TOURISM, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION: THEIR NEXUS IN GAWAD KALINGA COMMUNITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES Rowena Santos Delgado Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2014 Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning The University of Melbourne Produced on Archival Quality Paper Dedication To travellers around the world, especially those who visited the Philippines and helped its people. Abstract This thesis explores the relationship between tourism and housing in the development of poor communities in the Philippines, arguing that tourism can be made more sustainable when a participatory approach to housing delivery is integrated in plans and policies for tourism development. Although the centrality of community participation in the sustainability of tourism has been established in existing research, participatory housing processes were not overtly incorporated as an essential component in tourism. Literature on sustainable tourism lacks an exploration of participatory housing processes in addressing problems that develop from mass tourism such as social displacement and alienation. Utilising social capital as theoretical framework, this thesis investigates how community participation in housing influences their capacity to participate in the sustainability of tourism. To demonstrate the relationship between participatory housing and sustainable tourism with particular focus on poor communities located in tourism regions, a case study on the bayanihan approach to housing provision by the Gawad Kalinga Community Development (GK) organisation in the Philippines was undertaken. Bayanihan, which is a traditional practice of participation motivated by philanthropy and nationalism, has been employed by GK in the simultaneous building of new communities and also the development of tourism. The case study employed four case communities located within the recently developing tourist region of Cam Sur Philippines: The GK Character Village, the GK Pona Village, Mambulo Nuevo Village, and the Sierra Homes Village. Based on grounded theory and correlation analysis, the case study shows an uneven transfer of knowledge and practice of bayanihan which resulted in different levels of participation in the convergence of housing and tourism, namely, indifference, assimilation, adoption and integration. Moreover, the central role of the GK organisation in the accumulation of social capital through bayanihan has translated to diverse social and physical outcomes. This thesis shows that examining community participation and its influence in generating social capital provides a platform for understanding the relationship between tourism development and housing provision and provides a basis for divergent social and physical outcomes in communities located in tourism regions. It also highlights that transferring local knowledge of bayanihan, most notably in the implementation of pro-poor tourism strategies needs to consider the following critical factors that are often overlooked: leadership and organisation, multi-sector collaboration, sweat equity, project delivery, community identity, and training and education. Furthermore, the failure to embed participatory housing provision in research, policy and practices of sustainable tourism results in the alienation of resident communities from tourism development, instead of their inclusion. Declaration This is to certify that (1) The thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD degree (2) Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all materials (3) The thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices Rowena Delgado October 2014 Foreword: Research as a personal journey My interest in investigating the influence of participatory housing on sustainable tourism began in 2004 when I completed my thesis for my Masters degree in Urban and Regional planning. My study was about ecotourism in Catigan, Davao City Philippines. During the course of my study, I reflected on the plight of long-term farmers and their families who have had to sell their land to pave the way for agri-tourism and ecotourism development. In 2005, a big portion of this town, the Habana Estate, became the development site of the GK Pueblo Antonio Village where 36 houses were built for the farmers through bayanihan. While I offered my commitment to work as a volunteer architect and planner, I also took this opportunity to integrate GK with the architecture courses I handled at the University of the Philippines Mindanao where I was a full-time faculty member of the Department of Architecture. I turned GK Villages into architecture laboratories where students got to experience hands-on teaching and learning with a social service component. In 2007, I attended an international training course for self-help housing in San Jose Costa Rica – a country that is known for community-based tourism ventures. The training was hosted by the Swedish International Development Authority and Lund University in partnership with a non-profit organization for self-help housing projects called FUPROVI (Fundacion Promotora de Vivienda). FUPROVI – just like GK – also catered to local and international visitors who commit to the challenge of addressing poverty alleviation and slum eradication. In 2009, I was awarded a scholarship grant for a PhD degree in The University of Melbourne which I commenced in 2010. I took this opportunity to further seek a contextual understanding of housing that is located in tourism regions. As I have selected GK communities in my case study, my fieldwork had been more manageable; my identity as a volunteer consultant for GK communities was an immense advantage particularly in establishing rapport with key informants and community leaders. While visiting GK villages in Cam Sur, the folks would request my comments on previous and proposed community projects. They allowed me to sit in their meetings and would parade me as one of the ―international‖ visitors as they did with other researchers – though I was essentially a Filipino who happens to study in Australia. I was also asked to write a few articles about my experiences in GK which was published in GK reports and websites. This was considerably important in the organisation‘s effort to project the international scope of GK influence. In evaluating GK, I sought to unravel the socio-cultural influences that reflect global developments in addressing poverty particularly in rural areas akin to tourist developments. The way that GK uses slogans such as ‗walang iwanan‘ (no one left behind), and ‗isang milyong bayani‘ (one million heroes), entices participation not only among the communities but people from different sectors of society. I would like to explore how GK affects the discourse on sustainable tourism. By this research, I hope to contribute to the body of knowledge on community participation that integrates housing processes with tourism outcomes. Acknowledgement I extend my deepest gratitude to: My supervisors: Sidh Sintusingha and Catherin Bull – from whom I obtained wisdom through their example of endurance and persistent drive towards excellence; My mentor and panel adviser Lindy Joubert – with whom I was challenged to hone my skills in both academic and extracurricular pursuits, as well as established wonderful friendship through our journey with GK; My panel adviser Dominique Hes – for believing in the research topic and her ability to challenge me to go beyond; My mentor and statistical consultant, Sandy Clarke – for stirring in me that interest in statistics and tools for quantitative analysis; Fellow researchers and staff of the ABP Faculty, especially Chris Heywood who gave me an opportunity to work as a research assistant; My colleagues in the Research for Higher Degree Department: Mojgan, Nafiseh, Ted, Kit, Wing, Leo, Pan, Ann, Marjan, Hingwah, Min and Chuan – for all the advice, the fellowship, and the precious companionship. People behind Gawad Kalinga: Tito Tony, Tita Cecile, Tita Des, Tito Jun, Eena, Jaja, Eric, Angel and Nina – For inspiring me and for making it possible to conduct fieldwork and data collection. The officials of the Local Government of Iriga, Libmanan and Cam Sur as well as the leaders and members of the GK Character Village, GK Pona Village, Sierra Homes and Mambulo Nuevo; My dear beshie and colleague, Dr. Maureen, who lovingly motivates me to press on. My beloved friends, prayer partners, and my LifeHouse family: Fiona, Katie, Leah, Rina, Giegie, Charisse, Benilda, Eva, Delia, Luchie, Ofel and Mardiana – for lifting me up in prayer throughout the duration of this thesis; I will treasure our friendship which I know will last a lifetime; My loving family: my husband John and my children Kairus and Shari – who are my source of my joy and my passion. Highest praise to our God Almighty, the Author of life, my Teacher and Provider; with you all things are possible. TOURISM, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION Their nexus in Gawad Kalinga Communities of the Philippines Table of Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ v Declaration .........................................................................................................................................vii