Abstract
8th of November 2014, the eyes of the world zero in Tacloban City during the landfall of Super Typhoon Haiyan. The enormous damage came way beyond the capacity of what anybody can imagine, affecting practically everyone. When disaster’s like this happens, amongst the victims- the marginalized are the most affected and due to limited resources to again stand on their foot, the real option available is to wait, depend and settle for the assistance from externalities. Fortunately, a vast inflow of support came in coming from different sources and in various forms for the recovery programs. A top priority program is focused on housing rehabilitation that includes relocation, construction and provision of the basic utilities necessary of decent living. Taking into account all stakeholder’s effort and looking at the quality of life of the victims pre- and post Haiyan, did Tacloban City rebounded to be a better City after 4 years and 4 months of the aftermath? This research paper focuses on the process involving the actors of governance- government units, NGO’s, social movements, international groups, business and the people, namely the citizen’s participation in planning. Citizen’s participation in planning is an urban planning approach that emphasizes the involvement of the stakeholders in the community to be engaged in the strategic and management processes of urban planning, community development planning. This study will evaluate citizen’s participatory planning process adopted during the formulation of Haiyan recovery and rehabilitation plan, specifically in the decisions pertaining land use and development plan for the site intended for relocating displaced families whose homes were destroyed and declared as no build zone, the underlying factors that affected implementation and to know the outcome of the results in the life of the populace that compose the marginalized sector. This study evaluates living conditions of the government initiated relocated communities in the northern part of the city. Coming from the literature of sustainable community development, this study examines the factors that determines living conditions of settlements and how it affects the total quality of life of the residents. A settlement is considered sustainable if the basic needs of the residents are met and when its environment is conducive for growth. This research paper proposes that: (1) a well-defined citizen’s participation procedural guide is needed to operationalize this important planning dimension that will apply for in-crisis, short and long term community development plans; (2) capacity building among in the marginalized sector is essential for effective citizen’s participation in planning; (3) citizen’s movements structural rationalization is empirical to ensure full sectoral complement so as to effect check and balance the political and social dimension of every development project; and (4) integration of environmental management audit as pre-planning requisite in community development planning. The primary argument of this paper is that effective and efficient citizen’s participation in planning is a key success factor in program development, thus paves the way to building resilient and sustainable communities.
