left that behind, I thought that I was impoverished, until I decided to go travelling in Asia. I didn’t notice much poverty in S.Korea and Taiwan, other than around the subway systems, and usually stayed with friends or in hostels when in HK, so missed the poorer areas there, as well. When I went to the Philippines, however, I felt as if I’d been dropped into Calcutta or Ethiopia. What an eye opener! The longer I was in Davao, the more I learned about the poor and the way some squatter villages are “run”.

                Later, on the first occasion I met Tony Soriano, it was in a squatter village, where he had an office. Very bizarre. As we discussed our business and began drafting an agreement, people were coming in, doing the hand on forehead “Bless” routine & giving money to another man who was there. I’m going to leave the rest to everyone’s imagination & simply state that some squatter villages have a heirarchy & it is not free to live in them, but it allows people to be in the city where they stand a better chance of earning enough to survive.

                Before I went to Asia, I would have been described by most as a “money is everything and if you don’t have it, you don’t count” type of person. My time in the Philippines was quite an education, however. I “got” what my mother had said, that money wasn’t the most important thing in life. I saw that people in The Philippines, who didn’t have two pennies to rub together, were far happier on a daily basis than myself & my Canadian family members & friends. I recognized that if a poor person/family was/were honest, that they would remain poor and that it was the scammers who dug themselves out of the poverty. So, when some poor person is trying to scam you for money, remember that they are desperately trying to dig themselves out of a hole that you’d never want to be in. In deference to the opinions of others, I have not seen a bounty of jobs which pay a reasonable salary that the average squatter would be able to attain. Go to any fast food joint or store in a mall & you’ll meet people who were given their jobs by virtue of the fact that they have a college degree, regardless of their abilities as a worker. When I hired people for various jobs, I was told by my wife’s family, so often, “Don’t hire him/her. He’s/She’s from (name of a squatter area) and will just steal things.”

                All I ask is that others remind themselves that they are fortunate not to be in the position of these squatters & show some compassion to those whom are. Yeah, if someone squats your land it’ll drive you nuts, but try and find some compromise, not because it is your responsibility but because it is the right thing to do.

              • Ken

                If you were a tourist would you want to see all those squatters. I think not. Its a eyesore and it hurts the economy which in turn hurts the people. Enough said.

    • Ken,
      I like the direction you put this thread in. There should be representation from the ‘squatters’ point of view. The whys and hows of their circumstance. If only they had internet access… I’m talking of the honest poor, BTW. Of course many are shiftless, slovenly and of course ignorant. There is a wide range of homeless/squatters, the good and the bad.
      OK?
      Jade

      • Ken,
        One day Daisy and I were driving along the National Highway from Calamba to Los Banos. Along the side of the highway there was a family sitting along the side of the road. Daisy noticed me looking at them. She told me that they were province farmers – and soon to be squatters. I resolved this in my mind that they were merely looking for a better life. The problem is that there are too many of them for the economy to absorb.
        Jade

      • Aww, Bob, don’t feel bad. I just enjoyed Ken’s alternate point of view. There must be both points of view presented in a debate. I do not own any property full of squatters, so you can understand my point of view… Philosophical at best!
        Jade

        Ken hasn’t answered me directly, but I hope he will… he has good points.

        • Jade – I honestly have no problem with you having a point of view that is different than mine. I have no problem with Ken having a point of view that is different than mine. I even told Ken that I was not fighting with him, and that I was only discussing the issue. Ken replied that I was belligerent, and that I was shoving my face at other people or something like that. I take it, from what Ken says, that I really should not discuss the issue if my opinion is different than other people’s opinion. I guess I should just be quiet and watch the discussion, but not join in. Well, OK, if that is what Ken wants, or what others want, I guess I know where my place is. I mean, we’re all in my house, after all…. I will just be quiet and be the good host. The discussion is open for everybody but me. Have at it. Enjoy.

          • No No No, Bob, don’t retract. I wasn’t offended, I always understand your points of view. As I said before; in a debate both sjdes of the issue should be presented. Otherwise it is not a debate. And of course a lively debate always invites much commentary…
            Jade

          • Bob your interpretation of ‘discussing the issue’ includes slandering my family as criminals, or at the very least lawbreakers. I have no trouble imagining how you would react if the positions were reversed.

            • Ken – You are the person who came here and announced that your family members are squatters. Squatting is illegal. So, yes, your family members are criminals. That is not slander. Slander means that it is false. If what you said is true, that your family is squatting on land they don’t own then they are criminals. I feel sorry for your family, it must be a terrible life. But it is also criminal. I did not make the laws, Ken.

              I really feel no need to discuss this issue with you further, Ken. Have a good day.

              • Doing something illegal is only criminal if it is against the defined criminal law and a breach of which normally leads to a penal offence. Driving too fast past NCCC mall is illegal- but if you do so you most certainly arent a criminal.
                I’m not taking part in the argument- just clarifying the meaning of criminal.

              • Hi Randy – well, I don’t really like it when the site gets confrontational like it is right now. It is quite stressful. But, I feel that I have tried to avoid that. Yesterday, after Ken first said that I was “arguing” with him, I even apologized to him, and told him that I felt bad and such, but he kept coming after me. So, what can I do? Game on, as far as I am concerned. I tried to avoid it, but Ken didn’t take that option when I offered it.

              • Bob,
                In some cases the definition is very balck and white and requires no interpretation. In others there is a very large grey area. Mentally deficient or psychologically ill persons who sleep in a shack or on the street.
                In 2001 Daisy and I stayed in the City Garden Hotel in Makati. (Excellent, modern and reasonably priced hotel. BTW) We ate breakfast at a nice restaurant around the corner. Looking out the window we saw a blond caucasian mentally ill street person out there scrabbling around for who knows what. That to me brought it home on a very personal level. It made me loose my appetite. To know her life story would be sobering, and she is only one of many.
                Jade

              • Hi Jade – I feel very sorry for the mentally ill person that you mention. As you probably know, I have a son with a mental disability. I don’t understand what this has to do with squatters living on land that they do not own, though? The people I am talking about in this article are mentally sufficient, have work and such, they just choose to live on land that somebody else owns.

              • Bob,
                In some cases the definition is very balck and white and requires no interpretation. In others there is a very large grey area. Mentally deficient or psychologically ill persons who sleep in a shack or on the street.
                In 2001 Daisy and I stayed in the City Garden Hotel in Makati. (Excellent, modern and reasonably priced hotel. BTW) We ate breakfast at a nice restaurant around the corner. Looking out the window we saw a blond caucasian mentally ill street person out there scrabbling around for who knows what. That to me brought it home on a very personal level. It made me loose my appetite. To know her life story would be sobering, and she is only one of many.
                Jade

              • OK. I don’t see how that changes anything. I fell bad for her, and she deserves help. I hope that somebody in her family can assist her and get some medical help for her.

              • OK. If she is that young, she must have parents somewhere. Are they not willing to help her? Aunts? Uncles? Her government? I am not really sure what you are asking of me, Jade. Do you want me to help her? Did you help her when you saw her? Maybe you gave her the rest of your meal? But, I really don’t understand what this is all about. Maybe you can clarify.

              • I’ll try to clarify, her aimless scrabbling around, looking in a trash can for food just made me sad, she looked so hopless. Her father probably does not even know she exisits. To me she appeared abadoned, lookin a trash can for something to eat, so probably there was no support for her. That she was caucasian just bluntly drove it home to me. I did bring my leftovers out to her but she had moved on by then. Squatter? Probably not, she appearded so far down that she was not even up to the squatter level.
                Hope that helped to explain my comment.
                Jade

              • I really enjoyed this blog, but reading through all comments really makes me feel uncomfortable.

                First of all, it’s just a blogger sharing his own opinion on his own take of the Philippine’s Squatter issue, if you have your own thoughts, feel free to share but don’t try to force people to think like you, be respectful with people who actually helping foreigners to get to know this country better.

                Secondly, all the “disgusting” things you have seen in Philippines, if they have better Government who can take good care of their own people equally, this would not been an issue at all.

                Thirdly, Crime happens everywhere, every single country and does not matter you are poor or rich. but some crime we do have pity for it coz we know it’s only because they are so poor and have no other choice. that’s why some of the replies does not agree with the blogger coz you do feel sorry for these people, that is understandable, but i am pretty sure blogger does not hate these poor people, he is only stating the facts here too.

                I am pretty sure there are a lot of the things within the power we have, as foreigners could do to help the locals (not in the way of giving up our own home but, i think that’s just extreme), since you guys love this website so much, and a lot of the wife/husband have a lot of time when their partner goes to work, some good ideas and social works can definitely get done…:)

            • By the way – how would I react if the positions were reversed? I would do whatever I had to do to help improve the lives of my family. Fact is, I have done that, and continue to do so. You just don’t know anything about it, nor is it any of your business, Ken. But, if my family were breaking the law, I would not go online and announce it to the world, I would do what I had to do to change their situation.

