Migration In Naga City

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The author of this article is Eduardo Cleofe of IMDM, under the supervision of Dr. Federico M. Macaranas for Philippine Center for Population and Development, Inc. (PCPD)

It talks about the planning and setting up of a Metro Naga Development Council by Mayor Jesse Robredo in Naga City. The MNDC shall address the issues on internal migration being experienced and how it has affected the population and disrupted the over-all development of the city. With its support, there will be engagement of the various stakeholders in Naga City’s new policy initiative and pushing forward the accompanying change process. It is evident that there must already be a political intervention to pursue the achievement of the city’s development

People living in the outskirts of Naga actually took to the city to seek more opportunities there. Migration has become the main driver of the city’s population growth, accounting for about 80 percent of the annual increment. Six of every ten migrants came from other towns within the province of Camarines Sur, while the rest came from other Philippine provinces. (Wilfredo B. Prilles Jr., Urban Indicators for Managing Cities. Asian Development Bank)

However, the article states that “The influx of people has its accompanying negative ramifications. Mayor Robredo and his management team already discussed the lingering effects of in-migration, which is unmanaged rural-to-urban migration that has resulted in a mismatch between population and urban physical infrastructure and basic services. Slum and squatter settlements, sanitation problems, water and air pollution, and traffic congestion are urban-specific issues which were also felt in Naga City. Just like in other cities in the Philippines, the rate of population growth in Naga far exceeds job creation, leading to more unemployment and worsening

Another challenge is the presence of operational difficulties in line with the implementation of the change process. Terms of leaders are so short (3 years) leading to uncertainties in continuity of the programs started. It is necessary therefore to find equilibrium between the short and long term projects.

It is somehow difficult as well for the local city government to extend their responsibilties to the neighboring areas especially so that their main duties to their constituents is becoming greater. It is true that the relationship between rural and urban areas are dynamically interconnected as stated in the article. A problem on finding a very willing party to handle the respoonsibilities together with the burden is also present.

Since compared to MMDA, MNDC isn 't created by law so there 's a need to exert strong political will and power to influence the realization of the council, especially in regards to letting the people know what this propaganda is for and that everybody will benefit from its outcome eventuallly. There must be a unification of purposes and initiatives for it to push through for city development. One major feature of MNDC as cited intheartcle is the application of the maximal use of assets and