Taguig City railway dwellers fight against eviction

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For Immediate Release on June 6, 2006

Taguig City railway dwellers fight against eviction

Railway dwellers along Skyway East Service Road, Tenement in Taguig City were threatened to be demolished by the FTI Satellite Office of the Camp Badminton in FTI Complex, Western Bicutan yesterday morning but the affected families refused to be demolish.

“Ito ay taliwas sa mga pahayag ng City government na walang isasagawang demolisyon kung walang sapat at makataong relokasyon,” said Rowena Gepanaga, a resident.

Gepanaga argued that the demolition of their houses will be unlawful since the FTI Satellite Office does not have certificate of compliance (COC) from the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP) and that the property is owned by the Philippine National Railway (PNR) and not within the jurisdiction of the Public Order Safety Office.

“Sang-ayon sa huling pagpupulong na ginanap noong ika-11 ng Mayo 2006 at dinaluhan ng iba’t ibang people’s organization, hindi rin ito sang-ayon sa napagkasunduan sa kung saan nabanggit ng Vice Mayor na walang isasagawang paglilikas ang local na pamahalaan,” Gepanaga added.

The informal settlers were informed on April 20 that their houses will be demolished within 30 days for the creation of the FTI Transport Terminal along East Service Road. The demolition notice never mentioned relocation sites and instead threatened that the local government will enlist the help of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to undertake the demolition if the residents did not vacate or self-demolish.

Engineer Jose Varquez of the PNR Real Estate Department, speaking in behalf of PNR General Manager Jose Ma. Sarasola II, told the residents on a meeting May 17 at the HUDCC boardroom that only the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) has been tasked as the over-all agency in charge in the demolition/relocation of settlers being affected by the Southrail project.

The Urban Poor Associates, a non-government organization working on urban poor issues, pressed on the PCUP, PNR, NHA, and HUDCC to look unto the problems of the railway dwellers. “The demolition being initiated by the FTI Satellite office is a gross maneuver to force the railway dwellers to accept instead a distant relocation site in Cabuyao, Laguna which is the focus of complaints for its state of unpreparedness.”

“Is the South Korean government which funds the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project (NSLP) aware that the local government is intervening with the demolition of houses along the railways without relocation which is also a violation of the international law?” the UPA asked. -30-

Informal settlers file for TRO against U.P. Diliman

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For Immediate Release on June 1, 2006

Informal settlers file for TRO against U.P. Diliman

Informal settlers within the University of the Philippines (U.P.) compound in Diliman, Quezon City have asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on May 29 for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against U.P. to forestall any further acts of eviction and demolition in the absence of an adequate relocation.

The case with prayer for TRO and Preliminary Injunction is set for raffle today, June 1, 2:00 PM, before the session hall of honorable Natividad G. Dizon, Executive Judge of QC Hall of Justice’s Branch 106.

Petitioner Fernando V. Bunuan and Rodolfo J. Rojas of Pook Dagohoy in U.P. Campus said respondents U.P., with Ida May J. La’O in her capacity as Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs, have threatened to demolish their homes without offering them relocation sites.

They argued that the demolition is in violation with the constitutional mandate enshrined in the Social Justice provisions of Article XIII, Section 10, 1987 Constitution. They said U.P. must also comply with the section 28 of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Petitioners, with the help of Nagkakaisang Lakas ng Maralita (NALAMA), a people’s organization from 20 barangays within U. P. Campus, filed for a TRO after they were informed on April 26 by respondents U.P. that their houses will be demolished within 30 days to give way for the University’s campaign against dengue by clearing all legal impediments along canals and its 3-meter easement. According to the demolition notice signed by Ida May J. La’O, U.P. is exempted from the coverage of UDHA, citing the Supreme Court decision on Advincula vs. Court of Appeals, GR# 136378 (December 4, 2000). Hence, evicted families, according to the notice, will not receive financial assistance or relocation.

However, the claim of U.P. that they are not covered by R.A. 7279 is false and incorrect, according to the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization dealing with issues directly affecting the lives of the marginalized and underprivileged. “Hindi totoong naglabas ng desisyon ang Korte Suprema na nagsasabing ang U.P. ay exempted sa batas ng UDHA, sapagkat hindi nagkaroon ng pagkakataon na maisampa ang kaso sa takdang panahon ayon sa batas,” said Atty. Bienvenido A. Salinas 2nd, coordinator of UPA’s legal unit, St. Thomas More Law Center.

The Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP) has rendered on November 19, 2003 an opinion to the effect that U.P. is not exempted from the coverage of R.A. 7279 (UDHA).

According to the Urban Poor Affairs Office (UPAO), there are currently about 25,000 informal settler families occupying 11% to 15% of the 493-hectare University. -30-

PGMA urged to discuss extrajudicial killings with the Pope

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For Immediate Release on June 30, 2006

PGMA urged to discuss extrajudicial killings with the Pope

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has asked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to inform His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI of the numerous extrajudicial killings taking place in the Philippines and see if he congratulates her with another “well done”.

In a letter to PGMA dated June 29, AHRC stated that the percentage of killings in the Philippines ranks among the highest in Asia and Pope Benedict will naturally have a keen interest in this matter, with the first commandment being 'thou shall not kill'.

“Your government deserves to take credit for the abolition of the death penalty, together with the many persons, in the Philippines and elsewhere, who have fought for many years to abolish the death sentence. It is a mark of respect for life and recognition that the right to take away life does not belong to any individual or institution. The significance attached to this is lost however, when the same government continues to engage in extrajudicial killings,” the AHRC said.

Pope Benedict will also be interested to know, AHRC added, that priests, nuns and activists from Christian organizations have been among the persons killed.

“The AHRC urges you to bring this matter to the attention of Pope Benedict even at this late stage, and to inform him whether you, as the head of state, are determined to end these killings immediately,” the AHRC’s letter read.

The letter, signed by AHRC Executive Director Basil Fernando, was written after he saw a press photograph of PGMA with Pope Benedict. The caption said the President informed the Pope about the abolition of the death penalty. The AHRC is a regional non-governmental human rights organization of lawyers that has been pressing the Philippine government to effectively stopped extrajudicial killings.

Since the beginning of 2004, it is said that approximately 290 people have been killed in the Philippines in extrajudicial processes.

Human rights defenders in the Philippines, including the Saint Thomas More Law Center of the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), have received death threats for filing cases against government officials violating housing rights. -30-

U.P. workers, teachers, students, urban poor united to stop evictions

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For Immediate Release on June 29, 2006

U.P. workers, teachers, students, urban poor united to stop evictions

Hundreds of people from several community organizations at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) in Diliman, Quezon City joined forces to form the Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan Laban sa Demolisyon sa U.P. (ALMADEM) on a protest rally held at the U.P. Campus this morning. About 500 people marched from Vinzons Hall to gather at the Oblation of the U.P. Administration Building in Quezon Hall. They condemn the on-going demolitions and evictions of informal settlers inside the U.P. Campus.

Present at the rally to express outrage on the U.P Administration’s policy in demolitions are leaders from Nagkakaisang Lakas ng mga Maralita (NALAMA), U.P. Campus Neighborhood Association (UPCNA), University Hotel Worker’s Union (UHWU), All U.P. Workers Union, All U.P. Academic Union, Anakbayan and University Student Council (USC).

The University is known for its activists that safeguard the rights of marginalized sector. However, in this case, the University is a housing right violator, according to the leaders. “Nasaan na ang mga ideolohiyang itinuro ng Unibersidad sa karapatang pantao? Tinatalikuran ng administrasyon ng U.P. ang kanyang responsibilidad sa mga apektadong pamilya ng kanilang proyektong nais gawin. Iba na ang posisyon ng U.P. sa usapin ng pagbibigay ng katarungan para sa mga maralita,” said Fred Ajero, spokesperson of NALAMA.