          • Bob

            Your discussion is more than welcomed. It wouldn’t be the same w/o it since you are so knowledgable in alot of things. plus its your blog so you can talk of you want hahaha

      • Jade;
        We are in good company, I’ve been waiting for my Title for ten years, but the Catholic Church across the National Highway from me has been waiting for 15 years. Things move fast here.

        • Paul,
          “Misery Loves Company”, We will share our misey together.
          I have talked to a number if Philippino crew members on some of the ships I work on. Their response was reassuring to me – real estate transactions in the Philippines can be excruciatingly slooow. Wish there was the institution of title insurance. On the bright side there will never be any house flipping, due to the slowness.
          I just finished writing a detailed post of the situation. It’s at the bottom of the stack, just like our realestate transaction!
          Jade

          • Wonder who that poor guy is who has to process all of these real estate transactions alone. He should be given a helper!

      • Randy why would you assume I have the financial means to support my partner’s family? I don’t. And even if I did it’s quite beside the point; I have mentioned them only as an example of the situation in which tens if not hundreds of thousands of Filipinos find themselves. Just substitute ‘some people I know’ for ‘my family’ and my argument is unaffected.

        I repeat that these squatters are on government land (including the ones at Quezon City – see my comment elsewhere providing evidence for that) and it’s not clear to me what laws they are breaking by being there. Even if they are breaking a law, there is a legal principle called ‘condonation’, which means ‘the implied forgiveness of an offense by ignoring it’. These settlements have been there for decades and the government has done nothing to remove them; on the contrary, it provides services to them. It accepts their addresses as legitimate for various legal procedures (e.g. voter ID). It permits utilities like Meralco to build networks there, and the barangays to build drains and roads. To turn around now and say oh well they are all criminals, they should just get off that land that doesn’t belong to them, is far too simplistic and overlooks the complexity of the issues involved.

        Does the government have the authority to remove them? Yes of course – the government can exercise eminent domain over any property it likes, even if it’s technically ‘private property’. That’s not at issue. What is at issue is whether the thousands of people affected are the low life unprincipled ‘criminals’, ‘thieves’, ‘retarded’, ‘lunatics’, ‘roaches’ and the like that they have been labelled in this thread, who deserve nothing more than to have their homes torched or bulldozed.

  31. I’m back here in the states for a visit to Portland, Las Vegas and Bellingham, WA and I have to say this is the first time in 15 years of living in the Philippines and returning yearly to the states that I have a real notion of moving back here or at least buying a place and coming here for lengthly vacations. It’s gotten very cheap on the real estate front and I don’t pay any attention to politics so no stress in that department either. The conveniences can’t be measured and the abundance of great cultural distractions are wonderful. I love the Philippines and the life I have there (medical, school for my daughter, massages, helper, yaya, etc,,,) and I have no problem living there happily as I have but it is starting to wear on me. Unless Aquino gets his act together and gets this place on the right track I may say the heck with it. It is getting more violent where we live and the politicians are useless. Sorry I strayed off the subject but squatters are just another sore area invading peoples lives in the PI.

  32. The Philippine government is not alone when it comes to looking after the welfare of the squatters or the dispossessed, it seems. There is a place in Hawaii where a tent city lines the coast for miles. I met one of its residents, a Filipino, who has a tent on the beach with all the ingenious comforts of home ever devised that included a kitchenette complete with a gas grille, and one of those styrofoam coolers sitting in the water that served as his fridge. The tent had a screened sleeping area that included, among other things, a wave chart. There is a community bathroom nearby, and food is delivered at the parking lot by a church group. He sits there inside his tent all day, enjoying the waves lap at his feet and watching the beautiful Hawaiian sunset. He even had a fishing rod anchored in front of his tent. From all appearances, he looked like he was on vacation and having a good time, instead of being homeless. I asked if the police ever bothered him. He said they come around from time to time to make sure they didn’t live too close to the water and drown as they slept!

      • The tent city that I saw was located in Wainae, Jade. The Filipino homeless that had a tent right on the edge of the water was in Waipahu. They are building brand new homes around the area of tent city in Wainae that are selling for $300K to $400K. I asked my nephew who is a real estate broker for Century 21 in Honolulu why that cheap (for Hawaii, that is). He told me the idea was to drive the homeless people away.

  33. Bob,

    The squatters you were talking about are infront of my office building. And really one of the reasons they have leverage is because they are a source of political clout (i.e. source of votes for politicians in Quezon City). That alone creates a whole new problem.

    Although, I do agree. they have to go.

  35. Hi Bob
    I remember reading an article several years ago how people were selling fake land titles to people near the UP college. The land was in fact owned by the college. They went to the supreme court to have them evicted. The court gave them permission but the Quezon City governtment would not allow the PNP to evict them. They wanted to make sure they got their votes in the next election.
    When I was with my x-gf in Dasmarinas, Cavite, there was a long stretch of land alongside Aguinaldo Highway owned by one Gentlemen. He allowed squatters to live there for many years and many of them built nice homes there. The Gentlemen died and his children wanted to develop the land. Of course the people living there would not move. The family hired some private guards and brought in bulldozers. The homes were all destroyed.
    In China this squatter problem would not be allowed to continue. They would never allow squatters to slow or prevent progress. They would do the same thing like the one family in Dasmarinas did.
    Its really sad that if you buy land in the Philippines as an investment and do not put a home there or secure the land, squatters (some who do this as a profession) could take over your land and you would have to pay them to leave. My wife has a house near Ayala Alabang, and her property borders the edge of the village. The back of the house is government land. Her father paid a small fee for the rights and if the government does anything with the land they would have to pay him for the land. I don’t know how that compares with squatting on the land but it doesn’t seem kosher to me.

      • Hi Bob
        I don’t know if it is illegal or not, but the family was very wealthy and influential, so I guess that counted for more if it was illegal. When I saw the demolished homes I was surprised since it was several blocks long and the homes away from the highway were still standing though still owned by that family. I don’t what happened to the other homes since I no longer go to Dasmarinas.

  36. I have a empty lot right behind my apartment and I would love to raise a few chickens there. BUT one of the men down the street is using it as a garden. He doesn’t have a job so that is him work…raising food for his family. I have been to his house and his family is very nice. Really enjoy their company. So I don’t have chickens. I wouldn’t put this man off the lot if I could. I understand if I was to buy the lot I would have to pay him all the money it would cost to buy the food he raises. For how many years? Who knows? Forget it!

    • Hi Anthony – I don’t buy that. I know that for 3k to 4k pesos, I can have somebody murdered here. People do it regularly. But, just because I live here doesn’t mean I think it’s OK for me to have somebody murdered.

  42. @Karl: Your logic is simply out of place, pal. What David is pointing out is that there are poor and “squatters” too in the US. Their gov’t have made it appear as if they are gone, by playing role of Robin Hood.

  44. @Carlos: I get what David is saying regarding having poor people too in the States, just like in the Philippines. I get that. There is nothing complicated about it, “pal.” But what truly irk me is the fact that he’s putting the poor people in the Philippines as the poor folks in America in the same level. It’s like freakin’ apples and oranges! The poor people here in America are nothing, I repeat NOTHING compared to the poor people in Mandaloyong, Cebu, Quezon city and all over the Philippines. And please it’s not “Same thing really, using & taking what they have not earned.” Every Filipinos work their tail off just to get by day by day and all they get is their government screwing them around. They deserved and earned to be happy. And to say otherwise, is just plain ignorant.

  45. hi bob,

    just a last one, let me vent my anger with the squatters.. lol!

    first, majority of the squatters are from provinces, they come to manila hoping to get a better future – i have no problem with that, but most of them are uneducated and finding a job would be difficult, my question is, why come to manila in the first place if they are not certain about job security and knowing they are uneducated?

    also, majority of them don’t pay taxes and they are the ones who have the guts to ask government for help and hand-outs.

    they are also the ones with a big family, (i don’t want to hear from anyone their lack of education is the reason for not knowing family planning) you don’t need to be a high school or college graduate to have a common sense that having a big family means you need a bigger income to support them!

    several years ago, MMDA had a project called “balik probinsiya” the purpose of the project is to send squatters back to their provinces and the department will provide them transportation and money to start a new life.. it was very effective, many grabbed the opportunity and after a few months, they came back again like a roaches – MMDA spent millions of peso for that project and it all went to waste.

    if the MMDA succeeded sending all squatters back to their home provinces, manila would be much cleaner and with less traffic. lol..

