Balik-Riles: a case study of Bagumbong, Caloocan City resettlement under the Philippine North-South Railways Project (NSRP)

Abstract

With the repeated failures of off-city relocation programs, the in-city relocation programs are viewed as a better solution to maintain the access of the relocatees to different public services. However, this research disproved such notion by analyzing the case of the Northville II-B resettlement in Bagumbong, Caloocan City under the NSRP. The issues faced by the relocatees in the said resettlement showed that the access to necessities and opportunities does not improve or are not maintained in in-city relocation projects. The problematic condition in the resettlement resulted to the relocatees abandoning the resettlement and returning to their former communities to regain their lost access to their necessities. This case study showed the failure of our government to develop a participatory and mass-oriented relocation program, and consider and resolve the macro-level issues that the relocatees also face.