The community organizations believed that there is an urgent need to find workable alternatives to this most impoverishing practice. “Dapat nang itigil ng Administrasyon ng U.P. ang ginagawang pananakot at pagdedemolis. Dapat kilalanin ng Administrasyon ng Unibersidad ang R.A. 7279 (UDHA). Dapat magbaba ng TRO ang korte para sa mga naaapektuhan ng mga demolisyon. Dapat maglaan ng lupa para sa mga maralitang naninirahan dito.”

“The University of the Philippines (UP) is not exempt from complying with the requisites for eviction provided in Section 28 of Republic Act No. 7279, also known as the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA). Hence UP is not exempt from complying with EO 152 since it provides a mechanism to ensure compliance with Section 28 of the UDHA,” according to the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization working with urban poor issues.

It is clear from the law that eviction and demolition involving the underprivileged and homeless citizens shall be in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner. Article XIII, Section 9 and 10 are two significant provisions in the 1987 Philippine Constitution that protect and promote the interest of the urban poor. UDHA was enacted to implement the two Constitutional provisions.

“While it is true that Section 5 (e) of UDHA provides that lands actually and primarily used for educational purposes are exempt from the coverage of UDHA, the owners/administrators are not exempt from observing the mandatory constitutional requirement. To interpret the law differently would be giving UP administrators a license to evict the poor families in a less than humane and just manner,” the UPA said.

Exemption under Article II, section 5 of UDHA is not absolute. This Section also states that exemption under this section shall not apply when the purpose of these lands has ceased to exist.

Evictions are increasing algebraically, causing a colossal displacement of people. Once demolished, evictees are forced to settle on other lands and may be subject to demolition once again, a hopeless cycle of homelessness. Such is the situation of hundreds of thousands of Filipino families in Metro Manila, according to UPA. -30-

PROTEST RALLY IN U.P. TO STOP FORCED EVICTIONS

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2006

Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

MEDIA ADVISORY

PROTEST RALLY IN U.P. TO STOP FORCED EVICTIONS
U.P. workers, students, urban poor united

Community organizations at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) in Diliman, Quezon City are joining forces on a protest rally June 29 (Thursday) to condemn the demolitions and evictions of informal settlers inside the U.P. Campus.

The Nagkakaisang Lakas ng mga Maralita (NALAMA), U.P. Campus Neighborhood Association (UPCNA), University Hotel Worker’s Union (UHWU), All U.P. Workers Union, Anakbayan and University Student Council (USC) formed the Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan Laban sa Demolisyon sa U.P. (ALMADEM) to fight against the U.P. administration’s policy in demolitions.

Thousands of people will gather to express outrage in Vinzons Hall at 8:00 AM. They will march from Vinzons Hall going to the Oblation of the U.P. Administration Building in Quezon Hall at 9:00 AM. The program will start at 10:00 AM.

The community organizations believed that there is an urgent need to find workable alternatives to this most impoverishing practice. “Dapat nang itigil ng Administrasyon ng U.P. ang ginagawang pananakot at pagdedemolis. Dapat kilalanin ng Administrasyon ng Unibersidad ang R.A. 7279 (UDHA). Dapat magbaba ng TRO ang korte para sa mga naaapektuhan ng mga demolisyon. Dapat maglaan ng lupa para sa mga maralitang naninirahan dito,” the community organizations said in a statement.

Photo ops: A cultural presentation will show how forced evictions destroy people’s lives.

What: PROTEST RALLY in U.P.
Date: June 29, 2006 (Thursday)
Time: 8:00 AM to 12:00 NN
Venue: Oblation, Quezon Hall, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City

FORCED EVICTIONS IN U.P. CAMPUS AND ITS SOCIAL IMPERATIVE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2006

Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

MEDIA ADVISORY

FORCED EVICTIONS IN U.P. CAMPUS AND ITS SOCIAL IMPERATIVE

Leaders of Nagkakaisang Lakas ng mga Maralita, U.P. Campus Neighborhood Association, University Hotel Worker’s Union, All U.P. Workers Union, Anakbayan and U.P. Student Council will have a PRESS CONFERENCE on June 28 (Wednesday), 10:00 AM at the All U.P. Workers Union Office to question the on-going demolitions in the community.

Following the press conference, at least 3,000 people are expected to participate in a PROTEST RALLY on June 29 (Thursday). Beginning 8:00 AM, they will march from Vinzon’s Hall to the Oblation at the U.P. administration building to condemn the forced evictions.

Informal settlers are seeking a temporary restraining order against the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, to prevent their eviction and the demolition of their houses. However, the U.P. Legal Office is also seeking for the outright dismissal of the petition in the case filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on the following grounds: 1. that the petition states no cause of action because it states no right violated. 2. that assuming that petitioners are beneficiaries under R.A. 7279, respondent U.P. is not covered by said law.

There are currently about 25,000 informal settler families occupying 11% to 15% of the 493-hectare University.

Amidst the looming weight of Philippine traditional property rights provisions and jurisprudence, where the owner and/or legitimate possessor reign supreme in relation to claiming possessory rights, the need to recognize and realize the evictees’ right to adequate housing and right against forced eviction provide a crucial counterweight.

The mandate to recognize and realize every person’s right to adequate housing and right against forced evictions traces its legal moorings to international covenants, conventions, declarations, the 1987 Constitution, and several statutes. Suffice it to say that these instruments, when juxtaposed with the more appropriate framework for addressing the phenomena of urban poverty and homelessness, point to a balancing of property and housing rights.

Photo ops: The Nagkakaisang Lakas ng mga Maralita (NALAMA), U.P. Campus Neighborhood Association (UPCNA), University Hotel Worker’s Union, All U.P. Workers Union, Anakbayan and U.P. Student Council will form an alliance against forced evictions and it will be shown by leaders holding a shattered picture of a home that will be put together.

What: Press Conference
Date: June 28, 2006 (Wednesday)
Time: 10:00 AM
Venue: All U.P. Workers Union Office, J.P Laurel corner Roces Street, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City (across the U.P. Post Office)

FROM URBAN SETTLER TO VICTIM A relocation story by Magi D. Nicolas

Annie* and husband Lino had good plans for when they would be relocated to the relocation site in Cabuyao from their home along the tracks in Pio del Pilar, Makati. He works for a group that delivers to a food stall offering lunch meals and snacks to people in Makati. Before the relocation, Lino had planned to teach his young wife how to cook; they would run a carinderia, a small eatery, in Cabuyao to augment their income.

But after the move, the couple stays in Cabuyao only on weekends. Lino and Ana have decided to stay in Makati the rest of the week to earn a living while their infant child is cared for by Ana’s mother in Cabuyao. The wife helps her husband sell food and gets P100 (less than two dollars) for a day’s work, but she says that is better than staying in Cabuyao and earning nothing. Putting up a small eatery in the relocation site would have been perfect: people there are in need of food, but their neighbors do not have the means to buy food -- many have lost their jobs. Ana’s dream of a small business has vanished.

In another block, Regina, also from Pio del Pilar, is being consoled by a group of neighbors, all women. Trying vainly to stifle her sobs, Regina is extremely distressed and is considering giving up the three youngest of her five children for adoption to a religious foundation. Her family has been starving from the time they relocated to Cabuyao in March. Her husband, who was staying in Makati on weekdays to search for income, seems to have given up. One day in May when he left, he simply told her to fend for the family. He has not been heard from since. Just a month after giving birth to her fifth child, Regina is thinking of going back to Makati and working as a cashier for P100 a day, to support herself and the two children who would remain with her.

The Southrail project promises efficient transportation through Metro Manila and south to Calamba, a distance of 70 kilometers. The construction requires that 48,000 families be removed. It is a segment of the North-South Rail Project that will cover 700 kilometers and evict 130,000 to 150,000 families, the largest planned eviction in Philippine history.

Death of “Diskarte”

The relocation has aggravated the pains of the poor. In the Cabuyao housing project (about 48 kms. from where the Makati relocatees originated), those who volunteered to be resettled are now complaining of economic dislocation and hunger. Relocatees report that conditions in Cabuyao kill the opportunity for “diskarte”, Filipino slang for resourcefulness, creativity and street smarts (the Third World nuance is lost in the translation).

