SAGIP TAHANAN AT KABUHAYAN NG PILIPINAS, INC. SUMMIT PRESS CONFERENCE 2006

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Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2006

SAGIP TAHANAN AT KABUHAYAN NG PILIPINAS, INC.

SUMMIT PRESS CONFERENCE 2006

SAGIP TAHANAN will examine the many flaws in the government’s housing program for low income families. The theme is: “Maka-Diyos at makataong guidelines ang dapat ibigay para sa pabahay na inutang sa pamahalaan, buong Pilipinas makikinabang.”

There will be an open forum among top leaders from the executive branch, senate, congress, local government units (LGUs), government’s housing institution, developers, non-government organizations (NGOs), Church and media.

The Summit Press Conference will be held at the SSS Auditorium (Bulwagang Pangkomperensiya) in Diliman Quezon City. It will start at 9:00 AM on May 9, 2006 (Tuesday).

The summit press conference aims to gather concern people who can jointly help solve the housing and livelihood problems in this country.

Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization, has been pressing the government to provide adequate housing to poor families affected by demolitions. In this regard, the UPA and some leaders of railway people’s organization will have a meeting with Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales in the afternoon (May 9, 2006), 4:00 PM at the Arzobispado de Manila in Intramuros to discuss the housing issues.

The government will remove poor families along the Northrail and Southrail tracks to give way for its railway modernization project. An estimated 150,000 to 180,000 families will be displaced – a truly record breaking feat in our poor nation’s history of displacements. Some 21,000 families (18,000 on the Northrail and 3,000 on the Southrail) have already been displaced.

However, many families are very dissatisfied with the government’s relocation plans and the methods it uses to get people to move to the relocation site. The government’s Southville Housing Project in Cabuyao Laguna, for example, has showcases of failure because relocated families suffer from its problems on lack of livelihood, potable water, electricity, poor sanitation, schools and health services. Hence, many relocated poor families have chosen to live as slum dwellers once more in Metro Manila than to stay at the shabby relocation site. -30-


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For more information, please contact:

John Francis Lagman (UPA Media Advocacy Officer)
Tel. 4264118

Water system in Sauyo urban poor community installed

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For Immediate Release on April 28, 2006

Water system in Sauyo urban poor community installed

Having regular piped water is a wonderful benefit but it is not easy to come by. For poor people like Editha N. Duazo, mother of five, it was a marvelous gift. Duazo, a resident of Area 6 Sauyo in Quezon City, usually spent P1,180 per month for water.

Now after getting piped water from Manila Water, Duazo will only pay P291. She saved 75% of her usual monthly water bill. “Kami ay natutuwa dahil malaking tulong sa amin ang patubig. Ang natitipid ko sa dating pinambabayad ko sa tubig ay pinambibili ko na ng pagkain sa mga anak ko,” she said.

Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization, heads a poor people’s water campaign to get inexpensive piped water. Most poor families usually pay two to three times the legal rate to water vendors otherwise.

Two years ago, the people’s organization, Samahang Magkakapit Bahay (SMB) sa Area 6, asked their Barangay officials to help solve the 19-year old water problem of some 800 families. Without piped water, the residents have to queue to fetch water from a deep well and buy potable water from itinerant water vendors. While a cubic meter of piped water cost only P10, the cost of a cubic meter from some other source is about P100.

However, the Barangay officials did not respond. “It was not easy to install piped water system in Area 6, the cost of the pipe going inside the area cost P2.8 Million, plus charges for the water service connection fee,” the UPA said.

The UPA offered to help them. They discussed their problems through a series of meeting with the people and then write the officials of Manila Water Company, beginning October 2005. After settling the process and the cost of application, the Manila Water personnel started excavations for the piped water system installation on November 7, 2005.

To date, a piped water system for 270 households in Area 6 has been installed. What of the other 530 families living there? It proved too expensive. “Di nakapag-apply lahat dahil marami ang kapos sa pera. Mahal ang bayad sa connection fee,” said Gemma M. Pineda, SMB auditor.

According to UPA, only 20% of urban poor people in Metro Manila have regular piped water services and everyone else gets water at exorbitant prices. “In Sauyo 1/3 of the households did get access but many residents still use expensive water sources because they cannot afford the installation fee for the water service connection, which amounts to P5,177 - P8,101 depending on grouping connections,” the UPA explained.

Former Quezon City Congressman Chuck Mathay’s water development project in four Barangays of the National Government Center Area (Payatas A, Commonwealth, Batasan Hills and Holy Spirit) has benefited thousands of poor families. Funds from the Community Development Fund (CDF) subsidized the water service connections and the residents were allowed to pay over a year instead of the usual three months.

