The city of Cebu was already segregated during the Pre-Spanish and Spanish eras when the natives were separated from the Chinese traders and the Spanish elite geographically. Thus, the Indios were relegated to the places we now know as Pasil and Carbon. The Chinese or the Sangleys, lived in the Colon area where they sold their goods. And in the Parian area was where the Spanish elite clustered. Although actual walls may not have been erected between, but the people knew and were conscious of the boundaries of their classes.
As the years passed, the order of the city changed. Most of the locals who constitute the masses had remained by the sea to pursue their living whether for trading or for fishing. Meanwhile, the Chinese businessmen had slowly moved into the interiors of the city, further and further into the mountains where exclusive communities were built. At the same time, the Spanish descended families, moved in the same direction until there were no distinction between dwellings of the Spanish elite or the Chinese businessmen except maybe in the decorations of their homes. The middle class remained in between, and the poor masses, continued to stay at the outskirts, near the waters.
FORTIFIED ENCLAVES AND THE REST OF SOCIETY
The formation of Beverly Hills is an example of the manifestation of this movement. And later, Ma. Luisa Park further inwards, if Carbon or Pasil is our reference, became the nouveau place for the elite.
Not surprisingly though, the middle classes had also upgraded themselves, and the middle ground became proliferated with a dynamic mix of the middle class and the elite. More so because of the advent of the condominiums in the city which price ranges are affordable by the upper middle class and the elite.
In the recent years the quest for safety in isolation has become more and more prevalent, and the once scarcely practiced is now more pronounced and shapes the cities as they grow. Fortified enclaves are those spaces in the city owned by private associations or companies which are secured to define the property to whom it belongs. All the mechanisms installed are designed to keep others out. Although there are no standard models for segregation, the last few years displayed a dynamic quality where cities defined its own public and private spaces. While segregation brings others comfort, it also brings discomfort for the rest. Displacement, loss of home, new jeepney routes, no entry signs everywhere, no money to afford entry, no identification to allow participation in events and activities. The city has slowly become more and more exclusive than inclusive.
So the survey of the new city which we conducted on March 16, 2013 was actually no surprise. Delightful though was the sight of the most beautiful houses in the city which most of us have never seen. The lives of the rich we glimpsed by the sharing of Ms. Curly Hair ( identity hidden to protect the individual ) who married an expat and has lived in the village for more than five years now. Again, it was no surprise that the reason for choosing the place is the security the place offers. Even when they take vacations to the U.S. three months or so every year, they feel confident that nothing untoward will happen to their property. There are several layers of security for the place including the security houses, cameras installed, back gates and other access to the properties are also well guarded. While living there has its perks, Ms. Curly Hair also revealed that she has never been comfortable telling people where she lives, afraid of the concessions that people give to the elite that may not mirror real feelings and opinions of those people. Fortified enclaves offers a certain sense of security but it also makes rare free interactions of people thus denying real exercise of freedom as Susan Bickford pointed in her article, Constructing Inequality. The attempt of these cities to self govern and sometimes do away with the centralized policies of the political government further denotes inequality where the masses may have no say on the matters decided by the populations inside the fortified enclave. But there is also no stopping those who can afford to live in privatized places to pay for safety and comfort. The concept of inequality becomes clearer as you move up the village and into the mountains of Lahug. Only the very rich can afford to build there and they aggregate themselves for shared and common interests like safety, security, protection, prestige. Amongst themselves there might not be interaction but they identify themselves with each other as belonging to the same class.
Condominiums are a new feature of the city. They have started to rise only in the last 10 years or so. The ones that were first built, City Lights for example, took a long time to be emulated by other builders. But recently, condominiums are being built right and left and it seems that there's going to be no respite in the near future. Living in such kind of fortified enclaves also gives the dwellers a sense of security 24 hours a day. Proximity to the lower class in Apas will not be very discernible as dwellers will be confined to the high rise building, which also serves as their wall. This is an example of a modern public space there there is explicit segregation of the classes. Widening the abstract distance between the classes is exemplified in the condominium as a modern structure for the elite and upper middle class. The isolation can work in many ways. It avoids relationships and communion. The small spaces available to the buyer for a few millions of pesos do not really invite action and dynamism. The close proximity to the TV and the refrigerator serves to provide the individual the intimacy he needs but will not get from the absent neighbors.
While the " need " to live in gated communities is understandable, I cannot point , except maybe for proximity to social services and amenities, as to why people would want to live in condominiums which seems to limit a lot in exchange for security which is also available through other forms of fortified enclaves.
The lower classes are more often than not, loosely gathered, more intimate in that they know their neighbors and interact with them. Ethnic groupings are also popular in any given city, because the same tend to seek security in numbers, as displayed by Chinese communities around the world. Sometimes by virtue of public policy, they are forced to cluster together for reasons of cultural domains preservation, or to ensure well being and preservation.
The Badjao Tribes in Cebu City are clustered in Alaska, Mambaling. They say that their ancestors had been coming to the shores of Cebu, Bohol and Negros, since the beginning of their seafaring ways. So it is but natural to find them where they are. They used to be very easy to find on their stilt houses on the shore. A very clear example of gentrified clustering. But with the demands of contemporary life, some of them are forced to adapt to life on land where as they used to subsist on the sea. New houses are now built for them, far from what they were used to. They were incorporated into the local community where they are found, but they have also retained their identity. Living now in the clustered, gated community they still experience discrimination from the adjacent locals. Segregation is therefore very clear still in the lower classes and perhaps adapts the same ferocity for identity. While they seek equal rights as Filipinos, they would also prefer being identified strongly together to avoid conflicts.
The communities we visited emphasized the need of people to be identified, to be recognized and respected. The claims to what is private tells others to respect individual space, but denies the person interaction. The isolation and demands to treat it with accompanying policies inhibit democracy. The decentralizing of policies inhibit equality and emphasizes those without voice are the majority who live loosely among each other and depend on the government to give them the democracy due to them.
CONCLUSION
Cebu City therefore is fast becoming a heavily fortified place where people navigate with presumed security among strangers. They would put much value on private and seek to define it even more strongly as more and more strangers come into the city to live and work. Yuppies and white collar workers will gather in the affordable high rise living spaces where their leisure is also available, malls, gym, grocery stores, movie houses, etc. The obstinate lower class will insist on living nearby to provide the rest the necessary support services. The making of fortified enclaves and gated communities creates differences in society in general and among social classes in particular. and while the enclaves designed for upper classes widen the social distance with the lower class I would say however that the divide may not be totally permeable. The inequality may be obvious, and will always work to the advantage of the few who are already privileged, and less security for the underdog, but it is also sometimes a necessary structure for the city. For humanity.