The irony is that for decades, except for the small piece of land on which they had their shacks and raised their families, informal settlers did not depend on the government to survive. People living on the tracks are among the most “ma-diskarte” of the poor – they clean taxicabs, operate railway trolleys, wash clothes, sell fruits and snacks, make doormats and do a hundred other things to earn a living. Today, despite finally having homes to call their own, they are stuck in limbo, waiting for the “incremental improvements” that the government promised.

Mang Fred, a furniture upholsterer in San Antonio, Makati before the relocation in Cabuyao, recalls with hurt how a government official, hearing of their jobless plight, derided them with a plain and simple, “Maghanap kayo ng trabaho!” (“Look for a job!”), as if they are bums.

In a speech delivered in May before the Cardinal and representatives of People’s Organizations, sociologist Mary Racelis talked of degrees of vulnerabilities. Problems arise when government administrators and planners with technocratic orientation regard the urban poor as more or less the same. They pay little attention to varying levels of risks and shocks that displacement brings, preferring to look at baselines and averages and apply very standard planning concepts to a very diverse urban poor. She points out that something is very wrong when policies are crafted by people, highly educated here and abroad, based on assumptions inherited from Western societies that have very different government systems, very different institutions, and very different poverty. This perpetuates the facelessness of the urban poor, which is perhaps one reason why many in the middle and upper classes refer to the national law ensuring the proper and humane relocation of informal dwellers as “that stupid law”.

The lack of study and preparation, plus a one-size fits all approach to the issue of informal settlement has led to dismal results: preliminary findings show that in the six relocation sites in Bulacan in the North, livelihood training has been offered in most but only 5% of the 200 families interviewed report attending the training, according to a study made by the Diocese of Malolos and the NGO Urban Poor Associates. Of those who attended, only three of the five now apply the newly learned skills.

Transit To The End Of The World

One relocatee, a mother of three, ponders living in the “Promised Land” of Northville in Bancal, Malolos where there is an acute lack of basic services: “Para kaming itinapon sa dulo ng mundo (It seems like we were thrown at the end of the world).” They feel forsaken and forgotten.

Hundreds of families still live in tents in Northville, a year after eviction took place. Tent families await money to build their homes; others are losing hope of ever receiving housing allotment because of census problems and missing documents. Working heads of households have lost their jobs; remembering the trauma of a problematic census and fearing that they will get passed over if they went back to work or searched for jobs outside, they stay near their tents and earn a few pesos from construction work within the area.

As of early June the six relocation sites in the North lacked light. Some of the families in the sites have been there a year. Developers have stopped paying for the light. There is an argument over who is to blame. Some say Vice President Noli de Castro is to blame since he promised free light until permanent fixtures were in place. Others say this is not so, that it was always understood the people would pay some of the light bill. Meanwhile all agree there is no light.

In Cabuyao, relocatees from Makati are offered a free 5:30am train ride to Manila (travel to the city regularly costs about P100). But according to Mang Fred, husbands who crowd the train station early mornings are sometimes left behind by the train because, he speculates, the operators do not want to give them a free ride. He says the free-ride badges good for three years offer little consolation because no one else in the family can use the train pass aside from the signee.

Government administrators have argued that with or without the railways project, people along the tracks would still be relocated to keep them from a hazardous, subhuman environment. But in Cabuyao, the situation literally stinks. If Mount Makiling, when viewed from the tracks in Cabuyao, forms a lovely backdrop to a farmland vista, at the relocation site, walking distance from some housing blocks, there stands a stinking mountain of trash that leaks dirty floodwater whenever it rains.

At the relocation site in Bocaue in the North, a thin wall separates the relocation site from a factory that emits dark, nauseating fumes. People complain of dry throats, of mysterious sicknesses that they say result from ingesting noxious vapors. A father and his family sleep with a damp towel covering their faces so they will not suffocate in the night. People feel helpless because the factory has been there long before they were relocated in the area. Out of desperation, angry relocatees throw bottles and stones at the factory’s fence.

Since the relocation sites are far from schools, hospitals, marketplaces, and places of work, leaving home to earn a living means using up cash that could have been appropriated for food. The expanded, expensive transportation costs represent a big cut in income that very poor families can ill afford.

People are said to move “voluntarily” to these sites. Actually, they volunteer to move into unprepared sites because they are threatened by government officials: “If you don’t move now, you will get nothing.” Government describes this as a voluntary act. His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of Manila says the practice is “illegal.” Threats are used to get people to give up their constitution rights to a just and humane relocation. The law interpreting the constitutional requirement calls for prepared sites with light, water, etc.

Suffer The Children

Children are not spared the cruelty of eviction. Along with grown-ups, they, too, bear the burden of rushed, ill-planned evictions.

Another magical solution akin to “voluntary demolition” is seen in the handling of the school children. School was on when most evictions took place. The solution was for every pupil to receive a passing mark to the next grade level, even if their lessons were not completed, and there were months left in the school year.

Lemo, at a ripe old age of 12, knows the pain that his parents have been experiencing since the relocation. Heads of households are mentally anguished because their unemployment imperils their children’s education and chance for a better life. “Mas maganda po sa Makati. May trabaho. (It is better in Makati; there are jobs there.)” Lemo says he does not know if his friends will be able to attend school this year. He quickly changes his mind and says there is a big chance some of them will not be able to go to school. When asked if he is happy in Cabuyao, he says “No, life is tough here.”

The money that a schoolchild used to receive for food now goes to pay for costly transportation, which is why many have stopped going to school. This is indeed very painful because Filipinos, no matter the economic class, dearly value education. Schools in relocation sites in the North and South are far from ready and school started June 5. Government expects a serious shortage of classrooms and teachers. In one case, twelve barangays are supposed to fit in one school along with children along with children already living nearby.

This, then, is the situation from a child’s point of view: no electricity means enduring heat and mosquito bites, day and night. When Lemo and some friends went wandering after a summer storm, they noticed that some houses in the site have crumbled. His father explains that people, in a desperate attempt to keep construction costs down, contract cheap labor. Young ones like Lemo have simple wants: that drinking water be made available because water sourced from the pipes is not fit for consumption. As a result the poor are forced to buy distilled water.

Children have to be kept healthy and, most importantly, alive. But in the resettlement areas, no clinics and doctors are available; children are rushed to hospitals far from the relocation sites for minor and major injuries, incurring transportation costs that add insult to injury.

One-Way Ticket To Hunger?

Threats and/or impossible promises are being made to people on the tracks to get them to leave, as was mentioned above. Now many volunteer relocates tell of stories of uncertainties and regret. Even the people have grown weary of their own misery: “Puro daing ang tao dito (People here are filled with grief)”.

The informal settlers have found an ally in the Archbishop of Manila Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. The Cardinal has communicated to the Vice President, who is also housing czar, his request for a moratorium on relocations so that the government can “complete the unfinished tasks in the Cabuyao relocation site and to look more closely for in-city relocation sites.”

Construction of the railroad has been delayed for months. Informal settlers are regarded as the cause of delay but the people are not the principal cause. The tracks from Caloocan to Malolos in the North have been free of urban poor for six months. No construction has been started.

It is imperative to ask: at what cost are they building the railways? Will the modern train that brings the Philippines into to the next century be built on the sufferings of the poor?

Next Stop: In-City Relocation

Many would wonder why relocatees feel that they are better off living in shanties, so dangerously close to speeding trains and without security of tenure, rather than in their own lots and homes in resettlement sites. Perhaps it is because the old, rundown homes provided a true sense of shelter as people chased their hopes in the city. Today, relocatees live in unfinished, low quality concrete structures, deprived of the dignity of being productive human beings.

The government promised “incremental development” is another magical situation. This is how the phrase translates in real life: a child goes without food for days; a distraught mother decides to give up her children for adoption so they will be kept alive; and families are broken up because the spouse who works in the city and comes home only on weekends sometimes finds reasons not to go back to his family and their life of despair.

Globalization creates high-speed trains that bring people to their destinations, but if unchecked, also tramples on the rights of the very poor. Urbanization means developers make retail and structural investments that ensure comfort and convenience to people who can afford them, while the have-nots are pushed further and further out.

