URBAN POOR — WORK FORCE AND CITIZENS

Urban poor people are blamed for the floods caused by typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). Government officials demand they be prohibited from moving back to their homes along the rivers and esteros. The president has said that in the makeover of Metro Manila we must “rid the city” of informal settlers as if they were vermin.

There is no scientific basis proposed for such violent actions. Loggers in the Sierra Madre and developers may be more guilty. We may evict 80,000 families from the waterways at great expense and suffering only to find in 20 years the floods are back and stronger than ever. There must be a rock solid scientific reason to disrupt the lives of 400,000 persons.

Riverbank and lakeside dwellers will not insist on returning to their homes if they are offered in-city relocation near their jobs and the children’s schools.

The poor were affected that fateful Saturday (Sept. 26)just as the middle-class people. Unlike the middle-class, however, the poor had no place to go except back to their homes by the waterways.

Distant relocation is not the answer as there are usually no jobs available in the far away sites. Jobs are basic: without regular income the people will be hungry and soon return.

Let us move into 21st century thinking by making Metro Manila and our other cities inclusive ones that integrate the urban poor into their midst rather than force them into illegality on degraded sites. These diminish their humanity and serve as constant reminders of social injustices perpetuated by “the only Christian country in Asia.”

We call for a serious examination of the causes of the floods. Can it not be done by the Senate? What, if any, was the role of the poor? Who is really to blame?

We call for both public and idle private land near the riverbanks to be identified and set aside for riverbank and lakeside settlement, negotiated by government for temporary social housing use until it can identify and prepare permanent social housing sites for them in the city. We believe, however, on-site upgrading is the best solution.

We also call for a serious re-examination of our current unjust and inefficient land use patterns and a serious look at the implications of urbanization for all Filipinos, especially the poorer citizenry.

It is time to initiate humane and effective approaches that will enable our urban poor workforce to remain in the city, enjoy their rights as Filipino citizens, and help realize a vibrant, competitive, humane and inclusive Asian city.

Promdi city

"Promdi city"

Episode aired on October 16, 2008
Airing on October 20, 2008
Monday night after Saksi

Kara David moves into a resettlement site in Cabuyao, Laguna for her upcoming I-Witness documentary.

In a unique social experiment, she discovers what it's like to live in a remote relocation area after having spent years in the big city.

She spends almost a hundred pesos on transportation alone just to get to the site. She is given a unit so bare, it has no water or electricity. Kara spends her first day buying kitchenware, a mattress and charcoal for cooking.

She asks her neighbors for help in finding work. They have jobs cleaning softdrink bottles in a far-off refinery. Instead of spending 80 pesos a day on tricycle and jeepney fare, they leave their homes by 4 am and walk many kilometers to work. After cleaning more than 50 cases of softdrinks, Kara makes P161 pesos.

In between working, Kara meets up with mothers who talk about the difficulties of adjusting to relocation. The common story of provincial lasses seeking their fortune in the big city takes a 180 degree turn with these women who have lived for decades by the railroad tracks and must now learn the basics of rural life. They laugh about learning to plant produce and till the fields for the first time, and discuss the lack of entertainment in their new neighborhood.

Kara David takes a very personal approach to documenting life in a resettlement area. Catch her special episode "Promdi City" this Monday late night on I-Witness.

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Isang eksperimento ang susubukan ni Kara David sa kanyang dokumentaryo ngayong Lunes. Siya'y makikitira sa malaking resettlement site sa Cabuyao, Laguna kasama ang ilang pamilyang nagmula sa tabing riles. Dito niya mararanasan ang kondisyon ng mga bagong lipat.

Magsisimula ito sa pagco-commute ni Kara galing sa kanyang bahay papunta sa site sa Cabuyao, Laguna baon lang ang P1000. Sa biyahe pa lang, mababawasan na ng isandaan ang pera niya dahil sa layo ng lugar. Pagdating sa unit na kanyang titirhan, malalaman ni Kara na wala itong kasangkapan, tubig at kuryente. Kakailanganin niyang bumili ng mga gamit gaya ng kaldero, baso, higaan, uling, walis at kung anu-ano pa.

Magpapatulong si Kara sa ilang kapitbahay upang humanap ng mapapasukang trabaho. Umaabot ang ang pamasahe ng P80 kada araw papunta sa kanilang papasukan, kaya nilalakad na lang ito nila. Alas 4 ng madaling araw kung umalis ang mga papasok sa Calamba para maglinis ng ni-recycle na bote. Buong araw nagtratrabaho ang mga tao rito para kitain ang P161 sa paglilinis ng daan-daang bote.

Pangkaraniwan na ang kuwento ng mga galing probinsiya na naghahanap ng kapalaran sa siyudad. Marami sa makikilala ni Kara sa Cabuyao, kabaliktaran ang dinanas. Naninibago sila ngayon sa paggapas ng palay at sa buhay magsasaka dahil nagmula sa mga tabing riles ng Makati.

Isang kakaibang pagtalakay sa buhay sa loob ng mga resettlement sites. Ito ang susunod na dokumentrayo ni Kara David para sa I-Witness.

Railway people stage rally outside South Korean Embassy

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

Railway people stage rally outside South Korean Embassy

25 January 2008. Protesting the refusal of Ambassador Hong Jong-ki to talk with them, about fifty people from railway communities gathered outside the South Korean Embassy in Makati City this morning.

Demonstrators, some of them carrying banners “Mr. Ambassador, speak, listen to us!” patiently waited at the grounds of the Pacific Star Building along Makati Avenue where the embassy is located.

Blue-red-and-yellow paper house boxes, matching the colors of the Philippine flag, were put on some protester’s head to show that a roof over people’s head is a human right.

