Metropolitan Arrangements - Philippine Institute for Development ...

58 ManagingUrbanizationUndera DecentralizedGovernanceFramework
For a lot of the emerging metropolises under study, the garbage
issue is one of the sources of nonsupport for a metropolitan
arrangement. Often, municipalities, especially those that have large
tracts of land with big potential as a landfill site, perceive such
arrangement as a means for them to be co-opted to be the site of
refuse of the dominant city or the other municipalities in the
metropolitan area.
Metro Manila's experience in this issue was one that required
presidential intervention. What complicated the problem is that the
identified landfill sites are in Carmona and San Mateo---both in Rizal
and municipalities outside of Metro Manila's jurisdiction. The issue
could not have reached a fast resolution had Malacafiang not
intervened for the MMDA.
For many cities, especially those having limited land for final
disposal, the garbage problem pose both a serious and an urgent
issue. For instance, Baguio City projects that its current dump site
will reach full capacity in a year's time. Negotiations are being tried
for a possible site in La Trinidad, among others, but with much
difficulty.
If metropolitan arrangements will not prove workable for cities
beset with metropolitan-wide problems, how can these be resolved
Should Metro Manila's experience of Presidential mediation be always
used or should a national policy be formulated in cases of conflicts
requiring compromise or sacrifice
Sustaining and Enhancing the Metropolitan Arrangements
Addressing the issues just described necessitates a clear
understanding of the elements essential for the successful planning
and management of the metropolis. An understanding of these basic
prerequisites would help identify the necessary policy intervention
instruments that will solve the issues confronting the existing and
emerging metropolises in the country.
The identification of the key elements of metropolitan planning
and management finds basis on the documented experiences of other
countries and from the unique lessons derived from the existing
metropolitan arrangements in the Philippines under study.
There are three key elements or conditions necessary for an
effective and efficient metropolitan planning and development. First,
a common vision of preservation and development of the region is
crucial. Second, there ought to be a unified ecooomic and political
base to implement the vision. Third, an appropriate metropolitan