Socialized housing must be incorporated in city planning. A percentage of urban land must be shared with the country’s homeless instead of allocating practically all city spaces to wealthy investors. Business and urban development must ultimately redound to benefit members of society who need help the most.

We recognize that rapid urbanization is truly a challenge for the government. Given this, we urge government administrators and planners to take a step back and carefully and compassionately review existing policies. Making the most vulnerable members of society an important part in crafting policies will truly make the railroad project a social service FOR ALL.

###

Magi D. Nicolas conducted North-Southrail Case Study for Urban Poor Associates until June 2006. A freelance writer, Magi is an AB Philosophy graduate of Ateneo de Manila University and is now taking a Masters degree in Anthropology at the University of the Philippines.

PHILIPPINE GOV'T COMMITS MASSIVE HR VIOLATIONS IN RAILROAD PROJECTS by Ms. Alicia Gentolia-Murphy,Urban Poor Associates

The Philippine Government has begun massive evictions since early last year to implement its Northrail and Southrail Projects. The two projects will evict an estimated 150,000 families, which will be the biggest in the country’s history. A total of 22,000 families have already been evicted. Last year the Philippine government implemented phase one of the Northrail project, evicting some 18,000 families from from three cities in Metro Manila and 6 municipalities in Bulacan province. Funds for the Northrail project comes from a $1billion loan provided by the People’s Republic of China for the actual construction of the railroad. This year the Philippine government begun implementing the first phase of Southrail project, evicting some 4,000 families mostly from Makati City. Some 50,000 families will evicted by the Southrail project. The funds will come from the Korean government via a $200 million loan for the construction of the railroad. The railways project will push until the Southern tip of Luzon and will be funded by the People’s Republic of China via $1billion loan for the construction of the railroad. While most of the affected residents are not opposed to the two railroad projects, they are demanding that the government comply with national laws such as the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 and international standards such as International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other treaties which the Philippine government has ratified.. While the relocation sites in the Northrail are near the original residence of the evicted families (in-city or in-municipality), the relocation sites, one year later, are still inadequate, according to a survey conducted last month by the Urban Poor Associates (UPA) and the local Catholic church. There is no potable water, electricity is unstable and in five relocation sites the temporary electrical connections were cut by the developers because people say the government told them to pay only when permanent connections are installed, there are no schools in the relocation sites but classes will open early this month. There are no clinics. One manifestation of the bad situation is that although some 70% of the 20,000 families have built their houses, only 50% have occupied them, preferring to go back to where they originally came from,eithedr staying with relatives or renting some small rooms. In the Southrail, the government has transferred some 4,000 families to the Cabuyao relocation site, 30 kilometers away. There is no potable water, electricity is available only between 6:00 PM to 6:00AM but there are no street lights. There are some school classrooms but these cannot be ready for the class opening this month. There are no clinics. There are no jobs near or in the relocation site, so breadearners have to commute each day to Metro Manila where they have work. The affected families say the relocation package of the government is presented as a house and lot loan worth P150,000 to be paid in 30 years. The government does not always observe the subdivision regulations on mandatory provision of paved roads, availability of water and electricity in the relocation sites. Aside from the inadequacy of the relocation sites, many affected families complained that they had to sign waivers, which Atty Bienvenido Salinas of the St Thomas More Law Center, legal arm of Urban Poor Associates, says absolves the government of its obligations to provide decent and adequate relocation. The situation is so bad that the evictees and those to be evicted have held protest actions at the office of the Vice President Noli de Castro , chairman of the Urban Development and Coordinating Council and designated by President Arroyo as overa-all in charge for Northrail and Southrail resettlements. Catholic clergy have voiced their concerns in support of the people’s complaints about the inadequate relocation sites of the government. Last year, the Catholic bishop of Bulacan province wrote to President Arroyo saying the resettlement sites in his province are not fit for human habitation. This year’s survey has shown the situation has not improved. And in May 12, 2006 new Cardinal Rosales of the Archdiocese of Manila wrote a scathing letter to Vice President about the inadequacies of the Southrail relocation site which received wide media coverage. The affected families and NGOs, in particular the Task Force Housing Rights along the Railways, call on the government to comply with its own housing laws as well as international treaties which the 1987 Philippine Constitution (Article II, Section 2) says are part of the law of the land. They also call on the Chinese and South Korean governments to observe General Comment No. 2 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which states that international agencies should “scrupulously avoid involvement in projects which, inter alia, involve large-scale evictions or displacement of persons without the provision of all appropriate protection and compensation.” South Korean embassy officials, in meetings with representatives of peoples organizations and UPA, have maintained that they have no responsibility regarding the provision of adequate relocation, that this was the sole responsibility of the Philippine Government. -30-

Philippines cited as a violator-country at the UN’s Third World Urban Forum

** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE **
For Immediate Release on June 19, 2006

Philippines cited as a violator-country at the UN’s Third World Urban Forum

The country can face international sanctions and embarrassment at the Third World Urban Forum (WUF III) in Vancouver, Canada, June 19-23, said a coordinator of the Eviction Watch of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), a regional network of grassroots community organizations, NGO's and professionals actively involved with urban poor development processes in Asian cities.

Teodoro Añana, the ACHR’s watchdog on housing rights in the country, said the international community may stop turning a blind eye to forced evictions of informal dwellers caused by prestige construction projects, once the Philippines is cited as a housing rights violator-country at the WUF III.

In a People’s Tribunal Order which Añana will present to the WUF III at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, he points out that the government led by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has violated the international standards laid down by international treaties. These treaties are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the UN guidelines on the right to adequate housing and forced evictions contained in General Comments No. 4 and 7 respectively.

Añana is concerned about the forced evictions of more than 20,000 families along the North and South railways since last year. “The government plans to forcibly evict another nearly 100,000 families, the country’s largest-ever evictions of poor communities. However, it has failed to provide adequate relocation in terms of decent housing, basic services such as water and electricity, schools and clinics. It justifies the slow pace as incremental development,” he said.

“The governments of South Korea and China are accomplices in these massive violations of human rights by ignoring UN General Comment No. 2 on avoiding involvement in projects which, inter alia, involve large-scale evictions or displacements of persons without the provision of all appropriate protection and compensation,” Añana added.

He points out that the implementing agencies excluded 20-30% of the evictees on the railroad because they did not comply with some requirements or because of cut-off dates, thereby rendering them homeless or badly-housed, citing the studies done by the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization working on the urban poor issues. Government also made many evictees sign waivers or quit claims, believing that in this manner the Philippine government may be absolved from observing its obligations imposed on it by Philippine housing laws such as the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA), Añana said.

The World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations through UN-Habitat to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies and policies. It is a biennial gathering that provides for effective participation of non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, urban professionals, academics, governments, local authorities and national and international associations of local governments.

It is projected that in 2007, the majority of the world’s 6 billion people will be urbanized. One-third of them will be slum dwellers, many trapped in a cycle of poverty but overlooked by governments and with no prospects of improvement. The trend is accelerating, it is said, because by 2030, nearly 4 billion people, or 80 percent of the world’s urban dwellers, will live in cities of the developing world. -30-

Residents, NGOs to government: Are you killing the R10 Navotas children?

**NEWS RELEASE*** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE **
For Immediate Release on May 26, 2006

Residents, NGOs to government: Are you killing the R10 Navotas children?

Demolished residents along R10 Road, Sitio Sto. Niño, Puting Bato in Navotas has called on the government to address immediately the concerns of evicted families before another tragic death of a child happens.

Seven-month old Ariel Porras drowned in a canal after falling from their makeshift shanty at the dawn of Wednesday, May 24. His parents, Gina and Archie Porras, built a shanty along the sidewalk of R10 Road as they were not given relocation following the demolition of their house last Thursday, May 18. The wake of the child can be seen in the Navotas Freedom Park, beside the Navotas Municipal hall, where some 25 evicted families have also sought refuge.

