MANILA, Philippines – More than 400,000 people living in the Laguna Lake (Manila) informal settlement could be without a roof over their head. In order to avoid future flooding, the authorities are planning to demolish all unauthorised houses in the area without providing for an alternative solution that meets the needs of the residents.

'Don’t demolish the homes of the poor without an adequate relocation plan,' Cardinal Gaudenzio Rosales, archbishop of Manila, said in a pastoral letter. 'Let us not blame the poor in the waterways for the flooding of our cities... Only when the needs of the least [protected] are addressed will our society achieve true and lasting development.'

Shanty dwellers in Manila received £4,800 in APF support in 2008.