  46. how can u take something when ur not given anything ! ??one thing is true its not nice to die in cold weather if ur homeless(u.s.a or u.k). its kinda thier own fault .some are dr** users.
    hey karl saludo ako sau . very well said

  47. O boy i thought that i would never reach the end of the comments ,bob you know how to start a debate ,anyway reading some of the early comments it has got me a bit worried ,as i have said before my wife and i have bought land on the island now i am not sur if i am correct or not but does this mean that someone can come along build a shack on it even though we own it by title and we cant get rid of them ? then they will get paid y the govenrment to have water electricity ect conected even though they dont own a grain of dirt on this land can someone explain in a rational way if this is correct or not ,we have squatters here not so much squatters but homeless but they are normally moved on once discovered living in abandoned buildings ect
    chris

    • Hi Chris – If you leave your land unprotected, unmonitored… well, yeah, somebody might build a shack on it, start a garden and take up residence. If they do, you will have a heck of a time getting rid of them.

  49. …Not sure of the dates and times but I recall having a conversation a few years ago with a pinoy, he mentioned that a former RP leader disallowed any Philipino to be thrown of ‘his’ land ( as in Country) , this may have been a reaction from the Spanish occupation. Hence the ‘rights’ of a squatter. IMHO squatters are thieves, no is NO justification whatsoever that gives them any rights to YOUR land.I wonder how you would feel if an impoverished person stole your car , your food and cleans out your bank account. Are those actions justifiable because he’s poor…. or rich? These poor people are the same ones who scream “what about our rights!!! While trampling everyone else’s! What is occurring is selective economic discrimination.

  50. Hi Bob,

    This is quite a hot topic. I look at my father in law in this situation and wonder if these “squatters” were offered the same type of deal he had.

    He was leasing over 9 hectares in Gensan for approximately 30 years. Has a hollow block home built there along with his two sons. Part of the land they planted crops on and also harvested the fruit from the surrounding trees. This land he lived on though had no official title and he was leasing it from a man who worked in the government that was responsible for land deeds and titles.

    So my father in law was never allowed to buy the title to the property and what could he do because who would the courts say was right him or the government official? After the man decided to retire a land document was created and all the property my father in law was leasing and farming became a housing development and the former government official who is now the new land owner built a big house for himself and family plus sold off the houses in the new neighborhood he just built. And if it were not for the law saying if a person lives in a place for X amount of time to be given that property then my father in law, who is in his mid 80’s and still works for a construction company, would be without a home.

    Now I understand what a squatter is. But I wonder how many people are now considered squatters even if some corrupt individual in the government has been taking rent from people deemed as such. While these particular people were offered free land, money and so forth were they true squatters or was someone in the government taking their money for the property even if it was once they arrived onsite?

    Just curious, I am not saying I know the laws of the land.

    • Hi Darin – Sounds like a sort of crooked setup on that land. It’s hard to know for sure without knowing more, but it certainly sounds shady, though.

    • Darin,i agree with Bob,there was obviously some corrupt actions going on there.
      If he is leasing the land,then technically he is not a squatter,but it should be leased off the title owner,not some intermediary,sounds like a real can of worms.
      regards,Chas.

  53. Bob, I watched the whole debate that you described in this post too. The young Filipino law students on both sides of the argument had equally researched their material. Even then, both sides were hard pressed to not agree or waver with their opponents on certain points.
    All the more difficult for the foreign or expat observer to understand completely, and form a definite opinion. I don’t think that anyone’s thoughtful opinion should be “shot down” or discounted or ignored, at least by the moderator.

  57. Hi Bob,

    Poverty and squatting is sort of an industry there. There are people making money out of the “poverty” issue, and there are squatter tycoons. Squatter in large villages actually pay some rent to someone. Someone had mentioned above, they are also part of the political landscape. Votes.

    The richest squatter is Hacienda Luisita. 6,000 hectares out of 60,000 (approx) was supposed to have been given out to the farmers in 1967, a condition of their taking over from the original landowners. (That’s in their original agreement with the government in the late 50’s).

    How rich or poor they are? Well, someone said just observe whenever there is a fire in a squatter area (in Manila that is). Look at some of the goods that come out of these shanties. Sometimes, they have better electronics than I have. Some squatters are dirt poor, but there are others making money somewhere. I know of a lady renting a room from a squatter’s house in Boracay! If they can’t earn a living or have some “benefits” they’d be out of there on their own.

    Land Reform was instituted before Marcos (under Arroyo’s dad, Macapagal.) The agrarian reform under Cory Aquino, many landowners had to give the tenants their due. The Lina Law came also during that time, which provided squatters rights thus the proliferation of squatters and their “activism.” Cabuyao and Calauan (Laguna) are relocation sites today. Carmona, Cavite and San Jose, Bulacan were squatter relocation sites in the 60’s and 70’s. They’re thriving towns now. But my feeling is that, without poverty and squatters, some people will not get rich.

    Mmmm…this article just gave me an idea how to make money in the Philippines.

    Alex

      • Hi Bob,

        I did mention the really dirt poor who are probably the real victims, overlooked, ignored, and invisible.

        Alex

        • Alex – I have said probably a dozen times in this thread that there are truly poor people, and I feel sorry for them. I do things for poor people that you don’t even know about, Alex.

          I did not ignore anything about real victims or poor people. I have stated it many times. Maybe I didn’t say it to every single comment, but why would I need to repeat myself endlessly.

          Whatever… I am getting really tired of this. If you knew some of the things I have done to help the poor, maybe you would not say what you are saying.

          Enough.

          • No argument here Bob. I think you misunderstood my post. I understand what you are saying and agree with you. Your friendly squatter tycoon….Alex

    • My friend from The Netherlands came a few years ago (actually trip was dog related but anyhow) he Kept smiling and saying LOOK At THAT SHANTY and then picture picture picture – finally just took his video cam!

      He said that shanty has 3 TV’s and look there’s a satellite antena. Then chuckles then will point out again and say HEY that shanty has Washing machine.

      he kept laughing the whole time he was here and was always excited to see the “shanties”

      I think he liked the Shanties more than the Pearl Farm trip.

    • How about doing an article on how land ownership rights have changed over the decades, Alex? It’s always educational to read your perspective on discussions.

  58. …well bob,you are in the philippines…squatters here doesn’t make difference with your what so call “transient”…in the USA…squatters here owns a land in thier respective provinces…..it makes no difference with the transients in the USA… or anywhere in the world there are squatters or transient settlers….hws dat?

  60. Great topic Bob keep up the good work,very interesting read.Glad to see some compastion
    for the people at the bottum of the ladder.

  62. About squatters in the USA. We live on a wooded 5 acre parcel where we don’t see the neighbors. After one of the neighbors moved out, the newer family moved in to that house and started encroaching on our property. After a couple of years I decided to fence the perimeter of our property. They had a car parking area, landscaping planted, on our side of the obvious marked and surveyed property. After I told them they had 10 days to move everything, they said they had a “right” to it and would sue me. I told them to go ahead and go for it and then called the police and had them charged with criminal trespass. They moved the cars and the fence went up a week later with NO TRESPASSING signs posted every twenty feet. Fortunately they moved out a couple years later. Thank God for the rule of law being enforced here.

    • Yep..thats pretty much how it works here in the USA..but will probably not work in the Phillipines…to much Corruptness there and maybe those that are corrupt there use every angle they can to continue to keep things corrupt , because sure it benifits them in one form or the other to keep the corruption going.

  63. @Duliente: Salamat. I’m always an advocate of the poor and the unfortunate. And I feel like, sometimes, It’s not right that people who are in our social status should judge those who are below us, simply because they’re trying to survive one day at a time. Sure squatting and taking other people’s properties are wrong -and I’m not justifying that. I guess all I really want to say is we shouldn’t judge these people, because God forbid, one day we might end up in their shoes as well.

    @Bob: Good morning to you too my friend! Thanks for a lively discussion.

  64. not every person born with silver spoon in thier mouth though. its easy to ride a high horse when u never been down or had a hardtime in life.
    thnx for the addy karl
    tnx bob for the hot topic lol

  65. you know bob…its not really easy to live in a squatter area….its sucks

    not tried yet but i know what it feels…
    im poor but do not live in squatter… lol

  67. Time for a little tune: ” It’s only a shanty in old shanty town, the roof is so slanty it touches the ground, just a tumbled down shack by the old railroad track, like a millionaire’s mansion
    is calling me back, there’s a queen waiting there with a silvery crown, in a shanty in old shanty town.”

  69. The squatter issue is complex from any perspective but to me is just another reflection of how poorly the country is led . I see this problem as a tier issue simply being a result of bigger societal ills .