Gina, the mother of the baby, blamed the demolition for the death of her child. “Bigla-bigla ang demolisyon. Padilim na nang giniba ang aming bahay. Halos hindi na kami makatulog mula noon dahil sa pag-aalala sa mangyayari. Wala kaming masilungan, una sa kalsada kami tapos nakapagtayo kami ng kubo-kubo, nangyari naman ito” she said.

Meanwhile, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez and NGOs such as Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise (COPE) Foundation and Urban Poor Associates (UPA) ask the government to provide adequate relocation to the evicted families. “The government should look into the situation of the evicted families. It did not relocate the evicted families who are now living on the streets, exposed to the elements. These are gross violations of domestic laws such as the Urban Development and Housing Act as well as international treaties like the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Philippine government has ratified.”

Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization dealing with issues directly affecting the lives of the poor, conducted research in demolitions. Its research showed that women and children, like the families recently evicted from R10 are always the most vulnerable during demolition. Hundreds lose their homes and their source of livelihood. This violates the international principle that no demolition should render anyone homeless, according to Teodoro Añana, coordinator of Eviction Watch of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR).

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) demolished some 807 families in Sitio Sto Nino, Puting Bato in Navotas along R10 beginning May 18 to give way for a 32.5-meter road-widening project from Maralla Bridge to C-4. Hundreds of demolition crews from the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), escorted by police officers and SWAT personnel armed with high-powered rifles implemented the demolition activity with the use of bulldozer, mechanical backhoes and other heavy machinery.

Samahang Maralita Nagkakaisa ng R10 (SAMANA-R-10), the people’s organization, demands justice from the government. “Trinato nila kaming parang mga hayop! Sila mismo ang hindi sumusunod sa batas. Lahat na ng paglabag sa Republic Act 7279 o Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) ay ginawa nila,” said Elita Nalda, president of SAMANA.

According to SAMANA-R-10, DPWH used this so-called demolition/resettlement ploy by threatening people with forced evictions and at the same time offering them with small amounts of money, or threatening them with forced evictions while offering to resettle them in sites that are very inadequate and far from areas where they could get jobs like Bitungol in Norzagaray, Bulacan. However, the implementing agency asks the affected families to sign waivers absolving government of its obligations to provide adequate relocation. “This is satanic in its ingenuity since blame is now on the poor people for ‘freely’ agreeing to something that is disadvantageous or bad for them.” -30-

The EKK’s quest for the future by Billy Bernaldez

Sometimes, Mayet Betaloso could still recall the children’s voices while playing in the shabby streets of the late Baseco Compound in Port Manila. Screaming and laughing… although in reality, their worn faces showed what they have suffered from four- simultaneous- fire that razed their homes yearly since 2002 to 2005.

But now, she could breathe lighter than before as she glimpse a little hope for the realization of the dreams of these children, when a tutorial program was established at Baseco Compound which was the Edukasyong Kabalikat sa Kaunlaran (EKK). EKK aims to break the cycle of poverty through education.

Initiated through the help of KABALIKAT, a local organization that intends to improve the lives of Baseco families, the project was initially financed by an international social foundation for its implementation. It includes the rental fees of a small classroom, procurement of the chairs, tables, facilities and for the salaries of the teachers hired.

“Karamihan sa mga bata dito, pagkagaling sa paaralan ay naglalaro sa mga estero at kanal ng mga kalye. Kaya nga kami ay natutuwa at kahit papaano ay meron ng pupuntahan na maayos na lugar yung mga bata,” (Most of the children here, after schooling, are playing in the canals of the streets. That is why we are so glad now that there is a good place where the children can go) says Jeorgie Tenolete, president of KABALIKAT.

Since 2003, EKK had invited many children, mostly from the lower sections of Grade five and six with general average of 79 and below, from Herminigildo Atienza Elementary School (HAES) to attend the tutorial class. However, due to the small area of the classroom and the immense number of enrollees, EKK could accommodate students only for a limited time per day.

“It is good that many children were enrolled in the program though we know that we could never accommodate them all. What is important is that the program would help this children tap their educational incompetence,” Betaloso said, one of the founder of the EKK.

But unfortunately, the EKK noticed that there is something wrong happening with the children. Last July 2005, the EKK had 130 initial numbers of registered pupils; but as the months passed, this number was reduced, till then there’s only 35 pupils left at the end of the school year.

One of the main problems sighted by the EKK regarding this problem is poverty. The parents, instead of sending their children in tutorial class after schooling in HAES, sent their children to work where they can to earn additional money for their living.

“Many children do not really work after all. They were so young to finance their family’s living. What they actually do is play on the streets which makes them less-educated. That is why the EKK made some actions to remedy the situation.” says Laarni Salanga, teacher of the EKK tutorial class and educational consultant of the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization working with the urban poor.

But things get worst when another problem arose. Lately, they asked the HAES administration to help them identify low-comprehended pupils to be brought in the tutorial classes, however, just July last year, the public school renounced its support.

“I was so sad, in behalf of the EKK program, when I learn that the school doesn’t want to help us anymore. Perhaps, they misinterpreted the strategy we are using to give responsibility for parents to send their children in the tutorial program,” Salanga said.

Salanga said that the reason why the school withdraws its cooperation is because of the 15 pesos fee that the EKK collects on each pupil every month which started since July 2005. She stressed that parents are not forced to pay this fee and that it was only a way to encourage them to send their children in the tutorial class. And as a matter of fact, from their record, out of 50 parents who agreed to pay the fee, 12 paid for the first month while only four completed the payments for the school year.

The school however did not accept the explanation of the EKK.

The HAES reasoned out to EKK, that the public school should not collect fees from the parents of their pupils. The school administration doesn’t want to intrude the transaction anymore because they are afraid that the school might be sued for this collection.

“The parents have already understood the purpose of the fee and there is nothing malicious about it. I know that the school would cooperate if they can only understand the needs of under-achievers and the importance of tutorial classes,” Salanga said.

The argument was brought by the EKK to the District Supervisor of Manila, however, the school is firm with their stand not to render any help unless the P15 fee will be abolished.

Presently, the EKK has already stopped their pursuance to seek help from the public school (although a little support from them will be a great help for the program and for the Baseco children). What the EKK program is hoping for is that somehow the said school will help these poor children achieved their dreams.

“I want to be a Computer Engineer in the future. If there would still be a tutorial class to help me, maybe I could do it,” says Jun, a graduating student in HAES.

EKK was still there to give hope for the realization of the dreams of the Baseco children. -30-

The longing tears in the railway by Billy Bernaldez

“It is not the house that counts, nor the comfort of it…it is the life that is at risk - on how we will continue to live without our jobs.”

These are the words uttered by Lola Virginia Bernardo, 65 years old and a grandmother of three. “I’m willing to live anywhere together with my family, just to be assured that we could really survive,” she said.

Lola Virginia had been living as informal settler along the railway tracks of Brgy. 807 in Vito Cruz, Manila since 1998. She is aware that they are illegally residing the place but she has no other choice at that time; either to lie barely on the freezing ground of hi-ways and boulevards, her family have chosen to place their home beside the railway - even if it also means putting their lives at stake.

Her husband died due to a disease called Emphysema the year 2000. Since then, together with her son, granddaughters and a grandson, they faced the dilemma of living in the city.

“Sometimes, I sell vegetables in Paco, Manila. My son advised me to stay at home, to rest due to my old age…but I have to work. Besides, my two granddaughters are studying in elementary and his income will never sustain us all,” Lola Virginia said.

Her son works from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. as an FX driver in Manila enduring the heat during daylight at work to supply their family’s needs. However, although he is working hard, thrice a week, his daily income would still be hard to accommodate them all. That is why Lola Virginia would still want to work to fill that necessity.

But things went wrong when the homes of railway families in Makati City started to be demolished last January. More than 2,000 families were relocated to Cabuyao Laguna. She was informed that the government has a plan to renovate the area (including theirs) to launch a huge project. With this happenings, she was really scared stiff.

“I began to loose hope when I heard that we are going to be displaced to Cabuyao. I couldn’t sleep at night. My close friends who have already got there said that they have so many difficulties. I couldn’t imagine what will happen to us there,” Lola Virginia said in a trembling voice.


