Abstract:

 The study determined the barriers to access of public services for the urban poor households in the selected barangays of Dipolog and Dapitan City. The constraints were classified as economic, geographic and administrative to access education, health, sanitation, and utility services. Barrier indices were computed based on measures of poverty gap and Foster, Greer and Thorbecke index. The study revealed that there was an administrative constraint of urban poor sector of the two cities to access essential services in their respective barangays. Root causes of lopsided economic opportunities and government privileges across urban barangays were identified. Hence, local government and business sector must work together to meet the demands of the grass roots through increasing job opportunities and a minimum wage to meet the daily cost of living.

KEYWORDS: Barriers to access, Basic services, Urban poor, Dipolog and Dapitan City

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