The UPA believed that there has to be political will to solve such problem. “Pro-poor water development projects may be a partial answer,” the UPA added. -30-

Urban poor held their calvary to protest the worsening poverty, violence and oppression

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For Immediate Release on April 17, 2006

Urban poor held their calvary to protest the worsening poverty, violence and oppression

The Philippines is Southeast Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation with a rich cultural heritage. For Filipinos, the observance of Lent and the Holy Week is a time of atonement and sacrifice. The observance is characterized by the chanting of the passion of Christ. Other penitents carry wooden crosses to ask for forgiveness of sins committed, to fulfill religious vows or to express gratitude for favors granted. The reenactment of Kalbaryo (Christ’s passion on the way to the cross) as practiced each year with the staging of the Stations of the Cross continues to be a source of spiritual journey, a continuing tradition of faith.

The Urban Poor Associates, a non-government organization that helps poor families facing evictions, have brought a little twist to these traditions by commemorating a yearly rally called “Kalbaryo ng Maralitang Tagalungsod” (Calvary of the Urban Poor). The first urban poor calvary in 1987 was held around the City of Manila, stopping at several urban poor communities and culminated on top of Smokey Mountain, the man-made dumpsite which became the symbol of deterioration and crass poverty of the country.

This year, however, the protest rally was confined within the government’s shabby relocation site nicely named Southville Housing Project in Cabuyao, Laguna to press the government to immediately address the concerns of the evicted families. Hundreds of poor families dislocated by the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project (NSLP) held their Kalbaryo April 14, 2006 (Good Friday) to show their sufferings to the rest of the country and protest the worsening poverty, violence and oppression.

The procession led by singers and 7 men each bear the 7 crosses of the poor families. The 7 crosses symbolized evicted families problems on potable water, electricity, education, livelihood, food, transportation and health. They were followed by costumed Jesus Christ, Roman soldiers and Virgin Mary. Prayers, songs and reflection were led by Fr. Tom Steinbugler, SJ and Fr. Pat Kelly, SJ. Urban poor, especially children, reenacted the Kalbaryo.

The Kalbaryo started at 8:00 AM with the staging of the Stations of the Cross in Block 41, 44, 46, 63 and 57. It ended around 10:00 AM at the foot of a fast growing dumpsite, a few meters from the relocation site. The main theme of this year’s Kalbaryo is “Paanyaya sa Daan ng Krus” (Invitation to the Way of the Cross).

The government’s ambition is to remove poor families along the Northrail and Southrail tracks. An estimated 150,000 to 180,000 families will be displaced – a truly record breaking feat in our poor nation’s history of displacements. Some 21,000 families (18,000 on the Northrail and 3,000 on the Southrail) have already been displaced. However, many families are very dissatisfied with the government’s relocation plans and the methods it uses to get people to move to the relocation site.

Metro Manila, with estimated 62% of its population as poor, is a warren of people with nowhere to live. Slum dwellers living in extreme poverty exist either along the railroad tracks, under the bridges, along the drainage or canals, along the sidewalks with their carts, cemetery and other places where poor people have found refuge.

The forcible evictions and violent demolitions being practiced by the government contradicts its human rights commitment and pro-poor rhetoric. “While there is political chaos, here is the real picture of Manila,” Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said during a dialogue among poor railway families and government agencies last March 6. He described the poverty situation in Metro Manila as chilling and scary.

To Denis Murphy, executive director of the Urban Poor Associates, poverty is "the squatter mother whose hut has been torn down by the government for reasons she cannot understand. That night, she sits amid the ruins of her home, listening to her children coughing in the dark. She doesn't know what will happen the next day, but she fears it will be worse than what happened that day."

The railway families refuse to be relocated in distant places like Cabuyao because such a move will compromise their livelihood. Hence, the poor people, once relocated, returned to Metro Manila as slum dwellers once more because it is there where they earn income. Another problem is relocation sites have been showcases of failure since they lack adequate basic services. "Lack of resources can never be used to justify a failure to fulfill the government's obligation to provide adequate relocation. Lest the government should abstain from carrying out or otherwise advocating the forced evictions," the UPA said in a statement. "Anti-poor policies and strategies will not obviate the need for further slum creation. If no serious action is taken, such a failure would spell tragedy as the poorest are getting poorer." -30-

Calvary of the Urban Poor 2006: An invitation to the way of the cross

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For Immediate Release on April 14, 2006

Calvary of the Urban Poor 2006: An invitation to the way of the cross

The Philippines is Southeast Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation with a rich cultural heritage. For Filipinos, the observance of Lent and the Holy Week is a time of atonement and sacrifice. The observance is characterized by the chanting of the passion of Christ. Other penitents carry wooden crosses to ask for forgiveness of sins committed, to fulfill religious vows or to express gratitude for favors granted. The reenactment of Kalbaryo (Christ’s passion on the way to the cross) as practiced each year with the staging of the Stations of the Cross continues to be a source of spiritual journey, a continuing tradition of faith.