The NSLP

Lola Virginia is only one of about an estimated 150,000 to 180,000 urban poor families that will be displaced in different relocation sites from North Rail and South Rail tracks. Some 21,000 families (18,000 along the North Rail and 3,000 along the South Rail) have already been displaced.

This huge displacement of urban poor families and the continuous clearing of Northrail and Southrail in Manila are the effects brought by the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project (NSLP), a joint project initiated by the Arroyo Administration and the Korean Export-Import Bank. The plan consists of two stages: The Phase 1 which starts from Caloocan along Manila, Makati, Tagiug, Parañaque and Muntinlupa and the Phase 2 which is in Laguna, from San Pedro, along Biñan, Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao and Calamba.

The Phase 1 of the project will span 32 km. from Caloocan City to Alabang in Muntinlupa City. The project, with an approved budget of P27 billion will be interconnected to NorthRail, LRT 1 and 2 and MRT 3. This was seen to load about 187,000 passengers daily with 16 number of station to be served.

The Phase 2 of the project is an advance proposal seen to begin on 2008, which involves 25.90 km. stretching from Alabang, Muntinlupa to Calamba, Laguna. This will affect about 11,000 poor urban families along the railways.

Way back to railway

Aling Josephine Ibardolaza, 45, scans the extended horizon covered by broken bricks. Not anything will be seen standing in both sides of the railways, except for a Balete tree and some people standing distantly - people who have once dwell their lives in the place and hoping to turn back the time to live there again.

Aling Josephine and other poor families were relocated at the Cabuyao resettlement area. And now they are returning to their places in the railways even though they were not allowed by the government to stay there again.

“We have to leave Cabuyao because that is the place of hunger. We already have our houses there but we don’t have jobs to feed ourselves,” said Luz Ibardolaza, one of the relocatees who returned to San Antonio in Makati City.

Luz Ibardolaza, 61, has two daughters and 11 grandchildren. All of them, together with other 20 families, including two babies, are now residing under the bridge of San Antonio beside a polluted canal. There were threats from the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) that they will be expelled on the said place because the bridge was still covered by the project.

“We would rather choose to live here even it was so dangerous and uncomfortable. The sources of our income were here in the city and we need it for us to survive,” Luz Ibardolaza said.

The family of Ibardolaza works throughout in the streets of Makati and Manila everyday. Most of them are vendors of fishballs, vegetables and fruits while others are just scavenging the trash for them to survive.


A call to remember

One of the great problems faced by the evicted families on the resettlement area is their livelihood, which is the reason why many of them return to the railways. The government did not offer them any means for livelihood. They also stressed that due to far distance of the relocation area from the Cabuyao town proper (which means a need to pay P40 back and forth for their fare), they could do no more but to return in their lost jobs in Makati City.

At first, each displaced family received P50,000 for the building of their own houses - P10,000 for the labor and P40,000 for the housing materials. They have to finish building their houses in 10 days because the tent, which they temporarily used as a shelter, will be returned to the National Housing Authority (NHA) after the due date.

But then a problem arises when they started constructing their houses. Lola Luz Ibardolaza said they realized that the money handed to them would be used only for the building of their houses. And since many of them do not have the knowledge to build cement structures, they have to throw the P10,000 for the labor, means, there were no allotted budget for their food.

“We’re penniless at those times. We need to eat that is why we need money. And even though we have something to eat, it was not permanent, we need a job and that is what we couldn’t find there,” said Lola Luz Ibardolaza.

Last April 14, hundreds of urban poor families relocated in Cabuyao, Laguna held a protest rally. The rally was named “Kalbaryo ng Maralitang Tagalungsod” (Calvary of the Urban Poor) to call on the attention of the government, particularly the NHA to address their concerns: Potable water, electricity, education, food, transportation, health and livelihood.

“There is water but it’s not potable; there is no electricity; there stands the school but there were no facilities and teachers; the people could work but there is no job. So how can these people survive? These are the basic needs that every individual needs and the governments’ responsibility to provide,” said Jazel Virtuzio, administration assistant of Urban Poor Associates (UPA). UPA is a non-government organization established to educate poor families in housing rights matters.

It could be remembered that the Arroyo Administration assured the people during her election campaign that she would give 10 million jobs for the poor. However, until now, poor people were still asking if they really heard the said pledge or perhaps it’s just one of their illusions.

“The informal dwellers in the railways were already below the poverty line. They really need help and they are the one who needs much attention. I think the government is really sleeping and needs to be disturbed,” Denis Murphy said, executive director of UPA.

Today, the poor families, especially in the railways are still looking for some way to wake the government, to look over them. Not just to observe them dying, but to help them solve the dilemmas that they are now experiencing.

“We are hoping that the government somehow will see our situation. We are helpless at this time. Just give to the poor people their needs…nothing more,” Luz Ibardolaza said. -30-

Manindigan! Ipaglaban ang makataong relokasyon!

STATEMENT*** PRESS STATEMENT*** PRESS STATEMENT

For Immediate Release on May 20, 2006

Manindigan! Ipaglaban ang makataong relokasyon!

Ang dignidad ng tao ay hindi maaaring bayaran. Hindi tama kailanman, lalo na sa pamahalaan na may pananagutan sa kabutihan ng lahat na hindi pansinin ang mahirap na kalagayan ng napakaraming tao at pamilya na napilitang manirahan sa lansangan o magkasya sa miserableng barung-barong na tirahan.

Kaming mahigit 800 pamilya sa R10, Sitio Sto. Niño, Puting Bato sa Navotas ay walang-awang dinemolis ng Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) simula noong Huwebes. Daan-daang demolition crews mula sa Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), kasama ang mga armadong pulis, ang nagsagawa ng sapilitang ebiksyon gamit ang bulldozer, back hoe at iba pang heavy machinery.

Ayon sa ating Saligang Batas, hindi dapat paaalisin ni gigibain ang mga tirahan ng maralitang tagalungsod maliban kung naaayon sa batas at sa paraang makatarungan at makatao. Hindi dapat ilipat ng tirahan ang mga maralitang tagalungsod nang walang sapat na pagsang-guni sa kanila at sa mga pamayanang paglilipatan sa kanila. (Art. XIII, Sek. 10, 1987 Saligang Batas)

Ito ay pinagtibay ng Seksyon 28 ng RA 7279 o Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992. Ayon sa UDHA, pinahihintulutan ang demolisyon ngunit sa pagsasagawa nito ipinag-uutos ang sapat na relokasyon.

Kami ay nanawagan sa pamahalaan na ipatupad sa makataong paraan ang mga ebiksyon at tiyakin ang sapat at angkop na relokasyon.

Maraming demolisyon ang isinasagawa sa pagpapalagay na dapat alisin ang mga maralita sa isang lugar, ngunit naglalagay lamang sa kanila sa higit na mapanganib na kalagayan.

Malinaw na ayon sa batas at mga alintuntunin nito, ang bawat maralita ay may karapatan laban sa sapilitang paglilikas at karapatan sa maayos at sapat na relokasyon.

Subalit paano kung ang pamahalaan na dapat magpasunod ng mga batas ay siya ang pangunahing lumalabag nito? Walang malinaw na relokasyon sa amin. Hindi nasunod ang UDHA. Walang financial at food support, walang suporta mula sa LGUs. May mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao.

Kami, kasama ang mga NGOs na tumutulong sa amin, ay kinokondena ang pagwawalang bahala ng pamahalaan sa mga pangunahing pangangailan ng mga pinalayas at ipinagtabuyang pamilya. Labis na kaming naghihirap, bakit pa kami lalong pinahihirapan? Paano na ang pag-aaral ng aming mga anak? Paano na ang kanilang kinabukasan?

