Stop demolition, urban poor groups urge GMA
March 17, 2001 | 12:00am
Families affected by a demolition operation ordered by Quezon City Mayor Mel Mathay appealed to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stop all demolition in the metropolis during a dialogue held in Barangay Pineda, Pasig City Thursday.
In a statement prepared by the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Gregorio Parandas, president of the Samahang Pinagkaisa sa MRR (Manila Railroad) Pineda, challenged President Arroyo "to make good her promises to the poor in order to gain more credibility," considering the poor’s unwavering support for deposed President Joseph Estrada.
"In support of the affected Balintawak families, we urge the Arroyo administration to execute its instructions (to conduct) a thorough investigation of all government infrastructure projects that will displace around 1.5 million families, including the coordination of concerned offices like local government units," he said.
The urban poor who met with the President also appealed for land where they can build their homes. Earlier this week, UPA accused Mathay of being the first local government official to violate a Malacañang memorandum order signed by Presidential Management Staff chief Victoria Garchitorena, calling on all government agencies concerned to "review all the guidelines on demolition of squatter colonies and relocation of informal settlers in consultation with NGOs and urban poor groups."
UPA also blamed Mathay for the deaths of four children suffering from measles whose homes were among those demolished in Old Samson Road, Balintawak.
According to the UPA, the children, Roselyn Marabot, 10, her sister Roselle, 5, Rodmart Mendez, 11 months old, and one year old Jessica Catindoy, were placed in pushcarts and left on the streets after their shanties were demolished.
The children suffered a relapse aggravated by a change in weather conditions that led to their deaths.
Prior to the demolition of some 50 shanties in Balintawak ordered by Mathay last March 6, ten children living there were down with measles.
The UPA said that despite the pleadings of the families to stop the demolition due to the children’s condition, the demolition team led by Jack Jacutin, head of the Anti-Vendor Unit of the Quezon City People’s Bureau and backed up by members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), pushed through with the operation.
The UPA added that Jacutin’s team claimed that it could do a "summary eviction" of the families since they were not in the area before the 1995 cut-off date set by the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA).
However, Joey Mendoza, former Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) secretary general said that this is a position being challenged by many lawyers since at least a fourth of squatters in Manila built their homes after 1995.
Moreover, Mendoza added that three years after UDHA was passed in 1992, the government did not effectively fulfill its obligations on housing, the prerequisite of summary evictions.
Mathay’s group, however, stands by its demolition operation.
"The demolition was not defiance of President Arroyo’s order banning demolition," Romeo Espino, head of the city government’s Task Force on Control and Prevention of Illegal Structures and Squatting (COPRISS) said in a press statement.
He added that the clearing operation was conducted against sidewalk vendors and illegal structures obstructing the flow of traffic in the EDSA Balintawak area. – Nikko Dizon
In a statement prepared by the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Gregorio Parandas, president of the Samahang Pinagkaisa sa MRR (Manila Railroad) Pineda, challenged President Arroyo "to make good her promises to the poor in order to gain more credibility," considering the poor’s unwavering support for deposed President Joseph Estrada.
"In support of the affected Balintawak families, we urge the Arroyo administration to execute its instructions (to conduct) a thorough investigation of all government infrastructure projects that will displace around 1.5 million families, including the coordination of concerned offices like local government units," he said.
The urban poor who met with the President also appealed for land where they can build their homes. Earlier this week, UPA accused Mathay of being the first local government official to violate a Malacañang memorandum order signed by Presidential Management Staff chief Victoria Garchitorena, calling on all government agencies concerned to "review all the guidelines on demolition of squatter colonies and relocation of informal settlers in consultation with NGOs and urban poor groups."
UPA also blamed Mathay for the deaths of four children suffering from measles whose homes were among those demolished in Old Samson Road, Balintawak.
According to the UPA, the children, Roselyn Marabot, 10, her sister Roselle, 5, Rodmart Mendez, 11 months old, and one year old Jessica Catindoy, were placed in pushcarts and left on the streets after their shanties were demolished.
The children suffered a relapse aggravated by a change in weather conditions that led to their deaths.
Prior to the demolition of some 50 shanties in Balintawak ordered by Mathay last March 6, ten children living there were down with measles.
The UPA said that despite the pleadings of the families to stop the demolition due to the children’s condition, the demolition team led by Jack Jacutin, head of the Anti-Vendor Unit of the Quezon City People’s Bureau and backed up by members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), pushed through with the operation.
The UPA added that Jacutin’s team claimed that it could do a "summary eviction" of the families since they were not in the area before the 1995 cut-off date set by the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA).
However, Joey Mendoza, former Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) secretary general said that this is a position being challenged by many lawyers since at least a fourth of squatters in Manila built their homes after 1995.
Moreover, Mendoza added that three years after UDHA was passed in 1992, the government did not effectively fulfill its obligations on housing, the prerequisite of summary evictions.
Mathay’s group, however, stands by its demolition operation.
"The demolition was not defiance of President Arroyo’s order banning demolition," Romeo Espino, head of the city government’s Task Force on Control and Prevention of Illegal Structures and Squatting (COPRISS) said in a press statement.
He added that the clearing operation was conducted against sidewalk vendors and illegal structures obstructing the flow of traffic in the EDSA Balintawak area. – Nikko Dizon
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