The Urban Poor Associates, a non-government organization that helps poor families facing evictions, have brought a little twist to these traditions by commemorating a yearly rally called “Kalbaryo ng Maralitang Tagalungsod” (Calvary of the Urban Poor). The first urban poor calvary in 1987 was held around the City of Manila, stopping at several urban poor communities and culminated on top of Smokey Mountain, the man-made dumpsite which became the symbol of deterioration and crass poverty of the country.

This year, however, the protest rally was confined within the government’s shabby relocation site nicely named Southville Housing Project in Cabuyao, Laguna to press the government to immediately address the concerns of the evicted families. Hundreds of poor families dislocated by the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project (NSLP) held their Kalbaryo April 14, 2006 (Good Friday) to show their sufferings to the rest of the country and protest the worsening poverty, violence and oppression.

The procession led by singers and 7 men each bear the 7 crosses of the poor families. The 7 crosses symbolized evicted families problems on potable water, electricity, education, livelihood, food, transportation and health. They were followed by costumed Jesus Christ, Roman soldiers and Virgin Mary. Prayers, songs and reflection were led by 2 priests. Urban poor, especially children, reenacted the Kalbaryo.

The Kalbaryo started at 9:00 AM with the staging of the Stations of the Cross in Block 41, 44, 46, 63 and 57. It ended around 11:00 AM at the foot of a fast growing dumpsite, a few meters from the relocation site. The main theme of this year’s Kalbaryo is “Paanyaya sa Daan ng Krus” (Invitation to the Way of the Cross).

The government’s ambition is to remove poor families along the Northrail and Southrail tracks. An estimated 150,000 to 180,000 families will be displaced – a truly record breaking feat in our poor nation’s history of displacements. Some 21,000 families (18,000 on the Northrail and 3,000 on the Southrail) have already been displaced. However, many families are very dissatisfied with the government’s relocation plans and the methods it uses to get people to move to the relocation site.

Metro Manila, with estimated 62% of its population as poor, is a warren of people with nowhere to live. Slum dwellers living in extreme poverty exist either along the railroad tracks, under the bridges, along the drainage or canals, along the sidewalks with their carts, cemetery and other places where poor people have found refuge.

The forcible evictions and violent demolitions being practiced by the government contradicts its human rights commitment and pro-poor rhetoric. “While there is political chaos, here is the real picture of Manila,” Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said during a dialogue among poor railway families and government agencies last March 6. He described the poverty situation in Metro Manila as chilling and scary.

To Denis Murphy, executive director of the Urban Poor Associates, poverty is "the squatter mother whose hut has been torn down by the government for reasons she cannot understand. That night, she sits amid the ruins of her home, listening to her children coughing in the dark. She doesn't know what will happen the next day, but she fears it will be worse than what happened that day."

Railway families from Makati City refuse to be relocated in distant places like Cabuyao because such a move will compromise their livelihood. Hence, the poor people, once relocated, returned to Metro Manila as slum dwellers once more because it is there where they earn income. Another problem is relocation sites have been showcases of failure since they lack adequate basic services. "Lack of resources can never be used to justify a failure to fulfill the government's obligation to provide adequate relocation. Lest the government should abstain from carrying out or otherwise advocating the forced evictions," the UPA said in a statement. "Anti-poor policies and strategies will not obviate the need for further slum creation. If no serious action is taken, such a failure would spell tragedy as the poorest are getting poorer." -30-

KALBARYO NG MARALITANG TAGALUNGSOD 2006: PAANYAYA SA DAAN NG KRUS

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Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on April 12, 2006

KALBARYO NG MARALITANG TAGALUNGSOD 2006: PAANYAYA SA DAAN NG KRUS

WHAT: Hundreds of poor families dislocated by the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project will hold their calvary for a special Holy Week observance called “Kalbaryo ng Maralitang Tagalungsod” (Calvary of the Urban Poor). The Kalbaryo serves as a gathering of the poor to show their sufferings to the rest of the country and protest the worsening poverty, violence and oppression. The Urban Poor Associates, a non-government organization which holds annual Kalbaryo since 1987 to depict the sacrifices of the poor, this time aim to press the government to immediately address the concerns of the evicted families. The main theme of this year’s Kalbaryo is “Paanyaya sa Daan ng Krus” (Invitation to the Way of the Cross).

