rapid assessment of the social impacts of - Philippines Development ...

participation in the training is limited to a certain number of participants and not everyone who
completed the training is able to find a job.
Credit opportunities abound in SV4. Most of those who have small enterprises borrow from
“lending” organizations and “5-6.” 8 Those who cannot access credit, such as the elderly and
those with irregular employment, turn to their neighbors, who also charge interest for loans.
SV4 is under the jurisdiction of two barangays, Caingin and Pooc, an arrangement that creates
difficulties in the delivery of basic services as it is unclear which barangay is responsible for
what services. The NHA-supervised HOA manages SV4. It consists of twelve elected officials
drawn from the roster of thirty-five leaders, with each leader representing a residential cluster
of one hundred households. SV4 has its own set of barangay tanod (community police, all of
which are men) and barangay health workers (BHWs, all women).
Malaban, Biñan, Laguna. Malaban is one of the densely populated barangays in Biñan. In 2008,
it had 41,404 residents in 8,281 households, with each household having an average of five to
six members. In some cases, as many as three to four families share a housing unit. It has one
health center, an elementary school, a high school and seven pre-schools and day care centers.
Shoemaking is the primary occupation of the residents. When cheaper footwear from China hit
the Philippine market, the demand for Biñan-made footwear lessened. Shoemakers then
focused on making slippers, and workers in shoe factories shifted to other occupations, such as
driving tricycles, doing construction work, helping out in the wet market, and lakeside fishing.
Others (both men and women) tried their luck abroad as contract workers. Some households
rely on vegetable farming along the side of the lake. Women usually sell the produce in Biñan
market. Still a number of residents, usually men, go to the municipality of Liliw, considered “the
slippers capital of the Philippines”, to work as “maglalapat” (shoe factory workers). Those who
engage in fishing are either “pante” (fish pen) operators or hook-and-line fishers.
Because it has an extensive wet market that carries wholesale offers of meat, vegetable and fish
products, Biñan is able to attract buyers and traders from nearby Sta. Rosa City and the town of
San Pedro. Consequently, selling meat, vegetables and fish products, providing market labor,
and driving transport public vehicles have become the main occupations for the people of
Malaban. As a result, more and more families have sought to establish residence in the barangay
as renters or informal settlers. Likewise, the number of people selling vegetables and fish and
operating sari-sari stores has ballooned. Barangay officials are reportedly only present during
barangay meetings and required official functions. According to the residents they have not
been very active in carrying out their tasks in the barangay. POs come and go, especially in Zone
7. Often short-lived, these POs are either created because a project is being implemented in the
barangay or because membership in a PO is a requisite for accessing loans. These projects
mostly focus on medical assistance, especially for children. Other POs assist in the social
immersion activities in marginalized communities that Metro Manila-based colleges and
universities organize for their students.
Control Community
Marikina Heights, Marikina City. Barangay Marikina Heights was established in April 1978
through a Presidential Decree signed by then President Ferdinand Marcos. The natural high
terrain of the land and its structure made it a likely choice for a control group in this rapid
assessment. The only area in the barangay that was briefly flooded was a small portion of
Champaca at Apitong Street which is situated near the creek. To date, there are seven purok
(sub-villages) in the barangay with a population of almost forty-eight thousand individuals in
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