Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Issue No. 22                        July 15-21,  2001                    Quezon City, Philippines

Arroyo War, Demolitions Uproot 60,000 Families

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promised to wage war against poverty and a peaceful approach to the decades-old rebellion and separatist problems. Urban poor households in Metro Manila and peasant and indigenous families in Mindanao see a different story, however. It looks like forcible evictions have continued in the metropolis while armed skirmishes and military operations have uprooted thousands of families in many Mindanao provinces.

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At least 59,145 families or 350,870 persons were displaced during the first five months of the Arroyo administration due to government-rebel clashes and urban poor demolitions.

Citing reports from the Ecumenical Commission for Displaced Families and Communities (ECDFC) and the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), IBON Foundation last week said 58,347 households were uprooted by government’s ongoing war with Moro rebels and the New People’s Army. On the other hand, some 798 families or 4,888 individuals were forcibly evicted on orders of local and housing authorities in Metro Manila.

The demolitions in Metro Manila, ordered by city governments and the National Housing Authority (NHA), took place despite national government’s moratorium policy.

The number of displaced families could be higher, however. The ECDFC report only covered cases of displacements in Mindanao and only the period February-April while Kadamay did not include the number of evicted families outside Metro Manila. Many of the victims in southern Philippines were uprooted by flashfloods. The human rights alliance, Karapatan, has reported the escalation of military operations in the provinces even after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took over as president last January but the number of internal refugees and casualties has yet to be completely accounted for. (See related Mindanao story in last week’s Bulatlat.com issue.)

The IBON report, which was part of the think tank’s semestral economic and political briefing held in Quezon City last week, said 300 families alone were forcibly evicted from the Catman dump in Barangay (village), Malabon. The Malabon city government which ordered the eviction last June 30, claimed the land occupied by the urban poor families is public. But residents said they were paying P300 ($5.88) a month in land rent to a private owner. Contrary to law, the families were ejected without any notice or consultation. There was no relocation.

Other evictions took place in the cities of Quezon, Manila, Muntinlupa, Marikina and Parañaque. IBON said half of the demolitions were carried out with the use of armed force. The evictions in Muntinlupa were carried out by inmates of the National Bilibid Prison Complex. Earlier reports said some prison officials were behind a housing syndicate victimizing urban poor relocatees and rural migrants.

Children were most affected by the demolitions, IBON said citing Kadamay reports. In two incidents in Balintawak, Quezon City, four measles-stricken children died. A young girl reportedly suffered a mental breakdown during a demolition in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

The forcible evictions of urban poor communities in the metropolis happened despite Arroyo’s “moratorium on demolitions” 11 days after taking power. (She was installed as president on Jan. 20 following a people’s uprising that led to the ouster of president Joseph Estrada.) A “no notice, no consultation and no relocation” policy – the same policy followed by previous administrations – was pursued in the demolitions.

Had it not been for the May elections, the number of families displaced would have been bigger as the administration and local officials scaled down their demolition frenzy to avoid hurting their election chances, IBON said.

New housing czar, former congressman Mike Defensor, also promised to address the housing problem of the poor.

It was far worse in the Mindanao provinces where military operations continued without let-up. Thousands of households were uprooted in the midst of armed clashes between Armed Forces troops on the one hand and NPA and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the other particularly in the provinces of Cotabato, Maguindanao, Davao and Agusan. Fighting would intensify in May following renewed abductions by the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Arroyo had also pledged to address the rebellion problem by peaceful means. But despite peace talks, reports of intense military operations nationwide continued to pile up. www.bulatlat.com

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