Press Release
April 27, 2010
Over one thousand urban poor people marched from Quezon City Hall to National Housing Authority (NHA) today, April 27, 2010, to demand for adequate relocation of the 312 families, who were forcefully evicted from Road 10 Navotas and to criticize police brutality against the poor, in particular the midnight dispersal of the campers in front of NHA last April 13, 2010. With them were members of Task Force Anti-Eviction (TFAE) including the Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise Foundation (COPE), Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), and Urban Poor Associates (UPA).
Led by the Road 10 evicted families, the group carried a 20 feet tall cross which symbolizes the sufferings and oppression of the urban poor and the eventual triumph of the sector, like Christ who suffered and victoriously redeemed the sins of the world on the cross. The group said, through eviction and dispersal suffering, they are creating a world of justice and peace for all. Also, they re-enacted the violent eviction and dispersal of the Road 10 residents of Navotas.
This protest with a theme “Justice for Road 10 Navotas, Justice for all Urban Poor” marked solidarity among the urban poor sector. “Many urban poor from different parts of Metro Manila including urban poor communities in Rizal joined us today because they knew what happened to us, how our women in the barricades were brutally hit by the police and water cannoned during demolition,” said Prescilda Juanich, President of Road 10 Navotas Samahang Pinagbuklod ng Pagkakaisa. “ We all see the great need of our presence to call for justice against the violation of our human rights and to condemn government housing agencies such as, NHA for its negligence of its duty to provide housing for the poor and its callousness to use violence to disperse our peaceful assembly at dawn last April 13.”
Road 10 Navotas is one of the 11 priority areas that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised to relocate in Montalban during a dialogue with urban poor representatives last August 1, 2008. The president herself instructed government agencies to provide 300 million pesos for the housing of the 11 priority areas. Until now the evicted Road 10 residents do not have houses prepared for them.
Juanich said, “We exhausted all efforts to make sure that we will be provided with adequate relocation way back two years ago. Now, NHA should move to convene a high level Inter-Agency Committee meeting to address our problem. After all, it is their mandate and obligation to seek solutions to the problem of housing the poor.”
UPA monitored that the government housing backlog is about 2,610,404 and the new estimates of housing need for 2011 to 2016 is 5, 247, 381, an obligation left to fulfill by the successor of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
For his part, UPA Deputy Coordinator Teodoro Añana said, “urban poor comprised 50% of our population and only few were given decent houses. Housing agencies need to be reformed by changing its leadership because for the past years they are proven incompetent and incapable of providing housing services to the poor and not only that, they also use violence against the urban poor.”
Task Force Anti-Eviction (TFAE) observed that the government violates the urban poor constitutional rights indiscriminately and with impunity. Despite cases filed against government agencies no one seems to be punished. Even the urban poor people’s right of free speech and peaceful assembly are being curtailed through violent dispersal just like what happened to the residents of Road 10 Navotas. TFAE and Road 10 residents will file a complaint against NHA at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to secure justice and they hope that this will be a test case against a government agency that violates the rights of the people.-30-
Showing posts with label violent demolition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violent demolition. Show all posts
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
EVICTIONS ARE UP DESPITE 2010 BEING A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR
Teodoro Añana
Deputy Coordinator
Urban Poor Associates
Based on Urban Poor Associates’ (UPA) monitoring many demolitions, some of them violent, have taken place in the first weeks of 2010.
From January to February last year UPA monitored only one demolition incident involving 87 families in Sta. Lucia, Pasig City. But during the same period this year 2,500 families have been evicted. If this trend continues for the year, it will go against a commonly held observation that the numbers of evictions and demolitions usually go down during a presidential election year
In the 1998 presidential election, the number of evicted families in Metro Manila went down to 3,882 from 8,067 in 1997 or a decrease of 107%. In the 2004 presidential election some 925 families in Metro Manila were evicted, a steep decline from the number of 4,315 families evicted in 2003 or a decrease of 366%. The reason is quite obvious: politicians do not want to antagonize thousands of urban poor voters. This is a common observation in other Asian countries where politicians consider urban poor communities as vote banks.
