Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

330 SESSION V
is still a question why the government sets priority to
tackle with the tent community first. There are many
groups of the homeless and some live on the street or
at the railway station, and we can assume that these
homeless who have no tent now get into more trouble.
However, the government prefers to focus on tent
community because the government would like to get
rid of the tents, which are received by government and
citizens as dirty, disgusting and terrible.
The question is relevant especially since it has the
condition that person who moves out from tent to
apartment must sign an agreement that he/she will not
return to tent in the future. This condition reveals the
real objective of this policy. We can argue that this policy
is just a neat eviction measure hidden inside the helping
project, rather than lifting up the quality of life.
The demands of this group is that the government
ought to provide the public jobs for homeless people.
However, there is no response from the government in
this issue to date.
3. Does not quite agree with this policy but tries to support
persons who move into apartment.
This group does not totally agree with the policy because
this program started so quickly and some homeless
moved into apartment already. They feel that they must
follow the policy to support them for success of it. This
group differs from the first group because although they
do not value the program highly, they see the positive
side of this program, that is having a guarantee for no
eviction for 2 years. Thus, many organizations can make
use of this condition positively to set the network for
supporting homeless people. However, they criticize
this policy that it does not give consideration to the
community life, as the homeless are dispersed to 23
wards in Tokyo, and became lonely in their rooms. So
the homeless supporting organizations should be set the
network to help them.
As some of homeless moved from the park to
apartment, the government announced to the public
that this policy succeeded because the park was cleaner
and the homeless gained a better life. Because some of
the homeless may successfully stay at their apartment,
social critic and media may show their support with this
measure. It means that the government wins with its
propaganda.
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
Therefore the most urgent point now is how to
disseminate the opposite opinions (in disagreement
with that policy) to the public and clarify the limitation
of this program and propose other alternatives.
And the most significant requirement of homeless
people we should recognize is that the government
needs to accept the decision of the homeless in moving
or staying wherever they choose.
Lessons for Thai Society
In the Thai context, process of the development of this
policy in Japan is noteworthy. We have just started to
negotiate with Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA)
to set a temporary shelter, and now the operation is in
process.
1. From the lesson in Tokyo, we must be careful on
the clarification of that project, that is, to avoid having
it regarded as a measure to evict or control homeless
people. So we must develop a movement to protect their
civil rights and the homeless must have participation in
the shelter’s management. When the supporter helps
them to negotiate with the government, we must pay
attention carefully that the real objective of this option
is to provide what is needed by homeless people and
must encourage them to have participation to the
negotiating process with the government, so that the
process will empower them.
2. We need to make clear that every measure is set up
only as an option of supporting homeless people.
Activist at Kotobuki has shared an interesting opinion.
He said that between having no policy and having the
policy to support but also having an eviction, he does
not know which is better.
ADDRESSING THE HOUSING PROBLEMS IN
THE PHILIPPINES 13
Introduction
Among the urban poor movements in South East Asia
(SEA), community organizing process has been widely
used in the Philippines to mobilize poor people to
finding solutions to their land and housing problems.
The first community organization in the early years of
1970s during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos
was the Zone One Tondo Orgaization or ZOTO. It was
such a difficult time for organizations to exist because of
Martial Law. Squatting was a crime because of the Anti-