The groups picketing are people being evicted due to the Northrail Southrail Linkage Project which is funded by the Korean government. Some are residents of the Southville relocation site in Cabuyao, Laguna. They are helped by Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization working on urban poverty.

The Korean government has judged the relocation of the families as adequate based on two surveys it funded that were headed by a person employed at the Asian Development Bank.

“The surveys which play such a key role have never been made available to us though we have asked to see them several times. Now the Korean Embassy refuses to talk to us. What are they hiding, we want to know,” said Ted Añana, deputy coordinator of UPA.

“We want to stress that the affected families are not opposed to the railway project. Our only concern is the observance of the rights of the affected families as enunciated by domestic and international laws,” Añana pointed out.

The railway project involves the eviction of 50,000 families from Caloocan City to Calamba, Laguna. About 30,000 families still remain on the tracks. The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) under Vice President Noli de Castro is in charge of the relocation.

After learning that the embassy officials refused to dialog with them, the Koalisyon ng mga Samahan sa Riles Katimugan (KOSARIKA) wrote a letter addressed to Lee Myung-bak, President-elect of Republic of Korea. “Your embassy officials here refuse to dialog with us. It is as if we were not of value.”

“We write this letter to seek your help, since the relocation provided for us is woefully inadequate. We also want the Korean government to make another survey to be done by a university here in a very transparent manner with the results revealed publicly,” the letter read

The Korean government through its Finance and Economy Ministry has expressed concerns regarding the relocation of railway families in a letter sent to KOSARIKA dated May 11, 2007. “Our government is well aware of the importance of the issue of relocating local residents in that project, and we emphasize once more that we plan to continually watch to see whether it is being implemented according to international standards.”

In order to relieve the transportation jam in Metro Manila and at the same time to develop parts of Metro Manila that were becoming slums, South Korea decided in December of 2003 to support the railway project. However it has consistently maintained the position that “preparing and implementing adequate relocation for the residents alongside the railway is a precondition for providing support for the project.”

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Railroad squatters picket South Korean embassy

Evicted railway settlers picket South Korean embassy

S. Korean envoy urged to address plight of 50,000 evicted families

Bishop Pabillo, Mayor Cuerpo back railway families’ plea for alternative relocation site

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

Bishop Pabillo, Mayor Cuerpo back railway families’ plea for alternative relocation site

10 September 2007. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo and Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo joined grassroots organizations this morning in a press conference held at the Arzobispado de Manila to demand that the government find alternatives to its policy of relocating poor people to remote sites.

Railway families who are facing imminent threat of evictions due to the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project press the government to arrange that necessary relocation be to nearby sites like Rodriguez, and no longer to places two or more hours drive outside Metro Manila which is far from their jobs.

Mayor Cuerpo is offering hope to railway families as he has certified that the Municipality of Rodriguez in Rizal is willing to accept families living along the railroad tracks from Sampaloc up to Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Destined to be dumped in distant relocation sites where life is extremely hard, Samahang Apektadong Pamilya sa Riles (SAPAR) have taken initiatives to find alternative relocation sites for some 1,500 families. Despite many appeals the National Housing Authority (NHA) refuses to accept the Montalban relocation site.

The group also expressed admiration for Bishop Pabillo's consistent support for the poor. The chairman of the Philippine bishops' Housing Committee has assailed the soulless eviction of poor families.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has called the attention of the government in its pastoral statements on the homeless (1997) and on the nation’s housing problems (2007) to stop uncaring demolitions as it only put poor families from danger zone to death zone.

The government’s efforts to decongest Metro Manila by relocating poor people to distant places is simply pathetic, according to Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization that concentrates on evictions and slum-upgrading.

Results of a survey done by UPA indicated that poor people in distant relocation sites would likely go back to Metro Manila due to the following issues: lack of electricity and potable water, livelihood and job problems, high cost of commodities and transportation, payments of units alloted, problem on security, and poor facilities.

Lawyer Bienvenido Salinas II, coordinator of UPA's legal unit St. Thomas More Law Center said the law requires that families evicted from government land be given decent relocation. “The Constitution clearly stated in its Article XIII (Section 10) that no resettlement of urban poor dwellers should be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.” ###

MEDIA ADVISORY : Bishop Pabillo, Mayor Cuerpo come to the aid of railway families

Hundreds of railway families in Manila who are facing imminent threat of evictions and demolitions due to the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project have found advocates in Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo and Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo who have offered to help in a press conference to be held at the Arzobispado de Manila on September 10, Monday (10:00 AM).

Poor families living along the railroad tracks in Sampaloc will ask the government to take another look at in-city or near-city relocation sites, for example in Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal.

Destined to be dumped in distant relocation sites where life is extremely hard, grassroots organizations have taken initiatives to find alternative relocation sites.

The Constitution clearly stated in its Article XIII (Section 10) that no resettlement of urban poor dwellers should be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.

Photo ops: A woman in Filipiniana dress will receive a mock-up 100 Million Dollar Cheque as Official Demolition Assistance (ODA) fund from a woman with South Korean costume; Poor people will act out as miserable patients to depict the tragedy brought about by forced evictions and distant relocation.

Date: September 10, 2007 (Monday)

Time: 10:00 AM

Venue: Arzobispado de Manila
121 Arzobispo Street, Intramuros, Manila

For further information, please contact the Urban Poor Associates (UPA) at (632) 4264118 / 4264119 / 4267615.

Shanty-dwellers near Taguig railroad leave

Railway residents have 3 months to relocate

QTV: Railroad squatters slam VP Noli de Castro

Railroad residents heckle VP De Castro




Houses near Manila railways to be demolished in August




Poor residents living near railroad slam De Castro during visit


VP de Castro tinalakan ng mga iskwater sa Maynila

Eviction looms for railways folk