Beginning January this year, however, more evictions are happening. Is it because President Arroyo is not running for president? (She is running as a candidate for congress in a Pampanga district). For example, evictions are taking place in communities along the Manggahan Floodway in Pasig City, Road 10 in Navotas City, and C-5 Road in Quezon City. Evictions in the three places will dislocate thousands of urban poor families and potential voters: 4,000 families from R-10 Navotas, 40,000 from C-5 in Quezon City, and 100,000 families from the Manggahan Floodway in Pasig City and Taytay. The president is reported by the media as instructing the DPWH to finish the construction of C-5 Road so that South Luzon Expressway and North Luzon Expressway will be connected before she steps down.
The DPWH offers only financial assistance of P21,000 to a family it evicts; it shows a take it or leave it attitude. This is a departure from their practice under the administration of former President Ramos when DPWH built and managed its own resettlement sites such as those in Bulacan and Cavite. They say they do not have any relocation sites now. The financial offer is contrary to law. Section 28 of the UDHA specifically mentions only in court ordered demolitions can financial assistance be given.
The Manggahan Floodway demolitions are being justified as part of the flood prevention initiatives of the Pasig River and its tributaries, in the light of the Typhoon Ondoy floods. Some of the affected communities have been given security of tenure through President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Presidential Proclamations which declared the place a socialized housing site. The proclamations have been revoked by Executive Order No. 854. People are saying that local politicians and HUDDC want to develop the place for commercial use. The evicted families are being relocated to Calauan in Laguna.
These are projects worth billions of pesos. They are on-going projects and thus are presumed exempted from the election ban on new infrastructure projects. Since corruption is endemic in public works projects many suspect that government officials and politicians want to push through the projects to take advantage of the last months of PGMA’s administration as well as to generate funds for the election campaign.
In Metro Manila most of the evicted families are being relocated to the Calauan Resettlement site. According to a UPA team who visited there, the site can accommodate some 8,759 units of houses. As of February 4, 2010, 3,866 families have been relocated. The Calauan resettlement site used to be a housing project of former President Joseph Estrada for government employees, such as, teachers and policemen. There were very few takers because the place was simply too far from the city, an estimated 120 kilometers if one starts from the Cubao area and lacks basic services, such as, water and electricity. Now government is relocating urban poor families and expects them to stay there. The urban poor say there is no livelihood and no job opportunities in or near the site; basic facilities of water and electricity are still lacking. Many relocatees have gone back to Manila because they do not want to starve in Calauan.
Evicting the urban poor during this election year and relocating them to Calauan, Laguna or somewhere in Bulacan poses other problems for the urban poor. It is now less than three months from the May 10 election and the local Comelec can prohibit them from voting in the municipalities where they are relocated for lack of the required six months residence. Will they be allowed to vote in the city from where they were evicted? Will they be prohibited from voting because they are no longer residents of the city. Since travel is very expensive (it costs nearly P400 for a round trip from Calauan to Manila and back to Calauan), can they accept transportation money from candidates? If not, they say quite a number of them will not be able to vote.
Many urban poor communities want to make the May 10 election meaningful for them and their children. However, some think the evictions are turning out to be a way for politicians to deprive them of their fundamental right to vote and to frustrate their desire for meaningful political change. They are, therefore, asking government, including the COMELEC, to impose a moratorium on demolitions for this year.
Deputy Coordinator
Urban Poor Associates
Based on Urban Poor Associates’ (UPA) monitoring many demolitions, some of them violent, have taken place in the first weeks of 2010.
From January to February last year UPA monitored only one demolition incident involving 87 families in Sta. Lucia, Pasig City. But during the same period this year 2,500 families have been evicted. If this trend continues for the year, it will go against a commonly held observation that the numbers of evictions and demolitions usually go down during a presidential election year
In the 1998 presidential election, the number of evicted families in Metro Manila went down to 3,882 from 8,067 in 1997 or a decrease of 107%. In the 2004 presidential election some 925 families in Metro Manila were evicted, a steep decline from the number of 4,315 families evicted in 2003 or a decrease of 366%. The reason is quite obvious: politicians do not want to antagonize thousands of urban poor voters. This is a common observation in other Asian countries where politicians consider urban poor communities as vote banks.
Beginning January this year, however, more evictions are happening. Is it because President Arroyo is not running for president? (She is running as a candidate for congress in a Pampanga district). For example, evictions are taking place in communities along the Manggahan Floodway in Pasig City, Road 10 in Navotas City, and C-5 Road in Quezon City. Evictions in the three places will dislocate thousands of urban poor families and potential voters: 4,000 families from R-10 Navotas, 40,000 from C-5 in Quezon City, and 100,000 families from the Manggahan Floodway in Pasig City and Taytay. The president is reported by the media as instructing the DPWH to finish the construction of C-5 Road so that South Luzon Expressway and North Luzon Expressway will be connected before she steps down.