    Overpopulation , poor education , lack of jobs , inadequate health care , etc. In part i also believe it has to do with a mysterious mindset ( to me at least ) that Philippine culture seems to have in regards to “democracy” , “freedom” , “responsibility” .

    My wife used to get so upset before we were married when locals would try and take advantage of me in pricing because i was a kano . That’s a morality issue of course and just an example but i could list others .

    Does anyone else find it difficult to fathom a culture where as bob mentioned people can be “eliminated” for less than a hundred bucks , people who commit treason can routinely be pardoned and the wife of the supposedly biggest crook of all time (Marcos) is an icon ?

    Years ago i engaged in conversation with a Filipino on a boat trip to Sabah and remembered something he said to me that i did not fully comprehend at that time . “The problem with Filipinos is that they have to much freedom” . By which , i suspect he meant to much freedom and not enough responsibility .

    I certainly know exceptions to the above statement and don’t mean to imply that all Filipinos fit that mould but far to many do . One of my personal issues is a step-son that seems to think he is “entitled” because he is a Filipino male . Well , to me that’s a cultural mindset with no basis in fact .

    Maybe it’s to much American influence as some suggest or to much Spanish as others suggest but in the end it’s the people of a culture that make that culture what it is . So perhaps Filipinos need to spend less time in front of the mirror observing the outside and more time looking at the inside .

    • “Too much freedom” is a very good point.
      I sometimes feel there is too much freedom in the West also,but thats another debate,Lol.

  70. I remind all the “how would you like it if …?” questioners that most squatters, including my family and those at Quezon City, are living on PUBLICLY OWNED land. They have not muscled onto someone’s private property, as many keep implying. They don’t claim to own the land, and I fail to see how they are ‘stealing’ or who they are stealing from. Themselves? After all isn’t public land for the use of the public?

    It’s very sad to see the knee-jerk contempt and disdain for the poor that is on display in this thread, right down to the predictable denials that they are really poor at all.

    • Ken,
      You do raise a very good point “Publicly Owned Land”.
      I don’t know the answer,but feel the ball is in the Gov’t Court.
      regards,Chas.

          • Hi chas – It’s not your mistake. Ken said that it was publicly owned land, which is simply incorrect. Perhaps it is public land where his family is squatting, but the land that I wrote about is privately owned. I just wanted to set the record straight.

            • Bob this is from the ABC article that you yourself quote from in a recent comment:

              ‘Cruz said the demolition was conducted to re-take government land that had been used illegally by squatters.

              He said the NHA, Quezon City local government and Ayala Corp. plan to develop the Quezon City’s North Triangle area to a central business district modeled after the Makati business district. The North Triangle property includes the East Triangle, Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife.’

              As far as I am aware ‘government land’ means publicly owned land. Perhaps how you can explain how I am ‘simply incorrect’.

    • Ken: Our issue is very much private land. The woman is trying to hold out for more money. The Barangay offered her a lot 100 meters away. They offered to pay her expenses. In my case, it is theft and extortion, and I don’t think that anyone could claim otherwise.

      As to what is happening in Quezon City, yes, much of the row is related to public land. However, the city is trying to move the squatters in order to build and expand the C5 connector… Something that will benefit nearly everyone living in Manila. They have offered to move the people and compensation.

      Yet, I phrase it again… If you owned a piece of land that you had worked very hard to purchase, and someone steals from you, I don’t think you would be very happy about it. This is very different than having sympathy for the poor.

      • It seems to me that the 2 people who most advocate burning out squatters, and who insist on calling them thieves- are Bob and CheryllAnn.

        I really have to wonder if either of the two of you have ever know what real poverty and real desperation is like ? I think if you had you would have a bit more compassion for those squatters who do not live as squatters by choice. [ and please dont throw the professional squatter argument at me coz those are few and far between]
        And to say that these “thieves” are ungrateful because they wont take the 10,000 and move to a piece of useless dirt in the province where they have no hope of making a living is just plain ridiculous! At least now they have a roof over their head and a bunch of neighbours for support. How long do you really think 10,000 pesos will last out in the wastelands of the Philippines ? Its like the US government forcing the Indians off the reservation and shipping them to places they didnt know and couldnt live on . Shame on you both !!

        • I do not advocate torching those houses. I never said that I advocated torching the houses. Other said that, not me. Please show one quote where I said that they should be torched.

            • Yes, a match will do the job. But, I didn’t say that I advocate lighting a match. I said that it would get the squatters out.

              Let me state unequivocally – I do not advocate torching the squatters out.

              Is that clear enough?

              • There you go again, splitting hairs. Moreover, you keep saying foreigners can be deported for discussing politics, but what do you call the two recent articles you did on Secretary Lim and President Aquino A walk in the park? Not only did you discussed Philippine politics, you also CRITICIZED both men!

          • haha I put you in the “thieves” category Bob, and CheryllAnn in the ” someone get a torch !! ” category lol
            I just think that sometimes Bob we forget how much we have been blessed with [ even if that blessing was just the opportunity to make a success of ourselves in life] and that sometimes people do not have any real say in where and how they live.
            Come on Bob- I know you are not as callous as you have come across in this article. I know you do lots of good things- and can be very generous- please dont get carried away with condemning people who many times are squatters out of necessity.

            • Ian – If you look at what I have said, I don’t think I have been callous. I do not advocate burning the people out. I advocate (as I wrote in the article) that the people should accept free land and some money to get a fresh start. I believe that you and others are somehow attributing words written both others to me. I have clearly said that they should not be torched out. I think they have been offered free land with a house and money to have a fresh start. How is that callous?

              • I dont remember reading that they were being offered a house- could you refer me to that source please. That would make a huge difference in my opinion. Thank you

              • According to ABS-CBN News:

                The NHA says that of the 8,968 families, over 3,500 families have already voluntarily relocated. They received 6,000 pesos in financial assistance, a 33-square-meter house and lot in Rizal, and 1,000 pesos worth of groceries.

        • Ian:

          If you owned a piece of land and someone decided to move in without your permission and refused to leave, what would you do? Would you say, “Well gee! They have nowhere else to go!” Somehow, I think that is unlikely. You would be bloody well pissed! They are depriving you of the use of your land.

          So you then take the argument that Ayala Land can afford it. How is that any different? Why should Ayala have to pay to move people off of land that they own? Why should their shareholders have to foot the bill? Because they can afford it?

          You could then say it is public land.Well, in the example above, that area is for an expansion of a motorway. Everyone complains about traffic in Manila, yet when the government tries to fix the problem, a few thousand people hold it up for years.

          If you take something that doesn’t belong to you, then it is theft. You are then a thief.

          This isn’t about poverty. It isn’t about feeling sorry for those who have nothing. It is about stealing, extortion, and entitlement.

          • John – i know from your writings that you are another of the more affluent on this forum. I find it interesting that it is those with the most money who are the most condemning of the squatters. Have you never been hungry? Never been homeless?
            I’m not saying all squatters need our compassion- but i believe that many do.

            • Ian:

              To answer your question, Yes. I have been without any money or roof over my head before. At one time in my life, I worked three jobs in order to pay for school. Any money I have I worked damn hard for… It wasn’t given to me.

              As to the land with our squatter, my wife worked for 23 years, starting as a house maid, in order to save the money to buy back this piece of land. It was land that was taken from her family many years ago through a re-distribution scheme. She put up with years of abuse by Arab employers, and yes, even going hungry, in the Middle East saving that money…. And she cannot use the land because someone with no title, who has never paid the taxes, decides that because she is married to an American that she somehow “owes” it to her. This woman was offered another piece of land less than 100 meters away. Yet, Rebecca still receives the tax bill, and will continue to do so… Should we just say, “well, this woman has no money?”

              It is not that I don’t have sympathy for the poor. I give to people and charity, just like many other expats here. I’m not stupid… Anyone can see that the poverty in this country is crushing and is not easily solved.

              Yet, to call it anything other than theft is incorrect. Nearly every article about development, business, tourism, and investment in the Philippines has loads of comments from people, expat and Filipino alike, bemoaning the fact that the country does not develop. When things like this occur, and they occur frequently, how can the country possibly develop?

