The total population of the Philippines as of January 2020 is 108.8 million (Worldometer, 2020). The

Philippines' annual population growth rate is 1.5% and its fertility rate is 2.9 (UNESCAP, 2016). Internal migrants

in the Philippines constitute a significant population. Approximately 2.9 million Filipinos changed residence

between 2005 and 2010: 50.4% were long-distance movers (moved province), 45.4% were short-distance

movers (moved city), and 4.2% were international immigrants (Philippines Statistics Authority, 2012). The

Philippines has undergone rapid urbanization in its history. From 2000 to 2010, the urban population increased

at an annual average of 3.3%, making it one of the fastest urbanizing countries in the Asia-Pacific. In the last 50

years, the urban population has increased by over 50 million, and in 2050, 102 million people (over 65% of the

total population) are projected to reside in cities (World Bank, 2017).

Urban poverty has remained persistent throughout the country. In 2003, 17.8% of the urban population lived

at less than US$ 3.10/day or 155 pesos, and by 2012, this proportion remained high at 17.4%. Nonetheless

overall poverty in urban areas (13.2%) is significantly lower than in rural areas (39.4%) of the country (World

Bank, 2017). The high volume of migrants to cities has strained housing, infrastructure, and basic services in

major cities. As a result, informal settlements became rampant. The number of informal settlers in the

Philippines has increased from 4.1% of total urban population in 2003 to 5.4% in 2012. Approximately 2.2

million Filipinos lived in informal settlements, of which 1.3 million were in Metro Manila alone (World Bank

2017).

Relevant to the rising socioeconomic concerns on the uncontrollable growth of urban poverty, President

Rodrigo Duterte proposed to transition the current unitary form of government into federal, same as the

concept of decentralizing authority to cities and neighborhoods (discussed in the handout). Unitary form of

government means that the central government is the highest governing power that receives the largest part

of every region's income and redistributes it, often disproportionately (De La Cruz, 2019). Federalism, on the

other hand, is a form of government wherein regional states will have greater power over raising their own

revenues, determining their own legislation, and choosing their economic development models (Heydarian,

2018). Specific to the Philippine government, the proposed constitution divides the Philippines into 18

federated regions. The present administration deeply believes that this type of restructuring will provide

greater and equal opportunities for both urban and rural people, thus decreasing the rate of urban poverty

that simultaneously controls rural-urban migration.

Explain the following items:

1. Explain the repercussions of urban migration to the economic development of the Philippines.

2. Evaluate if the proposed federal form of government would be effective to regulate rural-urban

migration.

3. Propose other policy options that can be adopted by the Philippine government to control urban

congestion.