The DPWH offers only financial assistance of P21,000 to a family it evicts; it shows a take it or leave it attitude. This is a departure from their practice under the administration of former President Ramos when DPWH built and managed its own resettlement sites such as those in Bulacan and Cavite. They say they do not have any relocation sites now. The financial offer is contrary to law. Section 28 of the UDHA specifically mentions only in court ordered demolitions can financial assistance be given.
The Manggahan Floodway demolitions are being justified as part of the flood prevention initiatives of the Pasig River and its tributaries, in the light of the Typhoon Ondoy floods. Some of the affected communities have been given security of tenure through President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Presidential Proclamations which declared the place a socialized housing site. The proclamations have been revoked by Executive Order No. 854. People are saying that local politicians and HUDDC want to develop the place for commercial use. The evicted families are being relocated to Calauan in Laguna.
These are projects worth billions of pesos. They are on-going projects and thus are presumed exempted from the election ban on new infrastructure projects. Since corruption is endemic in public works projects many suspect that government officials and politicians want to push through the projects to take advantage of the last months of PGMA’s administration as well as to generate funds for the election campaign.
In Metro Manila most of the evicted families are being relocated to the Calauan Resettlement site. According to a UPA team who visited there, the site can accommodate some 8,759 units of houses. As of February 4, 2010, 3,866 families have been relocated. The Calauan resettlement site used to be a housing project of former President Joseph Estrada for government employees, such as, teachers and policemen. There were very few takers because the place was simply too far from the city, an estimated 120 kilometers if one starts from the Cubao area and lacks basic services, such as, water and electricity. Now government is relocating urban poor families and expects them to stay there. The urban poor say there is no livelihood and no job opportunities in or near the site; basic facilities of water and electricity are still lacking. Many relocatees have gone back to Manila because they do not want to starve in Calauan.
Evicting the urban poor during this election year and relocating them to Calauan, Laguna or somewhere in Bulacan poses other problems for the urban poor. It is now less than three months from the May 10 election and the local Comelec can prohibit them from voting in the municipalities where they are relocated for lack of the required six months residence. Will they be allowed to vote in the city from where they were evicted? Will they be prohibited from voting because they are no longer residents of the city. Since travel is very expensive (it costs nearly P400 for a round trip from Calauan to Manila and back to Calauan), can they accept transportation money from candidates? If not, they say quite a number of them will not be able to vote.
Many urban poor communities want to make the May 10 election meaningful for them and their children. However, some think the evictions are turning out to be a way for politicians to deprive them of their fundamental right to vote and to frustrate their desire for meaningful political change. They are, therefore, asking government, including the COMELEC, to impose a moratorium on demolitions for this year.
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Most Inhumane Demolition of the Year
News Release
March 05, 2010
Some 243 families lost their homes when the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Navotas City Government demolition crews and Navotas policemen forcibly demolished 100 shanties along Road 10 Navotas today.
Prescilda Juanich, the leader of Samahang Pinagbuklod ng Pagkakaisa (SAPIPA) said in tagalog, “Our houses were lawlessly demolished by the government despite our efforts to arrive at an amicable settlement of the issue. We feel the government values the road widening project more than us.”
The residents of Navotas together with the Task Force Anti-Eviction (TFAE) composed of various people’s organizations and NGOs such as Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), and Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise Foundation (COPE), had several dialogue with government agencies about the implementation of the demolition.
On January 21, the group had a dialogue with Senior Undersecretary Manuel Bonoan of DPWH to call his attention to the matter when the first attempt at demolition in the area turned violent. The people pleaded with the DPWH to halt the demolition pending the resolution of the petition for injunction before the Supreme Court.
On February 26, a hearing in the Commission on Human Rights was held by Chairperson Leila De Lima. Affected families sought her help to investigate the violent demolition that happened along Road 10 in Navotas involving personnel of the local government, DPWH, Navotas Engineering, Navotas Police and Navotas Fire Station. Some16 women, among them old ladies, were beaten up by Policemen and dispersed by the Navotas fire station using a water cannon on the people, mostly women as they formed themselves as a human barricade to protect their houses from the demolition team.
