Demolition moratorium
Urban Poor Groups Assert Right to Abode

Giving in to protests and lobbying by urban poor groups, the Manila City council passed a resolution to temporarily stop the demolition of informal settlers, until the National Housing Authority submits a report on the status of relocation. Urban poor groups are posting copies of the resolution in affected communities to ensure that local government units will comply.

BY MAUREEN HERMITANIO
Contributed to Bulatlat

Urban poor groups in Manila City these days are busy going from house to house along the railroad tracks, posting and distributing copies of a city council resolution. This is because the resolution, approved unanimously on June 6, would save the informal settlers’ dwellings from demolition, at least temporarily.

Giving in to the daily protests by urban poor groups, the Manila City Council unanimously approved the resolution sponsored by City Councilor Lourdes "Bonjay" Isip from Manila’s 6^th District. The resolution will oblige the National Housing Authority (NHA) and Urban Settlements Offices of Manila to investigate, inspect and evaluate the condition and possible problems in relocation areas. While investigations are going on, no demolition along the tracks will be authorized.  

“We will do this to prove and remind the government that the moratorium on demolition is a product of the urban poor people's collective action to defend our right to abode and resistance against the government's anti-worker policies," said Andreb Asido, spokesperson of Pagkakaisa ng Mamamayan sa Riles (Pamaril or unity of railway residents). 

But still, the urban poor groups have to assert and compel the city to implement this resolution that will stop the violent and wanton demolition of houses along the tracks.

"We will post a copy of the City Council resolution in all houses along the tracks beside the Notice of Eviction issued by the NHA.

Asido said there are more than 11,000 families living along the tracks in the entire Metro Manila. He said that out of the 2,903 families affected by the successive demolitions in San Antonio, Pio Del Pilar, Bangkal and Magallanes in Makati last January, only 61 families were relocated to Cabuyao in Laguna.

"The inhumane condition in resettlement areas is another crucial issue that evicted urban poor people are facing right now. The education of school-age children living along the tracks was also affected by the upcoming demolitions. Some have stopped going to school to help their parents and siblings guard their homes against demolition teams," he said.

Since January, various local governments started sending out eviction notices to residents that will be affected by the demolitions in accordance with the railways connections project.

The group said that for this month, five communities along the tracks covered by barangays (villages) 803, 807, 800, 803 and 87 in Manila have been given until June 18 and June 24 to evict their shanties and communities.

Demolitions go on even on Manila Day

"If Mayor Lito Atienza will have his way and block the implementation of the Council resolution, on June 24, instead of celebrating on the city's foundation day, we will be building barricades along communities that are up for demolition," Asido said. 

Members of Pamaril and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay or alliance of the urban poor) are also demanding the Congress and Senate to conduct public hearings on the widespread and violent demolitions happening within the National Capital Region.

Same woes like Northrail

Kadamay chair Carmen Deunida said the predicament of the poor Metro Manila residents affected by the NLSP is the same as the problems encountered by residents affected by the North Railway Project. Railroad track dwellers face daily violent demolitions. The procedure and manner of demolitions in Metro Manila and other urban areas violate the laws on housing and relocation programs stipulated in the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA).

Deunida said those who avail of the government's relocation option face far bigger problems such as lack or absence of employment, lacking or substandard water and electricity services, poor sanitation and expensive installment payment schemes.

"The widespread demolitions happening in almost every part of Metro Manila's poorest districts severely violates our human rights. These atrocious acts carried out by the government also strip us of our dignity as human beings. The government treats us like animals when they uproot our houses and dump us in far away relocation areas," Deunida lamented.

The Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project is part of the Philippine National Railways Modernization and Rehabilitation Plan which is a flagship project of the Arroyo administration.

The project will link two major railway projects, the Northrail and Southrail Modernization at Rehabilitation Project. The NLSP is bankrolled from loans granted by the Korean government to the Arroyo administration. The NLSP Phase I costs about US$ 50.42 million and will cover almost 40 kilometers from Caloocan to Alabang cities. Its Phase 2 is projected to cost about US$70 million that will interlink the modernized railways from Alabang to Calamba, Laguna in Southern Luzon.

The government will pay the loan within 20 years with an annual interest of 2.5%. 

Asido said that urban poor residents are being duped by the government to enter the voluntary demolition program in exchange for a parcel of land where they can relocate. Around 30 families from Paco, Manila availed of this program and the pre-construction scheme. Under this scheme, evacuees are given 10 days to build their houses in relocation areas and voluntary tore down their shanties along the tracks.

"This voluntary demolition scheme peddled by the Arroyo government must be resisted by the urban poor sector. Kami na nga ang idedemolish, kami pa ang pinagagawa ng aming bahay sa relokasyon. Nakatitipid na ang gobyerno, pero sa huli ay pinagkakakitaan pa kami ng gobyerno dahil lahat ng ito ay utang na may interes na babayaran naming sa gobyerno," Asido explained.

Pamaril expressed fears that the South Rail Project will have the same effects as the NorthRail Modernization Project. “As of now, thousands of families who were evicted in the series of demolitions for the NorthRail project are still waiting support for relocation from the government. They have put up a tent city at Northville VI Resettlement Project in Santol village, Balagtas town, Bulacan (the province adjacent to Manila in the north).

"The government is entering into and implementing rigged projects one after the other. It is unjust that while responsible agencies have yet to settle the anomalous North Rail Project, the government started the South Rail Project that will cover Alabang to various provinces in Southern Tagalog.  

Deunida said that the demolitions along the tracks in Bulacan towns covered by the North rail way affected more than 14,603 families. More than 108,358 families will be demolished to give way to the PNR modernization project. Bulatlat 

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