              • John- first let me say that I am not enuf of a hypocrite that I can say that I would be willing to put up with squatters on my land, nor will I say that I am willing to open my doors so they can move into my house.
                I agree that allowing people to squat on land – either public or private- is not something that I condone.
                And I do agree that in a very few isolated instances they government makes a big show about how generous they are to squatters in terms of relocation.
                I, like you, worked very hard for what I have. But we both grew up in places where someone who was bright and hard working and motivated could make a success of themselves. I do not think that most children who grow up in the squatters areas have the same opportunities in life- no matter how many sacrificies they are willing to make. Of course their are opportunists in every situation, but I do not envy 95% of the people raised in the squatters areas.
                All that I am asking for is a little bit of compassion for them, rather than calling them thieves and calling for them to be burnt out.
                And I dont mean to put you down for having more than some others, i just thought it ironic that the most vocal of the condemners are probably the most affluent. As I wrote before- but it was edited out I believe- CherrylAnns dogs live in bigger and better houses than most filipinos do, and so I find her desire to rush in with a torch to be all the more outrageous.
                Again, I do not mean to put CherrylAnn down- merely to ask her to consider her motives in saying something so outrageous

              • Ian:

                first let me say that I am not enuf of a hypocrite that I can say that I would be willing to put up with squatters on my land, nor will I say that I am willing to open my doors so they can move into my house.
                I agree that allowing people to squat on land – either public or private- is not something that I condone.

                This is exactly what I have been saying. Yet you condemn me for thinking and saying the same thing that you have in your mind? Hmm….

              • John to make my position clear, I am not discussing the situation of private individuals who have squatters on their land. I am discussing squatters who have been on government land for a long time, with the full knowledge and acquiescence of the government, who are suddenly told they have to quit.

                I am not pretending the rights are all one way or the other; I am suggesting it is a complex situation requiring careful thought.

              • Ian,

                These people were on private land and were asked to leave and were going to be given compensation and land.

                Now they are holding out for more.

                The land does not belong to them, so they must leave.

                Now i am not saying these people be burned to death, I made the comment about lighting a match as I have seen police officers bloodied and beaten by squatters holding sticks, rocks, etc and the police officers could not retaliate (police brutality charges I guess?)

                And I have actually seen squatters on private land paid off and relocated they pretended to leave the shanties were not destroyed or torched after they left.Well they came back the next day took the shanty parts and moved it a few meters away. Blocking a road.

                Had the place been torched down they would probably have not come back and used the building materials for their new shanty town.

                And that is what I meant by that.

                Yes my dogs live great lives. But my dogs also visit the orphanage and play with the children there. And I have photos to prove it. And how I keep my dogs is no ones affair but mine.

                You might be interested to know that NONE of our household help are squatters they own land or lease it. And they find it disgusting that some people would squat and get things free when they have to work for what land they have.

                Yet…. we have managed to hire drivers, gardeners, guards who have made a profession out of squatting and are PROUD of it! And brag on how much money they have made.

                And it is from them I found out that the real poor people will usually just move but the professionals are the ones organizing the hold outs etc.

                Which is pretty horrible!

                The real poor should be helped, but those that just pretend to be I have no sympathy for,

              • CherrylAnn- maybe you have been misunderstood ! lol Burning the shacks after the people have moved on is a much different thing than burning them out !! If its the first instance then I agree with you ! [ cant believe i just said that !! lol]

              • Ian – Nobody has ever advocated burning the people! Well, except that is what John Reyes seemed to be saying that everybody said. It was never said. A few people advocated burning down the shanties!

              • Ian,

                Obviously, I don’t want to burn people inside their houses, that’s murder! I guess I did not say it properly the first time, English not being my first language and all.

                Death by burning is a horrible way to die.

  71. Hi Bob,
    A very emotive subject you chose,and i feel it can only be resolved by the Gov’t.
    How?,i have no idea,its a huge problem,but it is their job to resolve these situations backed by enforced Law and Order.
    Maybe a future leader with fascist leanings who puts the country first,instills discipline and strictly enforces Law and Order,is needed.In the meantime i will dream on Lol.
    regards,Chas.

    • Chas
      Are you serious? You come from a country which has fought such tyranny, yet you’d embrace it elsewhere? Very confusing.

      • Mike,
        Yeah,i am serious,but i’m not advocating Extreme Fascism,but instilled discipline,strict laws and orderly society.
        Society does need rules to live by,sometimes they have to be strictly applied or you end up with Anarchy.
        My thought is the Philippines needs a leader in the ilk of Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore).
        Davao City itself is another good example of what can be acheived with discipline,orderly society and strict law and order.
        regards,Chas.

    • Chasdv- you might look at Pinochet as an example of what you are advocating. His methods were very effective.

      • Ian,
        Although i did veer off topic somewhat,you will see that in my reply to Mike,i’m not advocating extreme Fascism,Dictatorship etc.
        I am advocating a strong leadership,that at times may have to weild an iron fist to enforce strict law and order to acheive a disciplined and orderly society.Strictly enforced law should carry harsh penalties against repetative offenders,this could also go a long way in reducing corruption.
        Singapore,and on a smaller scale Davao City,are my examples.
        Maybe the whole country should embrace these examples.

        Some western countries could do well to consider adopting these examples also,instead of allowing criminals more sympathy than the victims,but thats another debate.
        Just my personal view.
        regards,Chas.

    • Bob- i never said anyone advocated burning the people !! lol By burning them out it is meant to burn their homes – NOT the people. if you mean to burn the people you would say ” you want to burn them up” – at least thats what I was taught.
      Touchy group tonight ! lol

      • I used to watch a million cowboy shows when i was a kid and the bad guys were always yelling ” burn them out ” when some enemy was inside the ranch cabin. lol I dont remember anyone ever actually getting burned alive [ they usually ran out and got shot !! hahaha]

          • Laundry soap???? No way!! Wrong time slot, Bob! Not on a cowboy show like Cisco Kid, which BTW I watched on the reruns last weekend on a sub channel of broadcast TV, sans the cigarette commercials.

            It was Vitalis and Brylcreme for the hair, as well as Lucky Strike, Chesterfield and more.

            Cisco Kid was popular in the mid 50’s

  72. The law is the law. When you commit a crime, the law is not supposed to make a distinction whether you are rich or poor. But the law does recognize “mitigating circumstances”, and is guided by those principles in the fair application of justice. So far, the government has been very lenient and compassionate in dealing with the squatters problem, but is not proposing that the squatter villages be torched, nor are they referring to the squatters as “common thieves”. What right do we have, as supposedly a civilized society, in calling for fellow human beings to be torched?

    • As far as I can see, nobody on this thread called for “fellow human beings to be torched” as you say. Some people said to torch the shanties, but never said anything about torching the people.

          • How are you going to separate the squatters from their shanties when you are about to torch them? Round them up and say get out of your places because I’m about to light a fire on your freaking shanties? There are other in depth comments that you should be addressing, instead of wasting your time splitting hairs, Bob. Like Jade’s, Ken Lovell’s, Queeniebie’s, Dan’s, and Mike’s. I haven’t seen your replies to any of those comments.

            • John – Ken specifically told me that I should not reply to a comment if I don’t agree with it. I don’t agree with his comment, so I will honor his request (demand?). I am under no obligation to address any comments, I address those that I feel I have something to add to. I certainly am not in the business of having people demand what I write about or what my comments should be. You and others are free to leave what comments you wish, I am free to reply to those that I see fit.

            • John,
              I wanted to reply to a lengthy comment that I thought that you made earlier today. I can’t find it. Has it been removed?
              Anyway I just wanted to say I would like the thread to encompass more of the sociological aspect instead of mostly the ownership aspect, which is certainly justified. But there are two sides…
              Jade

            • Ian – When I made the comment about the blowing up a bomb.. you must have misinterpreted me. I was not talking about you. I was replying to you, but I was talking about others in the thread…. specifically Abraham. If you thought I was talking about you…. that was misinterpretation…. and something I never said.

  73. I don’t know if I should stick my head up here again, woe. I ‘have’ been to the Philippines, more times than once, I ‘have’ seen with my own eyes the poverty there and it disgusts me that more can’t be done to relieve the suffering. A people who DO TRY to work and are WILLING to work, meaning Filipino. Having said that …I apologize to ANY Filipino for ‘appearing’ to insinuate that they TAKE anything from anyone for nothing. That is NOT what I meant.

    We DID have squatters here at one time and may still have. I was again merely pointing out, that, now here in the usa, we have those that do nothing and CAN work and still receive by others who do work..called tax payers…and they get by with it. Our gov allows this and it disgusts me. There IS poverty in the USA, but entirely not the same as it is in the Philippines. However, it is still poverty.

    What I was pointing out is that “Squatting is still squatting”. Same thing here as there, in that using what they have not earned. Here however, our squatters have graduated …..they are called welfare recipients, in that, they saw an opportunity to DO Nothing but take & take. And it is still allowed.

  74. Siayan…..Zamboanga del Norte. I have friends and family there. According to the Philippine Gov, the ‘poorest’ area in the Philippines. If I could change their lives…I would and my wife and I try to make a difference there. Just a Note…

    There are jobs everywhere here in the usa, most wont take them (about 40% of them to be exact) and choose welfare.