The most recent dialogue was held at the National Housing Authority, March 4, with representatives from DPWH, Cong. Leandro Montemayor, Atty. Bienvenido Salinas, SAPIPA legal counsel together with the Navotas families rendered homeless by the violent demolition conducted by the same agencies in the first week of March. In the meeting, the families explained that they no longer had houses to go back to. They asked NHA to provide them with a relocation site, reminding NHA that they are part of the 11 priority areas that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised to relocate in Montalban last August 1, 2008. Overcome with emotions the residents cried and asked the government agencies present at the dialogue to defer the demolition of the remaining houses.
The government agencies would not heed the call of the residents. The residents present at the meeting told them they would not leave the NHA and they would camp inside the conference room to stop the demolition. It ended with an agreement that the government representatives present in the meeting would be in Navotas on the following day to prevent any demolition.
However, no public officials came to the demolition site.
UPA Deputy Coordinator Ted Anana said, “This is the most cruel and inhumane violent eviction and demolition ever done by the government during an election year. This is not just a violation of their shelter rights but a violation of their rights to vote because many of the affected residents are voters. Demolition endangers their right to vote since they have been rendered homeless.”
Even the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) condemned the demolition saying that it is illegal. In a letter to the DPWH PCUP Chair Percival Chavez says, “Relocation is mandatory if the demolition is administrative in nature such as the case of Road 10 Navotas. Financial Assistance does not suffice.”
Angelita Villaruel, one of the women beaten up by the Navotas police, had her picture taken by a photojournalist carrying a Sto. Ñino in her arms while she was forcibly evicted from her shanty. She said, “We deserve to be respected. Our houses might be an eyesore, but we tried to live in the city to be the best citizens of this country by providing our service to the government and private companies. I now realize that the poor are only used by politicians and this administration to get the sympathy of other countries to get funds, but look what they have done to us--They removed our basic right to have a shelter .”
The poor do not have the required residence period to vote in relocation areas.
The TFAE and the Road 10 residents are calling on the President to provide them a decent relocation site in Montalban and urging the Commission on Election to impose a demolition moratorium to avoid more urban poor being disenfranchised because of demolition. -30-
March 05, 2010
Some 243 families lost their homes when the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Navotas City Government demolition crews and Navotas policemen forcibly demolished 100 shanties along Road 10 Navotas today.
Prescilda Juanich, the leader of Samahang Pinagbuklod ng Pagkakaisa (SAPIPA) said in tagalog, “Our houses were lawlessly demolished by the government despite our efforts to arrive at an amicable settlement of the issue. We feel the government values the road widening project more than us.”
The residents of Navotas together with the Task Force Anti-Eviction (TFAE) composed of various people’s organizations and NGOs such as Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), and Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise Foundation (COPE), had several dialogue with government agencies about the implementation of the demolition.
On January 21, the group had a dialogue with Senior Undersecretary Manuel Bonoan of DPWH to call his attention to the matter when the first attempt at demolition in the area turned violent. The people pleaded with the DPWH to halt the demolition pending the resolution of the petition for injunction before the Supreme Court.
On February 26, a hearing in the Commission on Human Rights was held by Chairperson Leila De Lima. Affected families sought her help to investigate the violent demolition that happened along Road 10 in Navotas involving personnel of the local government, DPWH, Navotas Engineering, Navotas Police and Navotas Fire Station. Some16 women, among them old ladies, were beaten up by Policemen and dispersed by the Navotas fire station using a water cannon on the people, mostly women as they formed themselves as a human barricade to protect their houses from the demolition team.
The most recent dialogue was held at the National Housing Authority, March 4, with representatives from DPWH, Cong. Leandro Montemayor, Atty. Bienvenido Salinas, SAPIPA legal counsel together with the Navotas families rendered homeless by the violent demolition conducted by the same agencies in the first week of March. In the meeting, the families explained that they no longer had houses to go back to. They asked NHA to provide them with a relocation site, reminding NHA that they are part of the 11 priority areas that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised to relocate in Montalban last August 1, 2008. Overcome with emotions the residents cried and asked the government agencies present at the dialogue to defer the demolition of the remaining houses.
The government agencies would not heed the call of the residents. The residents present at the meeting told them they would not leave the NHA and they would camp inside the conference room to stop the demolition. It ended with an agreement that the government representatives present in the meeting would be in Navotas on the following day to prevent any demolition.
However, no public officials came to the demolition site.