Ginagamit lamang ng DPWH ang isang taktika/sistema na nakagawian nang gawin ng gubyerno sa bawat maralitang pamilya. Pagbabantaan ng sapilitang demolisyon kung hindi aalis. Bibigyan ng maliit na halaga upang lisanin ang tirahan. Pangangakuan ng relokasyon ngunit sa liblib na lugar gaya ng Bitungol, Norzagaray, Bulacan. At papipirmahin sa isang waiver na nagtatangal sa kanilang obligasyon para sa sapat at makataong paglilipatan. Sa ganitong paraan ang may kasalanan, kung sakaling lisanin ang relokasyong ipinagkaloob sa kanila ay ang mga maralita na siyang malayang sumang-ayon na ipahamak ang kanyang pamilya sa hindi nararapat at angkop na paglilipatan.

Nakagawian na itong gawin ng pamahalaan, paspasan, kahit na malabag ang mga karapatan sa maayos na paninirahan at karapatan bilang isang tao, isang mamamayang sa kanyang maliit na kakayahan ay bahagi rin ng pag-unlad ng bansa. Hindi ito kailanman magtatagumpay. Lumilikha lamang ito ng mas maraming problema/suliranin gaya ng mga taong napipilitang tumira sa mga kalsada, ilalim ng tulay, sementeryo at kung saan-saan pa.

Sana ay gamitin ng gobyerno ang paraang makabubuti sa mga maralita, paraang maka-Diyos at makatao. -30-

Residents, NGOs condemn DPWH and MMDA on unlawful demolition along R10 Navotas

**NEWS RELEASE***NEWS RELEASE***NEWS RELEASE**
For Immediate Release on May 20, 2006

Residents, NGOs condemn DPWH and MMDA on unlawful demolition along R10 Navotas

Some 807 families residing along R10 Road in Sitio Sto. Niño, Puting Bato in Navotas were forcibly evicted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) beginning Thursday to give way for a 32.5-meter road widening project from Maralla Bridge to C-4. Hundreds of demolition crews from the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), escorted by policemen and SWAT armed with high powered rifles, implemented the demolition activity using a bulldozer, 2 back hoes and other heavy machinery. When some residents resisted, policemen fired warning shots while others pointed their guns at the people.

Samahang Maralitang Nagkakaisa R10 (SAMANA), the people’s organization, issued statements to condemn the demolition and the government's insensitivity to the needs of evicted families. “Walang malinaw na relokasyon. Hindi nasunod ang Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA). Walang financial at food support. Walang suporta mula sa Local Government Units (LGUs). May mga human rights violations,” the SAMANA said.

Only 561 of the 807 families will be entitled to relocation because the rest failed to be included on the 2001 Census made by DPWH, the SAMANA said. Hence, many evicted families have been living on the shabby sidewalks of Radial R10 Road following the demolition of their houses. “Sana ay mabigyan din kami ng malilipatang bahay malapit sa trabaho at iskwelahan,” said 35 year old Perla Filipinas, mother of five.

According to SAMANA, DPWH used the tactic of threatening people with forced evictions while at the same time offering them small amounts of money, or threatening them with forced evictions while offering to resettle them in sites that are very inadequate and far from areas where they could get jobs like Bitungol in Norzagaray, Bulacan. But the implementing agency asks the affected families to sign waivers absolving government of its obligations to provide adequate relocation.

Meanwhile, non-government organizations (NGOs) such as Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise (COPE) and Zone 1 Tondo Organization (ZOTO) condemned this tactic of the DPWH which will place the blame on the poor people for "freely" agreeing to something that is disadvantageous or bad for them while at the same sowing enmity among the people between those who “volunteered” and those who refused to waive their human rights.

Caloocan Bishop Degracias Iniguez visited the demolition site and telephoned MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernandez to ask him to stop the demolition but was refused his request. Last Monday a dialogue was held at the parish of Fr. Alan Lopez in Dagat-dagatan and the DPWH agreed to suspend the demolition for three days until Friday. However, on Thursday afternoon the MMDA began the demolition operation.

A year ago the affected residents had meetings with the DPWH during which they rejected its financial offer of P15,000 for each family. They said they preferred relocation to a site in Bagong Silang in Caloocan. The DPWH offered Bitungol in Norzagaray, Bulacan which the people said is too far and without work opportunities. Moreover, the P15,000 offer of the DPWH is also below the UDHA standard of sixty days worth of daily minimum wage amounting to P18,000.

As defined by domestic laws, international treaties and covenants, adequate relocation means decent and habitable houses provided with basic services such as water, electricity, roads, continuity of education for the children. -30-

Urban Poor sumugod kay Kabayan

(Cardinal Rosales sinermunan si VP de Castro)
For Immediate Release on May 15, 2006

Urban Poor sumugod kay Kabayan
(Cardinal Rosales sinermunan si VP de Castro)

“Sa riles di kami pulubi; Gutom sa relokasyon; Kamatayan = Cabuyao; Kaunlaran para sa lahat hindi ng iilan.”

Nag-aapoy sa galit na sumugod ang mahigit 600 pamilyang apektado ng demolisyon mula Caloocan City hanggang Los Baños Laguna sa tanggapan ng Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chair, VP Noli de Castro sa lungsod ng Makati. Naubos na umano ang kanilang pasensya sa pagbabalewala sa kanila ni Kabayan.

Nagkaroon ng pagpapahayag ang Koalisyon ng mga Samahan sa Riles-Katimugan sa pamamagitan ng street play. Sila ay gumawa ng maliit na tren upang ipakita kung paano nito winawasak ang kanilang buhay.

Ayon sa kanila, kalunus-lunos ang kanilang kalagayan sa relocation site sa Cabuyao, Laguna. Dahil walang kuryente, walang malinis na tubig na maiinom, malayo sa iskwelahan ng kanilang mga anak at higit sa lahat ay nawalan sila ng hanapbuhay dahil malayo sa dati nilang pinapasukan sa kanilang nilipatang tirahan magmula nang sila’y i-demolish ng pamahalaan. “Sana ang pamahalaan ay maging maka-Kristiyano at makatao kung magta-transfer ng mga tao galing sa riles,” pahayag ni Estrella Terencio, residente ng Southville.

Pinalala pa ng hagupit ng bagyong Caloy ang kanilang sitwasyon, hanggang ngayon ay tent lamang ang tirahan ng iba sa kanila at hindi pa nasisimulan ang paggawa sa kanilang lilipatan.

Kaugnay nito, nanawagan si Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales na itigil muna ang demolisyon hanggat hindi pa talaga nakahanda ang paglilipatan sa mga maaapektuhan. Tila nabigyan ng pag-asa ang mga taga-riles at nagpalakpakan nang basahin ang liham ni Cardinal para kay Kabayan.Umaasa sila na dahil may suporta ng simbahan, sila ngayon ay haharapin na ni VP de Casro.

Ngunit hindi sumipot si Kabayan, kaya kinausap na lamang nila si Atty. Pamela Yabut, legal counsel ng HUDCC. Ayon kay Alicia G. Murphy, project officer ng Urban Poor Associates, magkakaroon ng pag-uusap sa Miyerkules kung maaari ang in-city relocation sa Taguig, gaya ng mungkahi ni Cardinal. Subalit hindi aniya masasagot ni Atty. Yabut kung ititigil ang demolisyon sa Maynila upang maisaayos muna ang relokasyon sa Laguna.

Sa kanyang sulat pinayuhan ng Cardinal si VP de Castro na pag-isipang maigi ang mga plano ng gubyerno ukol sa malawakang pagre-relocate ng mga mahihirap sa malalayong lugar. Kailangan aniya na hanggat maaari ay malapit sa hanapbuhay, ibig sabihin ay in-city relocation. “We have to look again at our priorities. Do they reflect the Christian social teaching?,” pahayag ng Cardinal sa kanyang liham kay VP de Castro.

Ito ang pangalawang beses na kung saan ang isang Obispo ay nanawagan para itigil ang demolisyon. Ginawa rin ito ni Bishop Jose Oliveros ng Malolos noong October 2005.

