The study about Sama-sama, thus, offers valuable lessons and Insights on the process of community organizing and understanding community participation in governance. This article summarizes some of the highlights of the study. It begins with a brief history of Sama-sama and the Influences to its cohesion. This is followed by...

This paper examines four Philippine cases of how once powerless urban poor groups have metamorphosed from a begging or requesting mode in dealing with officials and elites, to a demand mode that highlights poor people negotiating confidently with powerful figures as equals. On the government side, initial responses reinforcing the...

Building a Safe, Inclusive Settlement: Manggahan Floodway Pasig, Philippines: Experiences/Roles of Community Organizing for an In-City Participatory Housing

This case study focuses first on Zone One Tondo Organization, the famed ZOTO that rallied thousands of its people to its cause in the mid-1970s, moving from failure to strength then strength to weakness; and gently probes the complex interplay of events that account for ZOTO's later "silent" years....