UPA Deputy Coordinator Ted Anana said, “This is the most cruel and inhumane violent eviction and demolition ever done by the government during an election year. This is not just a violation of their shelter rights but a violation of their rights to vote because many of the affected residents are voters. Demolition endangers their right to vote since they have been rendered homeless.”
Even the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) condemned the demolition saying that it is illegal. In a letter to the DPWH PCUP Chair Percival Chavez says, “Relocation is mandatory if the demolition is administrative in nature such as the case of Road 10 Navotas. Financial Assistance does not suffice.”
Angelita Villaruel, one of the women beaten up by the Navotas police, had her picture taken by a photojournalist carrying a Sto. Ñino in her arms while she was forcibly evicted from her shanty. She said, “We deserve to be respected. Our houses might be an eyesore, but we tried to live in the city to be the best citizens of this country by providing our service to the government and private companies. I now realize that the poor are only used by politicians and this administration to get the sympathy of other countries to get funds, but look what they have done to us--They removed our basic right to have a shelter .”
The poor do not have the required residence period to vote in relocation areas.
The TFAE and the Road 10 residents are calling on the President to provide them a decent relocation site in Montalban and urging the Commission on Election to impose a demolition moratorium to avoid more urban poor being disenfranchised because of demolition. -30-
Monday, February 22, 2010
Muslim Residents at Baclaran Mosque Write to the President
News Release
February 24, 2010
Three hundred Muslim residents living around the grand mosque wrote to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo asking her to donate the 2.8 hectares lot occupied by the mosque on the reclaimed land in Manila Bay, Pasay City.
Abdelmanan Tanandato, leader of Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Nademolis sa Roxas Boulevard, recalls that this is not the first time they appealed to the president.
“In march 18,1999, at the time of the first attempt of demolishing our place of worship, I ran to her when she was still the vice-president in the old PICC building along Roxas Boulevard. I knelt down before her and she stopped the demolition. The violent eviction last year in our place has not yet been settled. And yet, we hear stories going around of another demolition operation against our community and our mosque. We think that it is only the president who can end the problem over this disputed land, by donating the lot where our community and the mosque are located,” said Tanandato.
Three months ago, on 18 November 2009, the entire nation saw the most violent demolition undertaken by the government against Muslim residents living around the mosque. Many Muslim residents were injured while some sustained gun shot wounds when the Pasay Policemen opened fire at members of the community who were resisting the demolition. This incident was on the front pages of all major Philippine broadsheets and tabloids and the newscasts of television networks especially among the international community.
In the letter, the Muslim residents said, “We are ordinary simple folks and do not wish to have this kind of attention. And we sincerely wish that our country does not receive such kind of media attention. All this will only breed bitterness and anger, which we do not want to harbor in our hearts, especially among our young.”
Imam Mus-ab Baniaga, the secretary of the people’s organization, clarified that, “they have resisted demolition and eviction from the very beginning because they believe that evicting the community will also mean demolishing the mosque which the Koran strictly prohibits. That is why, they are appealing to the president to exhaust legal venues to arrive at an amicable settlement because they will defend the mosque against destruction in whatever way they can.”
In the letter, they also asked the president to order a halt to demolitions and withdraw the memorandum of Secretary Eduardo Ermita instructing government agencies to relocate the mosque to Lot 51-55 in Parañaque City.
The group cited that, “the Lot 51-55 where the government intends to have the mosque relocated is claimed by one Bernardo de Leon and the same land is occupied by more or less 200 families. It means the land cannot be used as a relocation site.”
Last year before the bloody demolition happened, Task Force Anti-Eviction composed of various people’s organizations and NGOs such as Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), and Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise (COPE) Foundation advised the government to let the mosque stay side by side with the Baclaran Church as a symbol of national harmony between Christians and the Muslims.
Tanandato reiterated, “If the president will heed our call, this act of donation will be her most beautiful and powerful legacy in her years as the president of the Philippine Republic. And we, the Muslim residents around the mosque will be forever grateful to her.” -30-
February 24, 2010
Three hundred Muslim residents living around the grand mosque wrote to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo asking her to donate the 2.8 hectares lot occupied by the mosque on the reclaimed land in Manila Bay, Pasay City.
Abdelmanan Tanandato, leader of Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Nademolis sa Roxas Boulevard, recalls that this is not the first time they appealed to the president.
