Payatas

Payatas
Barangay
Payatas dumpsite circa 2007
Seal
Map of Quezon City showing Payatas
Payatas Location of Payatas within Metro Manila
Coordinates: 14°42′55″N 121°6′21″E / 14.71528°N 121.10583°E / 14.71528; 121.10583Coordinates: 14°42′55″N 121°6′21″E / 14.71528°N 121.10583°E / 14.71528; 121.10583
Country	Philippines
Region	National Capital Region
City	Quezon City
District	2nd District of Quezon City
Established	1976
Government
• Type	Barangay
• Barangay Captain	Manny Guarin
Area
• Total	7.74 km2 (2.98 sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
Postal Code	1119
Area code(s)	2

Payatas is a barangay located in the 2nd district of Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Nearby barangays are Commonwealth, Batasan Hills and Bagong Silangan.

The name Payatas derived from the word "payat sa taas", which means the soil located in the upper part of Tullahan River is not good for planting rice.

It is divided into three local government areas called barangays in the Philippines. They are known simply as the Payatas A, B, C.

Barangay 8 is the original name of Payatas. Payatas is the only barangay established under judiciary rule.

Located northeast of Quezon City, Barangay Payatas occupies a little less than twenty percent (20%) of the city’s land area and has about fifteen percent (15%) of the city’s total population. These figures are hotly disputed by academic surveys, however, given that Payatas is far more densely populated than the rest of Quezon City and much of Manila. The Census says there are just under 120,000 people living in Barangay Payatas, though academic studies suggest the real figure, given that most people are squatters are therefore do not own the land they're living on and are not included in official figures, is closer to 500,000 (Gaillard and Cadag, 2009; Bernardo, 2004; among others). Payatas shares a border with La Mesa Dam to the north, Barangay Bagong Silangan to the east, Barangay Batasan Hills to the south, and Barangay Commonwealth to the west (see Map 1). Until today, about a third of the land in various parts of Payatas is being claimed in disputes between the municipalities of Montalban and San Mateo, as well as the barangays of Commonwealth and Fairview.

Payatas is characterized by a steep and sloping terrain, crisscrossed by creeks, rivers, ravines, and low-lying areas near the Marikina River. A fault line runs through its eastern boundary. A large part of the area is classified as medium residential zone that includes housing subdivisions, depressed or informal settlements, and undeveloped areas.

Covering a total land area of 774 hectares, a greater portion of Payatas is privately owned (681 ha, or 88%; see Chart 1). Government-owned land, which includes the four-hectare national government complex (NGC) and the Quezon City property, covers a smaller portion (12%; 93 hectares) of the total land area. While portions of the privately owned area were already developed into residential subdivisions, a vast area (80%) has yet to be fully developed. Nonetheless, despite the poor access and lack of services and facilities, these areas continue to attract a large number of informal settlers from various areas of Metro Manila.