Tinatayang 50,000 pamilya ang palalayasin sa riles mula Caloocan City hanggang Calamba para mabigyang daan ang rehabilitasyon ng Philippine National Railway (PNR), ayon sa Urban Poor Associates o UPA, isang non-government organization. Tinatayang 22,000 pamilya na ang na-displaced dahil sa Northrail at Southrail project ng pamahalaan (18,000 sa Northrail at 4,000 sa Southrail).
Ilang beses nang humingi ng tulong kay Kabayan ang mga mahihirap subalit ayon sa kanila ay wala namang aksyon. “Patuloy s’yang nagbibingi-bingihan! Wala s’yang ginagawa para solusyunan ang aming mga karaingan!” -30-

DEMOLITIONS TROUBLE CARDINAL (Cardinal Rosales to VP de Castro: Stop Demolition)

MEDIA ADVISORY

Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

DEMOLITIONS TROUBLE CARDINAL
(Cardinal Rosales to VP de Castro: Stop Demolition)

Hundreds of railway dwellers will rally at the office of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chair VP Noli de Castro at the Atrium Building, Makati Avenue in Makati City on May 15, Monday (9:00 AM) to demand a moratorium on all evictions on the railroad.

The people will bring a letter of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales to VP de Castro suggesting the HUDCC Chair declare a moratorium on evictions until the relocation sites are prepared. They will discuss the problems if the vice president meets them during the rally. Otherwise they will post the letter on a wall.

The people and the Cardinal say the relocation sites are not prepared. They say the moratorium of demolition will give government time to give more care to children’s schooling and to family income in the relocation area, and to help house all people including those who missed cut-off dates. They will also demand HUDCC not threaten or scare people into relocating.

The Cardinal also advises VP de Castro to take another look at distant relocation, for example, in Taguig. This is the second time a bishop has called for a moratorium. Bishop Jose Oliveros of Malolos did the same in October 2005.

Some 50,000 families stand to be evicted from Caloocan City to Calamba. They are currently threatened with eviction due to the Southrail Project. Some 22,000 families (18,000 on the Northrail and 4,000 on the Southrail) have already been displaced.

The people have constructed their own train. They will show how it destroys people’s lives.

The Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization working with the poor families, conducted research in North and South relocation sites. UPA found 70% of the relocatees have built their homes but only 50% of them occupy the homes they built at the North relocation sites. Seventy two percent of the respondents in the South relocation site said they experience lack of food, only 36% said they also experienced lack of food on the railway. This is a 100% increase from when they were on the railroad.

The water in the South relocation site is not fit to drink, according to the Biology department of Ateneo de Manila University.

EVICTION ANGERS RAIL DWELLERS

MEDIA ADVISORY

Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

EVICTION ANGERS RAIL DWELLERS
(Cardinal Rosales to ask for a moratorium)

Hundreds of railway dwellers will rally at the office of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chair VP Noli de Castro at the Atrium Building along Makati Avenue in Makati City on Monday (May 15) 9:00 AM to demand a moratorium on all evictions on the railroad. Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales told the people May 9 he will also ask for a moratorium on evictions.

Railway dwellers will tell the HUDCC that a moratorium of demolition will give it time to give more care to children’s schooling and to family income in the relocation area, and to help house all people including those who missed cut-off dates. They will also demand HUDCC not threaten or scare people into relocating, and to take another look at distant relocation.

Some 50,000 families stand to be evicted from Caloocan City to Calamba. They are currently threatened with eviction due to the Southrail Project. Some 22,000 families (18,000 on the Northrail and 4,000 on the Southrail) have already been displaced.

The people have constructed their own train. They will show how it destroys people’s lives.

The Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization working with the poor families, conducted research in North and South relocation sites. UPA found 70% of the relocatees have built their homes but only 50% of them occupy the homes they built at the North relocation sites. Seventy two percent of the respondents in the South relocation site said they experience lack of food, only 36% said they also experienced lack of food on the railway. This is a 100% increase from when they were on the railroad.

Photo ops: Launching of the railway dwellers’ Salot Train.

What: Railway Dwellers’ Protest Rally in HUDCC
When: May 15, 2006 (Monday)
Time: The protest rally will start at 9:00 AM
Where: Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council

In front of Atrium Building along Makati Avenue in Makati City

URBAN POOR VS. BAYANI FERNANDO

**NEWS RELEASE*** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE**

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2006

URBAN POOR VS. BAYANI FERNANDO

St. Thomas More Law Center, the legal unit of Urban Poor Associates (UPA), with the help of Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SALIGAN) and Economic & Social Rights Legal Advocacy Center, filed a petition before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC RTC) to ask for Prohibition with Prayer for Preliminary Injunction and/or Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against respondents [Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando and Metro Manila Council] last April 28, 2005.

The hearing on the application for preliminary injunction was conducted today, May 2, 2006 (which started around 9:00 AM) at the Branch 221 of the QC RTC. The plaintiff’s counsel, Atty. Michael Vincent S. Gaddi, presented Nora Balbin, (petitioner/witness) for a direct examination to the presiding judge Hon. Jocelyn A. Solis-Reyes. “The witness justified her affidavit well,” said Atty. Gaddi. The defendant’s counsel, Atty. Magtanggol M. Castro, asked the presiding judge to move the cross examination on June 23, 2006.

The hearing aims to establish Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) entitlement, illegality of demolition and the urgency of situations as to merit issuance of preliminary injunction to forestall any further acts of eviction and demolition, and barring the respondents from using MMDA resolutions 03-96 and 02-28.

On May 28, 2003, at the height of typhoon Chedeng, respondent MMDA personnel, without prior notice as required by law, announced to the petitioners (informal dwellers located along Quezon Avenue in 787 Barangay Sta. Cruz, Quezon City) that it was going to demolish their houses claiming that their houses are within the ten-meter easement as provided in the questioned resolutions.

There and then, using a back hoe and other heavy equipment, MMDA personnel did demolish, destroy and dismantle the houses of the petitioners consisting of fifty houses and structures exposing the petitioners, their families, especially the children to the harsh elements.

The second demolition happened on January 21, 2005. Uniformed MMDA personnel arrived at the scene accompanied by police officers. Just like the first demolition, no sufficient notice was given to the residents whose houses were demolished. The police officers then ordered the MMDA personnel to commence with the demolition and they were able to dismantle seven households. Thereafter, said MMDA personnel even set the dismantled housing materials, clothing and other personal belongings on fire. Likewise, no representative of the local government unit was present to observe the conduct of the demolition.

“The law in this case being MMDA Resolutions 03-96 and 02-28 issued by the Metro Manila Council have been used, abused, misused and overused by the respondents to justify the vicious action taken against the poor. The unjust and inhuman manner of demolition and eviction being practiced by the respondents violates significant constitutional mandates enshrined in the Social Justice provisions of Article XIII, and doesn’t comply with the Section 28 of the UDHA, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),” said Teodoro Añana, coordinator of the Eviction Watch of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR).

The Supreme Court (SC) has spelled out the limits of MMDA’s authority last April 15, 2005. The SC has ruled that MMDA is an administrative agency tasked to coordinate development projects in Metro Manila. The MMDA, according to the SC, is not empowered to pass ordinances and resolutions, and is not vested with even the barest iota of police power. Hence, all MMDA projects, especially those that impose penalties or fines but are not supported by ordinances can be questioned in court. Persons who were victimized by MMDA operations can sue the agency for damages.

“The MMDA, in enacting Resolutions 03-96 and 02-28, acted beyond its designated functions as clearly stated in its charter R.A. 7924. For more than four long years, the respondents, under the pretense of “enforcing the law” and in an arrogant and highhanded manner, have disregard due process, ignored legal protections and trampled upon the human rights of the poor, underprivileged and marginalized – the most helpless and least empowered members of Filipino society. The petition filed against the respondents before the QC RTC aims to remedy this injustice” said Atty. Bienvenido A. Salinas 2nd, coordinator of the UPA-St. Thomas More Law Center.

The petitioners respectfully pray that after due hearing a Preliminary Injunction be issued barring the respondents from enforcing the questioned resolutions. And judgment be rendered declaring MMDA Resolutions 03-96 and 02-28 null and void, permanently enjoining from enforcing the and making the Preliminary Injunction permanent. Petitioners likewise pray for other relief just and equitable under the law. -30-