The State
continues to use violence against urban-poor residents. This strategy poses a
challenge to the Arroyo administration, if it is serious in solving the
country's housing problem.
By ANANEZA ABAN
For so long now, the urban-poor
residents of Barangay (village) Pineda in Pasig City have been trying to protect
their homes from the government's demolition crew. One morning last month, the
inevitable happened.
The Pasig River Rehabilitation
Committee's demolition crew was coming in with crowbars, mallets, and
sledgehammers and they were backed up by members of the Philippine National
Police. The residents formed a human barricade, intent on defending their homes.
People lined up tables near the community's entrance where stood a statue of the
Blessed Mother. They defiantly stood behind the tables and uttered prayers and
sang religious hymns to dissuade the demolition team from destroying their
houses.
But the crew was unmoved and,
after the ritual, they rushed at the houses while the police fired warning
shots. A mêlée broke out between residents and the crew and two women were
wounded while a sickly old lady died a few days later. One of the demolition
crew was killed.
The violence that day could have
been avoided had the postponement of the demolition requested by Pineda
residents in a series of dialogues with concerned government agencies been
granted. But the agencies were determined to push through with the planned Pasig
River Rehabilitation Project (PRRP).
After the violence, the people
and concerned nongovernment organizations protested until the government and the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), funder of the Pasig River project, finally gave in
and stopped the demolition.
This incident, recorded in a case
study prepared by Denis Murphy, executive director of the Urban Poor Associates
(UPA), was just one of the many in Metro Manila and other urban-poor communities
in the Philippines that seems to indicate that the State still has the
predilection to use violence against the poor.
Only a few weeks after taking her
oath as the 14th president of the Republic, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo went to
National Government Center (NGC), the country's largest urban-poor community, in
Quezon City to conduct her first ever public consultation with Metro Manila's
poor.
"I came here not to
grandstand or to distribute Xeroxed land titles. I am here because I want to
consult with you," said Arroyo, taking a potshot at ousted president Joseph
Estrada's penchant for issuing spurious land titles to urban-poor dwellers.
Before hundreds of urban poor
residents, she vowed that she would issue directives stopping all demolitions in
the urban centers and that she would distribute government lands for residential
use.
The NGC encompasses Barangays
Commonwealth, Sto. Niño, Payatas A and Batasan and is home to some 60,000
families. The land is supposedly already theirs by virtue of two proclamations
under former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos. But the residents remain
threatened by evictions, according to UPA, as the land continues to be converted
for mixed use of government buildings and commercial purposes.
Norma dela Torre, a resident of
NGC and president of the community organization SAMA-SAMA, said that the land
should be allocated to them for their homes instead of being opened up to mixed
use. "Having land for a family house is a basic human right which has
priority over all other uses," dela Torre said.
A recent Malacañang memorandum
signed by Victoria Garchitorena, head of the Presidential Management Staff ,
asks concerned government agencies to review infrastructure projects to see
whether or not they complied with the requirements of the Urban Development and
Housing Act. The projects to be reviewed include the C-5 and R-10 roads, the
PRRP, NGC, and flood control.
Increasing Violence
A UPA demolition study-report
counted 29 demolition cases affecting 6,059 families or 36,354 people in Metro
Manila last year. Of these, only 3,503 families or barely 58% were relocated.
But even then, the UPA study said, the government relocation sites in Montalban,
Rizal, in Bulacan, and in Cavite are inadequate because they lack basic services
and are very remote.
The study also found that
demolitions last year were largely in pursuit of government infrastructure
projects. The Department of Public Works and Highways, for instance, removed
shanties built along creeks in Kalookan, Malabon, and Navotas for a flood
control project. In Tondo, it removed shanties built along Radial Road 10 for a
road-widening project.
The study also noted resurgence
in violence with 11 violent incidents, the highest within Estrada's term. Ten of
the 11 violent incidents affecting 2,850 families involved government projects.
Due to the increase in violent
demolitions, UPA assistant coordinator Ted Añana suggests that President Arroyo
prepare a protocol on evictions and relocations that guarantees that procedures
are in accordance with national and international human rights standards.
The UPA's "Protocol on
Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement" lists the following guidelines
for the Philippine government to recognize:
"Involuntary population
displacement should be avoided or minimized whenever feasible by exploring
all viable alternative projects designs.
The State shall provide all
necessary amenities and services and economic opportunities to the affected
persons.
No heavy equipment will be used
for demolitions except for structures that are permanent and of concrete
materials.
Firing of guns, even in the air,
should be avoided. Long arms, SWAT teams, snipers, rocket launchers, attack
dogs, or armored cars shall not be used in demolition exercises. All these
have been used in demolitions in the past.
The use of tear gas and water
cannons on communities during demolitions should be banned. It is the
children, elderly, pregnant women and the sick who are most injured by
these.
All persons taking part in the
demolition must be properly identified."
Añana said that UPA's findings
on the impact of demolitions and involuntary resettlement poses a challenge to
the Arroyo administration, if it is serious in solving the country's housing
problem. #