“In march 18,1999, at the time of the first attempt of demolishing our place of worship, I ran to her when she was still the vice-president in the old PICC building along Roxas Boulevard. I knelt down before her and she stopped the demolition. The violent eviction last year in our place has not yet been settled. And yet, we hear stories going around of another demolition operation against our community and our mosque. We think that it is only the president who can end the problem over this disputed land, by donating the lot where our community and the mosque are located,” said Tanandato.
Three months ago, on 18 November 2009, the entire nation saw the most violent demolition undertaken by the government against Muslim residents living around the mosque. Many Muslim residents were injured while some sustained gun shot wounds when the Pasay Policemen opened fire at members of the community who were resisting the demolition. This incident was on the front pages of all major Philippine broadsheets and tabloids and the newscasts of television networks especially among the international community.
In the letter, the Muslim residents said, “We are ordinary simple folks and do not wish to have this kind of attention. And we sincerely wish that our country does not receive such kind of media attention. All this will only breed bitterness and anger, which we do not want to harbor in our hearts, especially among our young.”
Imam Mus-ab Baniaga, the secretary of the people’s organization, clarified that, “they have resisted demolition and eviction from the very beginning because they believe that evicting the community will also mean demolishing the mosque which the Koran strictly prohibits. That is why, they are appealing to the president to exhaust legal venues to arrive at an amicable settlement because they will defend the mosque against destruction in whatever way they can.”
In the letter, they also asked the president to order a halt to demolitions and withdraw the memorandum of Secretary Eduardo Ermita instructing government agencies to relocate the mosque to Lot 51-55 in Parañaque City.
The group cited that, “the Lot 51-55 where the government intends to have the mosque relocated is claimed by one Bernardo de Leon and the same land is occupied by more or less 200 families. It means the land cannot be used as a relocation site.”
Last year before the bloody demolition happened, Task Force Anti-Eviction composed of various people’s organizations and NGOs such as Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), and Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise (COPE) Foundation advised the government to let the mosque stay side by side with the Baclaran Church as a symbol of national harmony between Christians and the Muslims.
Tanandato reiterated, “If the president will heed our call, this act of donation will be her most beautiful and powerful legacy in her years as the president of the Philippine Republic. And we, the Muslim residents around the mosque will be forever grateful to her.” -30-
Friday, November 20, 2009
COHRE condemns violent forced eviction at Baclaran Mosque
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COHRE condemns violent forced eviction at Baclaran Mosque
International human rights organisation calls for independent inquiry into killings
20 November 2009, Pasay City: The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) today strongly condemned the reported killing of three residents of the Baclaran Mosque community in Pasay City during an apparently illegal operation to forcibly evict the community from their homes on 18 November 2009. COHRE has sent a letter to President Gloria Arroyo to express its concerns and to call for an urgent independent inquiry into the incidents of 18 November 2009 as well as to hold all those responsible to account.
Dan Nicholson, Coordinator of the COHRE Asia Programme, said: “Regardless of the legality of the eviction, there can be no justification for the use of lethal weapons. The use of fire arms against protesters and the reported death of three community members points to an apparent disproportionate use of force by police forces that demonstrates a disregard for the most fundamental human rights among those who implemented the eviction”.
In its letter to President Arroyo, COHRE recalls previous attempts to forcibly and illegally remove residents from their homes, most recently in August 2009, and exposes the apparent unlawfulness of the eviction on 18 November. “It appears that authorities had no executable eviction order against the community, as they relied on an August order which, under implementing rules and regulations of the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA), expired after 90 days”, said Dan Nicholson.
He further expressed his strong concern that the events at Baclaran Mosque are not an isolated incident: “We are very concerned that this latest eviction is but one case that represents an ongoing culture of lack of respect for the law and human rights in the carrying out of evictions by certain authorities in Manila. In a separate forced eviction case in Pechayan, North Fairview, Quezon City in October 2009, a community leader and her son were shot dead by security guards. There can be absolutely no justification for serious injuries and deaths as a result of evictions. In fact, such incidents violate the duty of the Government of the Philippines to respect and protect the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and point to a persistent failure of the Government of the Philippines to honour its international legal obligations.”
COHRE further pointed out that forced evictions are a violation of the right to adequate housing contained in Article 11 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Under the Covenant, evictions can only be carried out lawfully under exceptional circumstances, and only when a number of safeguards are followed, which include, among others, the provision of adequate alternatives to those affected and the prohibition of rendering persons homeless.