  75. Bob,
    I also read the news that the gov’t offered to pay the squatters the amount of Php 10k each and a new relocation and i thought that’s good for them but some doesn’t want to leave bcoz of job oppurtunities is better in the cities rather than the province or any remote areas but still, for me they really don’t have the right to remained to live on other people’s property, i feel really sorry for them but they realy need to go…….

    • rebecca, i just don’t understand why the goverment will give money to someone that take a lot that is not even his ??? so it means if i do a hold up and taking other’s money maybe the goverment should give me money also to stop to do it. I beleive in educate people it they do sqate a place they should know that anytime they will be force or allow to get out of there….i think it shouldn’t receive any money when they do that….Try that here in Canada to impose yourself in my land,,,you will see that our goverment will probably not give you one penny if you do but kick you out of there..If it is like that it is because they tolarate and people think that is normal but it is not…I did and still help people overthere but i will help first tthe one that try to hekp themself first…

      be bless always

  76. Wow advocating a strict dictator and bemoaning the dire circumstances of the Ayala land corp! This is really and interesting discussion. I have two primary thoughts.

    First, we in the west live on land that was ‘stolen’ from indigenous peoples. They had no problem selling land or accepting the initial settling of nearby lands because they thought the concept of land ownership was preposterous. You couldn’t OWN land any more than you can own air. Land was there to be used, basically. Well, we in the west love order and trying to create the illusion of order. We try valiantly but lets face it, people living in survival mode wanting a place to live see unused land as a viable option. The concept of ownership and title over space is a nice abstract we have found a way to make concrete through documentation and the exercise of governmental power. But the reality in countries like the Philippines is different. Sure there will be professionals who exploit these squatter situations but really they are all people just trying to have a better life for their families. We just are in a position of enough economic security to have the luxury of seeing things simplistically and calling them thieves.

    My other thought is that the Philippines is really made up of numerous clans and this existed for centuries. The Spaniards came along, installed a system that allowed a few landowners and basically told the members of these clans they were too ignorant and simple to become educated and be anything more than laborers. So it has only been a recent development that filipinos became supposedly “free”. Still, most of the land is owned by a few. Most see their chances of being anything more than laborers and ‘serfs’ as negligible. But here we come as foreigners, along with the help of a wealthy pinay, bemoaning the fact that they don’t want to play the game. A game that has been stacked against most of them for centuries and since birth. Yes, there are always exceptions who make their way out but lets get real about this. It’s too easy to just call them thieves. And suggesting a strong arm dictator enforce discipline is truly a sad commentary on the need for control over others.

  77. I decided not to reply on the comments already previously made but attempt to start my own.

    First, although the land at issue in Quezon City is public land, it is not synonymous to saying it is for every Filipino people as collective individuals. It belongs to the STATE! Just because the land is owned by the State it does not mean that every Filipino people can choose to erect their house in every public land, to state so would mean chaos. We can have “public” streets or “public” city halls occupied by every homeless person in Manila.

    Is poverty an excuse to squat on public land? I don’t think so. I know they came from the province but why can’t these squatters choose either 1) to farm land where they came from or 2) better themselves in Manila by getting an education. Majority of these people are setting up stores without a business license, or just doing some sort of trade (and some of them ARE illegal). In fact, some of my officemates have unfortunately been robbed by slum dwellers across our building which necessitated our office to give shuttle services. Are they really earning an honest living? Or are we saying now that poverty is an excuse to do something illegal?

  78. Daisy and myself are both squatters.
    WhaT? Why? How? You might ask?
    Well, here’s the story:
    Since our meeting ion July 21, 2001…, Starting in Jan 2002 I rented Daisy a series of houses, four, costing about P 5000 a month, ending in 2006. They were quite nice and comfortable. In 2006 Daisy’s father returnrd from his OFW job in Japan. He counciled Daisy that she should have a house of her own in the family compound and the family hould help and protect her as well. Her 2 other sisters are married and live in the same compound i nrheir own sepaeate houses. Construction commensed in May 2006 on the last plot of land available in the family compound. She built a modest 2 story house of about 60 sq meters, costing about $ 10,000. It was complrtrd in Sept 2006. Daisy supervised the construction.
    I finally arrived to visit in May 2007. Daisy’s father appeared at our door with a letter from PHESCO, Philippine Electric Supply Company. I don’t know he got it as he lives in Manila. The letter stated that the house was built on their property and would be buldosed if we didn’t buy the property from them at P4000 per sq meter at about 75 sq meters – about $3500.
    There went the vacation money!
    I gave her father the money and he went downtown to pay the fee. Many more details to this, surveys, meetings with PHESCO occurred , but I’m trying to be brief…
    I have never even received a receipt for the money spent, Let alone a title deed to the property.
    I would like to press Daisy’s father about this, but to do this might cause him to loose face.
    We have gone to Phesco ourselves uit the Chinese businessman owner is always out of town.
    Until I have the title deed in my hands I maintain that we are squatters. This has been going on for more than 3 years.
    Jade

    • Jade – you put money down. There is a dispute. The people we are talking about just found a piece of land that they do not own, took up residence, and are now wondering why they should leave. There is a big difference.

      • Bob.
        Yes I certainly understand the difference. We do not even have a receipt for the $3500. we gave Daisy’s father to pay to PHESCO. I blame his incompetence for that. I feel very uncomfortable not even having a receipt for the money paid. (hopefully paid) The incompetence goes further with him directing that the house to be built on property not owned by the family, it once was, but many years ago. He should have known better or at least been more careful for our sake. This was all too casual, no building permit etc. I was not there and was too trusting.
        I was just pressing the issue, Technically without no receipt, no proof whatsoever that money was paid, PHESCO could order us off “their property” and buldoze the house as they had thretened before. How did they even know it was built? I smell some dried fish cooking somewhere.
        Jade

        • Jade,
          As much as i hate to say this,i smell a ton of dried fish cooking!
          I do hope you eventually have a successful outcome.
          regards,Chas.

  79. Interesting debate Bob. I have friends in the squatter areas in Manila and have on occasion stayed over night at their cramped, poorly lit, poorly ventilated ‘home’. These people are well educated. They came from the provinces in search of a better life. They found that the only employment they could get would not allow them to rent in a better area so they chose to stay in a ‘squatter area’. They are deeply ashamed of this and apologize every time I visit them but they are my friends and they are working to make their lives better the best they know how. I will not judge them for doing what they need to do to put food on the table. The extended family; one uncle, three cousins, a sister and a brother, and two kids occupy two rooms in a dark alley within spitting distance of the airport. The area is dirty. The kids play in the streets with open sewers. The houses date back to the Spanish era but have never been well maintained. I’ve walked through the alley ways and as I’m a big Kano I’m often greeted by bemused little kids. No one has tried to kidnap me, begged money from me or insisted I pay for anything I shouldn’t. I have not been accosted or even inconvenienced. My friends have little and yet they are willing to share because that is their way. I make sure they have a least one good meal when I’m around which I’m sure they appreciate. They are not thieves, They are not beggars. They are not professional ‘squatters’. They are poor people trying to raise themselves up. The area they live in is a well organized barangay and would pass for a ‘slum’ neighborhood in Detroit or Los Angeles or East St. Louis and not a ‘shanty town’. I would not have even known it was a ‘squatter area’ if they had not told me. They do pay rent to a mysterious landlord. They have running water albeit not potable. They cook with bottled gas and even have internet access. They watch TV, enjoy karoke and have a family life in under what you and I would consider untenable circumstances. I don’t blame them for their situations. I hope you will rethink your comments. These people have been allowed to live in these areas, some of them for generations, under abhorrent circumstances the government allows to exist. I understand John Mieles situation and it is completely different and should never be condoned. Please be a little more compassionate when considering the situation.

    • Hi Mark G, That’s the basic issue of a view that is only seen in terms of black and white. A topic of such a complicated and emotional nature could have been discussed in a more objective manner, giving credence to all views. It should not have been an issue for “stirring the pot” and making a laughing matter out of the issue, and jokingly calling these people “bums”. Bob, indeed this has been stressful and upsetting. Maybe you should have taken Paul T’s advice early on, to “just let’s all of us turn on Fox News, and let the RP government deal with the squatters.”

      • Wow Queeniebee, I read your comment from all the comments excluding the main article and I must say that the issue of squatting problem in the Phil can only be described in your own words: complicated and emotional. That is why when I saw the title of the article, I did not bother to read the rest of the article. But I saw your name (& I’m always curious what you say) and there I found the voice of reason, then others as well which John Reyes enumerated. This is not to say I do not have opinion about squatting.

