The self-help housing approach has long been applied by societies in general. At a time when professional services (such as that of architects and engineers) were not available, communities built houses and buildings based on customs, beliefs, and traditional systems of building. This manual highlights that organized self-help housing were a “facilitating organization both assists the household that has chosen self-help housing and that bears a responsibility to authorities and financial agencies.” (Rodriguez, Astrand: 1996). Despite resistance from target recipients, organized self-help housing has proven to benefit communities in terms of social, economic, educational, and developmental aspects.

This manual recognizes shelter provision as one of the priority programs of the present administration of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who himself has actively supported the projects of the Gawad Kalinga. However, it also acknowledges housing demand, not just by the extremely poor constituents in the city, but the low-income families as well. Hence, it has aspired in this manual organized self-help housing for low-income families is carried out in the low-cost housing projects, with the cooperation of both government and non-government housing agencies in Davao City.