“In the case of the Baclaran Mosque community, the homes of approximately 400 families were reportedly destroyed and the proposed relocation site is rejected as inadequate to meet the community’s needs”, said Nicholson.
“We call on the authorities in the Philippines to immediately conduct an independent inquiry into the violence of 18 November and to promptly make the findings public. Those responsible for violations of Philippines’ law have to be held to account, including through criminal charges where appropriate, both in respect of the disproportionate use of force and the legality of the eviction,” he said.
“The community needs to immediately be provided with adequate shelter and emergency relief while a permanent solution that suits the community’s needs is found in consultation with them. Last but not least, compensation for injury and death as well as for material losses needs to be provided to all those affected,” he added.
-30-
For more information, contact:
Dan Nicholson; COHRE Asia and Pacific Programme Coordinator; +855.17.523.274; dan@cohre.org; hannah@cohre.org
BACKGROUND ON COHRE
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions is an international human rights non-governmental organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with offices in Asia, Africa and the Americas. COHRE works to promote and protect the right to adequate housing, including preventing and remedying forced evictions. Together with local partner Urban Poor Associates (UPA), COHRE has worked with the Baclaran Mosque community since 2007.
COHRE condemns violent forced eviction at Baclaran Mosque
International human rights organisation calls for independent inquiry into killings
20 November 2009, Pasay City: The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) today strongly condemned the reported killing of three residents of the Baclaran Mosque community in Pasay City during an apparently illegal operation to forcibly evict the community from their homes on 18 November 2009. COHRE has sent a letter to President Gloria Arroyo to express its concerns and to call for an urgent independent inquiry into the incidents of 18 November 2009 as well as to hold all those responsible to account.
Dan Nicholson, Coordinator of the COHRE Asia Programme, said: “Regardless of the legality of the eviction, there can be no justification for the use of lethal weapons. The use of fire arms against protesters and the reported death of three community members points to an apparent disproportionate use of force by police forces that demonstrates a disregard for the most fundamental human rights among those who implemented the eviction”.
In its letter to President Arroyo, COHRE recalls previous attempts to forcibly and illegally remove residents from their homes, most recently in August 2009, and exposes the apparent unlawfulness of the eviction on 18 November. “It appears that authorities had no executable eviction order against the community, as they relied on an August order which, under implementing rules and regulations of the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA), expired after 90 days”, said Dan Nicholson.
He further expressed his strong concern that the events at Baclaran Mosque are not an isolated incident: “We are very concerned that this latest eviction is but one case that represents an ongoing culture of lack of respect for the law and human rights in the carrying out of evictions by certain authorities in Manila. In a separate forced eviction case in Pechayan, North Fairview, Quezon City in October 2009, a community leader and her son were shot dead by security guards. There can be absolutely no justification for serious injuries and deaths as a result of evictions. In fact, such incidents violate the duty of the Government of the Philippines to respect and protect the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and point to a persistent failure of the Government of the Philippines to honour its international legal obligations.”
COHRE further pointed out that forced evictions are a violation of the right to adequate housing contained in Article 11 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Under the Covenant, evictions can only be carried out lawfully under exceptional circumstances, and only when a number of safeguards are followed, which include, among others, the provision of adequate alternatives to those affected and the prohibition of rendering persons homeless.
“In the case of the Baclaran Mosque community, the homes of approximately 400 families were reportedly destroyed and the proposed relocation site is rejected as inadequate to meet the community’s needs”, said Nicholson.
“We call on the authorities in the Philippines to immediately conduct an independent inquiry into the violence of 18 November and to promptly make the findings public. Those responsible for violations of Philippines’ law have to be held to account, including through criminal charges where appropriate, both in respect of the disproportionate use of force and the legality of the eviction,” he said.
“The community needs to immediately be provided with adequate shelter and emergency relief while a permanent solution that suits the community’s needs is found in consultation with them. Last but not least, compensation for injury and death as well as for material losses needs to be provided to all those affected,” he added.
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For more information, contact:
Dan Nicholson; COHRE Asia and Pacific Programme Coordinator; +855.17.523.274; dan@cohre.org; hannah@cohre.org
BACKGROUND ON COHRE
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions is an international human rights non-governmental organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with offices in Asia, Africa and the Americas. COHRE works to promote and protect the right to adequate housing, including preventing and remedying forced evictions. Together with local partner Urban Poor Associates (UPA), COHRE has worked with the Baclaran Mosque community since 2007.
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