    • I don’t think anyone ever claimed they would harm people like kidnap them, etc. We’re just saying they should not squat on land they do not own.

      I am pretty sure they won’t kidnap anyone or accost anyone at random as my uncles opened the bodega and 3 story office building to the squatters around them during Ondoy, as their shanties were being washed away and to prevent the loss of lives the squatters were allowed into the building and save themselves as the government did nothing to help.

      The squatters did not take anything from the building and they did not try to kidnap or whatever the people in the building.

      Now there is a lady whose services I no longer use.

      She is a hilot that is separated from her husband we try to help her as much as we can in fact paying her PHP1000 the first person then 300 the 2nd just so we know she has enough and try to call her at least 1x a week and our other friends do the same but give a little less. If her daughter gets UTI etc she will ask my mom for 5k which my mom will just give her.

      Now she suddenly moved to squatter area and I told her hey lets find you a house to rent that’s not squatters or maybe a room or something. We did the math she was paying a PREMIUM in that filthy hovel. 2 pesos per pail of water or something atrocious electricity bill (illegal connection but she had to pay someone) Pay for CR etc etc etc looks like she was paying almost 3k for everything -yeah also rent to her neighbor who originally constructed the shanty.

      So I said 3k we can find a better place for 3k and tried helping her find accomodation – guess that SHE WAS NOT LEAVING the squatters area because she was gonna make sure it was given to her and that she and the whole group can demand that private land be given to her.
      And wanted my help to cement her floor etc.

      And this lady s making more than what an office worker or PAL FA is making more like 12k a month or so. She can find alternative accomodation yet inisists on the squatters as she wants that land to be given to her for free.

      I know people who makes less than she does who does not live at squatters.

      I never used her services again and now hire from a spa and it’s MUCH cheaper 250 massage 400 hot stone. And the lady who does the massages have 7 or 8 siblings and NO they are not squatters.

  80. Hi Cheryll Ann, I see your point, and it’s a valid one. Won’t you admit though. that your responses could have been more objective from the onset, when you provoked that reader Tom about his opinions and alluded to his character as possibly being suspicious or unsavory just because he held an alternate view than you? Then when he became upset and tried to defend himself, and maybe lost his patience. you and Bob tried to sanction him. Thomad called him a “religious button pusher”, and his comment was not called a personal attack. That seemed out of character from you both at the start. This post was a disaster from the very beginning. Whether that was intentional or not will not be known I guess.

      • Queeniebee, ian, John and others of the not just black and white opinion. I am moved to stop posting. But before I do that, I would like to put forth this question:
        When did this squatter phenomenon begin? It didn’t begin overnight. It certanly wasn’t present during the golden age of the Philippines in the 1920’s and ’30’s. After Manila was devastated in WW II, much of the population was homeless and living in whatever shelter that could be found. It was cultually accepted because there was no other choice. It appears that the tolerance remains to this day as the Philippino people are an accepting and tolerant People.
        Jade

        • The blog should have been titled: “Land Owners vs Squatters” rather than “How much do squatters earn?”

  81. The Filipinos are a proud people, and i think allot of the economic problems they are currently enduring is from pure over population, i was talking with my gf grandmother who has dual citizenship to the united states, and she said something to me that made me understand a little more why, the over population is cause by 2 things, was a time in the Philippines when health care was bad enough that a women that had 4 children might only have 1 survive to its teens, health care and just general knowledge is better now, so 4 children now is most of the time 4 children… they want to raise a family. and then we have the people who have more children so that when they are old the children will help them out, this is the root cause of the mass poverty in the Philippines, 98 million+ but only good jobs for about 20 million and so so jobs for maybe another 50 million, it leaves a huge void. the Philippines needs to adopt a law very much like china did to combat over population. ( propaganda that to much boom boom is bad for the Philippines ) could save the country in the next 2 generations…………on the subject of squatters’ as much as i feel for the hardship’s and hate to see the little guy kicked when he is down, i would have to side with the land owner’s and honestly that’s just life… if someone buys something for themselves, it’s not right for someone else to help themselves’ to it plain and simple logic

    • I think there will need to be a change in how the main church there in the Phillipines views birth control . But!, since the Catholic church is against birth control..do not see much changing there on the churchs view point. I think the Catholic church has a big influence on how many children a family has.Since a broad population of the Phillipines is Catholic, I really do not see much change as far as any kind of birth control and etc goes on slimming down the population.Since most of the population is Catholic. I also do not see any kind of goverment law or mandate like what China has going into effect in the Phillipines any time soon, because after all, most of the people in goverment are Catholic there. I do belive how ever that the people in the Phillipines will have to figure something out some day or it will be much more of a problem than it is all ready there.

  82. I found this thread to be distasteful and many of the comments (particularly the burn the shacks) to be unpalatable to say the least. I did not join in as I will not participate in such an exercise simply to boost the moderator’s eyeball count (the obvious goal). The moderator and many of the participants displayed a shocking naiveté when trying to discuss such a complicated issue.

    Squatting in the third world mega cities (Manila) has much to do with development and there are many strong connections between squatters, developers and civil authorities. For example many developers will encourage squatting in a particular area in order to attain zoning changes and also in order to force civil authorities to develop some kind of infrastructure, however basic. Needless to say the saintly property owners own land either adjacent to the squatting camps or sometimes the land the squatters put up rudimentary structures. I could give many instances where this process is taking place and has taken place.

    This issue should not be framed in terms of black and white and I find it embarrassing that so many westerners should pile on in such a manner. Most of you are guests in the Philippines and yet you display a lack of sensitivity and basic decency that would not be tolerated in the USA, Ireland ect. I am also aware of the irony that many westerners living in the Philippines live on very meager pensions and are not able to cut the proverbial mustard in the so called ‘First World’.

    My one and only comment

    Jody

    • Finally, a voice of reason and humanity! Jody, we need more of your thoughts and insights here. So I hope this would not be your last one.

      I agree, the problem is systemic and there really is no easy solution to this problem. So what do you think should be done to address this problem, both in the interim and the long term?

  83. Whew, after reading all the comments on both sides, my heart is beating funny! I think i need to be careful with your articles and of the comment section. Its great that we live in a world where we can all strive to agree to disagree on articles like this one!!. Seems Bobs intent is right but we are all human with emotions and opinions as well. Personally i dont agree with all but so be it as i do think most have good intentions with comments. Will i be back?????? I hope so!!!

  84. To all readers…

    I have decided to close the comments on this article. Frankly, I do not need the grief that came along with this article. I did not write this article to “raise the eyeball count” as I have been accused. I wrote the article because I found the topic interesting when I saw the debate on TV.

    The comments are now closed.

  86. Hi Bob: Just to let you know….squatting has started in the good ol USA now. 5 months ago in Texas a man had broken into a 5 million dollar foreclosed home 2 years ago and paid up the water, sewer, electrical bills. He occupied the property for the required time frame in Texas. One day later he went to the county clerks office and paid a squatters fee and voila…the house was his. Bank of America contested the transfer of title but lost. Texas law worked for this guy. Just last month in my town in Wa State an elderly lady went to stay with her daughter nearer to the hospital. (health issues). Her neighbour and their cousin broke into her house a few days later and threw out all her stuff. When she returned she found the new residents occupying her house. Police were called and they were arrested even though they claimed squatter rights. It is starting here because America is descending into a third workd status via the largest transfer of wealth in history.

    • Hey Mark, late response to your post, but since Bob re-exposed this post I thought I’d comment. As far as squatters in the U.S. it is almost impossible to squat in the larger metropolitan areas as most municipalities and utility service providers now require a deed or lease agreement and deposits to turn on utilities. I would question the Texas squatter success story in the multi-million $$ home as factual. There may be other ways unknowing to me to be successful in obtaining properties through squatting, but most government agencies and lending institutions have most of their legal bases covered.

      On the other hand are the tent cities that are popping up and expanding all across the country. This is becoming a “real” reality!

  87. I think the best solution is to hire some very bad and ruthless criminals to move into the squatters homes, use power, water, tv, pc ect. and not pay anything and not move out. Just see how the squatters like it. If its good for them, why not anyone.

  88. I am living here in the Philippines. I am claiming our family’s lot from squatters. I just want to ask, these people (squatters) are professionals and some have spouses or relatives working as overseas workers, are they still considered as squatters? Or they just want to live for free?

  89. Bob,
    At risk of being seen as lazy, and not wanting to read all the massive opinionated posts, who won the battle in the original post??? Did new buildings get constructed are the squatters still there today?

    • Oh my goodness, Rich.. I knew somebody was going to ask me that! 😆 Truth is, I don’t know what the resolution was, or even if there was a resolution. The last I heard, Malacanang (the Presidential Palace) had ordered that the demolition of the squatter area be halted. As far as I know, that is where it still stands. I did a Google search, and could find nothing that happened after that either. So, I can’t say for sure, but I think it is still a status quo situation.

  90. Wow! That was incredible! I can see why it was rated no. 1! I must say that I learned much about the Philippines and the problems associated with owning land. John M, I feel for you and your wife. I know how my girlfriend would handle that situation. My feisty little Filipina wouldn’t tolerate any squatter on her property, even if she had to do something illegal to protect her rights. If the law can’t handle the squatter issue, then land owners shouldn’t pay taxes on that land until the government does, or the land owners should take the law into their own hands. In reality, it is the government’s fault for causing these problems in the first place, and they should be held liable for resolving these issues between legal land owner and illegal squatter. If the government can’t, then they are just being irresponsible and don’t deserve the property tax that supports many of the government functions. Anyway, being a foreigner living in another country, I shouldn’t comment on such things, but it seems so sad that John M and his wife, among many other people, have to suffer so much for so long after working so hard to own their own land. It doesn’t make any sense at all, and it is not right!!!

    • Hi David – yes it is truly amazing that such problems go unresolved. Just one of the reasons why I am generally opposed to owning land here – in my wife name of course.

  91. Bob, thank you so much for your very informative blogs and websites. It is very, very informative and little by little I am learning about the do’s and don’ts of living in the Philippines. I am also learning much more about my girlfriend and her culture. Her behavior is starting to make much more sense. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to everyone, too. You do a great job. I don’t know if you have this service or not, but it would be nice if you had a course that people could take for acclimating to life in the Philippines. Naturally, when an American, for example, goes to a foreign country, they will experience culture shock for six months or more. It would be nice if there was a series of courses that taught us foreigners how to do all the things you mention in your blog, like riding the jeepme (spelling?), shopping for food and negotiating prices, real estate, Filipino families, traditional Philippine dishes, and so forth. It is one thing to read about it, but it is a completely different thing to actually experience it. I think that it would go a long way to help foreigners adjust to life in the Philippines as well as help prevent the Ugly American syndrome from occurring so often. When one foreigner gets ugly, it makes all foreigners look bad. Again, I appreciate your websites and what you are doing! Thank you!

    • Hi David – Your idea about the course is an interesting one, something that I had not really considered before, maybe I’ll consider doing something like that. I have, to be honest, considered this site, in it’s entirety to be somewhat of a course like that. You are right, though, there are so many things to consider and take into account when moving here.

      Thanks to you for your kind words.

      • Hi Bob, I think there’s always something for David in all of the topics discussed here, Your Acclimation series, SIR and your top ten other articles are something David could start, especially the comments.

        Mars

  92. Bob, I suggest you go back over this thread and delete ALL reference to BURNING OUT SQUATTERS. Your personal attitude should be more responsible than this. Your legal situation is likely suspect also, as by “Ha Ha yeah the match will do it” you are encouraging what is in fact POLITICAL VIOLENCE which is the BASIC DEFINITION OF A TERRORIST. It doesn’t matter if your points are valid. You have responsibility for what’s posted on this site. Being able to be construed as supporting a terrorist act (Ha ha!) (OMG).

    You and others on your side of the wealth divide should be a bit careful how easily you assume the moral high ground. A small percentage of squatters are abusing the system. Many have close to no education, let alone birth control.
    I know you do some very cool stuff in your community, for the poor and struggling. This is a good side of you. Don’t let yourself get sucked into self righteous judgement of folks who cannot even dream of the freedom and opportunity you have been blessed with.

    (Seriously please get rid of the ‘threat of political violence’ here and add a note to your Code of Conduct, that violent means of settling disputes should not be posted as they may lead to prosecution. This gets you off the hook, as long as you maintain posting discipline. If you don’t believe me I strongly suggest you get some legal advice on the matter. Disgusting.

  93. By writ of law, squatters are criminals. The government is very lax with enforcement and actually rewards them. The powers that be might not want to offend their ready source of VOTES to keep them in office. Not one governor wants to risk his position by becoming known as ‘The Mayor/Councilor/Senator/President who Busted our Property Racket’.
    We would have a much healthier social security/welfare system if the untold amounts of taxpayer Pesos did not go into propagating such an unlawful and obscene practice. Budgets go into giving (???) squatters free houses that they do not move into but rather rent out.
    As the heavily-burdened middle class become fewer and disempowered (since they’re more likely to guard the growth of their families), the unrightfully entitled squatting poor grow in number (their motto being,’the more children I make, the more chances I have of being taken care of in my old age’).
    We all have to be prepared for things to come to a head. I see no one in this forum ‘inciting violence’ or ‘terroristic activity’, they’re just reacting and stating where this cycle might bring us.
    I, for one, would not stand idly by and watch as squatters just occupy and claim land that I worked for for years. Eventually, there will be too many lawful, land-owning Filipinos who cannot afford to give up their hard-earned lands and start to fight back. Imagine your dreams of eventually building your modest house on a piece of land you’ve been paying off the bank for for years just vanish because a squatter family of 20 have decided that they have more rights to your land than you do simply because they know the government will most likely condone their trespass.
    No one is judging the poor here. No one HAS to judge squatters, they flaunt their criminal activity in plain sight already. There is no argument, only the lack of law enforcement.

  94. Good Articles Bob,
    However some are poor and definately need help here in Australia there are thousands that live on the streets which is still hard to come to terms with some by choice and others buy misfortune. The country also has squatters that partake in this action some pay rent for a week then stop paying rent destroy the property they have rented and some stay without paying rent and for some reason seem to be better proctected then the poor old land lord, this occurrs all the time and the land lord has to come up with the damage bill and loss on income etc. Can you tell me anything about the Ormoc City Leyte, there is a problem that has arisen since 1968 when the then government signed an agreement for land in that area over to the Military. The local people mostly elders have been living in that area for over 100 years it states. It appears they are going to demolish a lot of the homes there as well not sure what is going on but I feet sorry for these people some I work seven days a week there. Take Care
    Philip

  95. Hi Bob! We always see these people building shanties in a private land. If the demolition team tries to demolish their shanties, these “people” will insist their right, saying that they’ve been there for years, that’s why they own that land (although they don’t have any land titles). What’s more, they always insist the so-called Lina Law (Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA)) which doesn’t even cover private lands. They also demand private land-owners to give them relocation with free housing, land titles, electricity, water,etc. before they leave the land. Because of this law, the government protects the “welfare” of these squatters.

    I’m disappointed, seriously. Our soldiers, policemen, public school teachers, et al., pay their taxes but they do not have any adequate shelter. Most of these squatters do not have any jobs, yet the government is willing to provide free housing to these people. The communist/activist would also protect their welfare because they are “poor” (and they can buy shabu, bottles of gin and beer).

    I remember a radio report by the time the monsoon rains hit our country. The floods had hid some squatters area somewhere in Manila City and QC. The reporter was laughing when he learned that some of the expensive appliances bought by some squatters there were destroyed by the floods. Imagine, they can buy expensive appliances but they can’t rent their own house! LOL.

  96. Anybody here, Filipino or otherwise, who don’t PROFOUNDLY know the Philippine History in general and the history of these Filipino squatters in particular, squatters by necessity to be specific, has no right to say anything about this issue. If there are squatters in some other countries, Filipino real squatters have their own peculiarities and particularities that anyone tackling the issue has to clearly understand.

  97. I think to get a better understanding on why perhaps a squatter would take up residency on a piece of land they don’t own is to ask one, they are just people like us with whole lot less capital. I’m sure there is many willing to tell their side of the story. I agree with Bob I don’t think it right to set up shop on private land but at the same token it’s not like their setting up shop on some average joe’s piece of property, they are making their homes on some multi-millionaire’s property who is probably in bed with some of the top corrupt government officials in the Manila area. I know it’s wrong what the squatters are doing but in the same breath I feel their pain and struggles.

    • Hi Rick – I am sorry, my friend, but I disagree that it is OK since they are squatting on land of the rich. Rich or poor, if a person owns the land, then the squatter has no right to it.

      • Agreed, being poor does not give that person any right whatsoever to steal the land of other people, it odes not give them the right to commit crimes against other people.
        And yes there are many landowners out there who are not rich and cannot live on their lot because the squatter is enjoying himself there.
        Honestly there should be stricter laws.
        And if they cant afford to give their kids a good life they they should not have children at all.
        They just want everything without working for it.

  98. Squatters in the Philippines provinces are often very poor people with nowhere else to live.
    That’s often not the case in Metro Manila.