WHERE: It will be conducted at the government shabby relocation site nicely named Southville Housing Project in Cabuyao, Laguna. There will be stations of the cross in Block 41, 44, 46, 63 and 57.



WHEN: The Kalbaryo will start at 9:00 AM and will end around 11:00 AM at the foot of a fast growing dumpsite a few meters from the relocation site on April 14, 2006 (Good Friday).

WHY: The government’s ambition is to remove poor families along the Northrail and Southrail tracks. An estimated 150,000 to 180,000 families will be displaced – a truly record breaking feat in our poor nation’s history of displacements. Some 21,000 families (18,000 on the Northrail and 3,000 on the Southrail) have already been displaced. However, many families are very dissatisfied with the government’s relocation plans and the methods it uses to get people to move to the relocation site.

HOW: The procession will be led by singers and 7 men each bear the 7 crosses of the poor families. The 7 crosses symbolized evicted families problems on potable water, electricity, school, livelihood, food, transportation and health). They will be followed by costumed Jesus Christ, 2 Roman soldiers and Virgin Mary. Prayers, songs and reflection will be led by 2 priests. Urban poor, especially children, will reenact the Kalbaryo.

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NHA IGNORES CARDINAL ROSALES, DEMOLISHES URBAN POOR HOUSES IN MAKATI

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For Immediate Release
April 5, 2006

NHA IGNORES CARDINAL ROSALES,
DEMOLISHES URBAN POOR HOUSES IN MAKATI

Some 166 railway families were forcibly evicted by the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) yesterday in Barangays San Antonio, Magallanes and Pio del Pilar in Makati City. Hundreds of demolition crews escorted by policemen implemented the demolition activity.

The affected families expressed dismay that the NHA led by General Manager Federico Laxa who attended the dialogue with Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales at the Cardinal’s residence on March 6, 2006 totally ignored the Cardinal’s appeal that all poor families to be evicted by the government’s railroad project would be given relocation and that the resettlement site should be equipped with basic services and livelihood opportunities before people are transferred there.

"Nabalewala ang dialogue na yon. Katulad namin, si Cardinal pala ay hindi pinakikinggan ng pamahalaan. Ang pagkakaiba lang ay medyo magalang sila kung magsalita, pero ganun din," (The dialogue was useless. Like us, the Cardinal was not listened to by the government. The difference was that they appeared to be respectful when talking to the Cardinal, but the result is the same) commented Estrella Terencio, a resident of Pio del Pilar.

Of the 166 families only 40 families will receive relocation in Cabuyao. The others are described as appealants because they have to complete their documentary requirements.

"As in other areas, after making them waits they will probably not receive relocation from the government," said the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization.

Fourty three year old Lilia Escarlan of Block 44, Lot 30 of the Southville Housing Project in Cabuyao Laguna said many relocatees have abandoned their houses to go back in Makati City because of the poor condition of the relocation site and the lack of livelihood opportunities there. "Ang problema namin wala kaming hanapbuhay sa Cabuyao kaya nagtitiis kami sa kariton. Kahit wala kaming bahay dito basta mayron lang kaming makain," (Our problem is that we have no livelihood in Cabuyao that is why we are willing to live in our cart. Even if we do not have a house here, what matter is we have something to eat).

Lilia and her husband Adriano are now collecting garbage materials along the streets of Makati City to earn at least P100 a day. The Escarlan family and many other displaced railway families along the railway tracks have chosen to sleep on their carts, under the bridges and along the streets than to live in their newly built houses at the relocation site. "Yung paglikas sa amin, di ko kagustuhan dahil para kaming basurang itinapon doon. Hindi namin kasalanan na umuwi kami ulit dito. Sa Cabuyao maganda yung aking bahay pero gutom kami," (Our relocation is not to my liking because we were thrown there like garbage. It is not our fault that we came back to this place. In Cabuyao my house is nice but we were hungry.) Escarlan told the UPA media. -30-

Protesting Evicted Southrail Families to be evicted from CHR compound

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For Immediate Release
April 11, 2006

Protesting Evicted Southrail Families to be evicted from CHR compound

Some 20 railway families from San Antonio Makati City have camped out and built cardboard lean-tos at the compound of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) along the Commonwealth Avenue to press the government to immediately address their concerns. They at first camped out in front of the National Housing Authority (NHA), along the Elliptical Road in Quezon City on April 5 but on April 6 they were threatened with dispersal by Quezon City policemen and so decided to transfer to the CHR compound.

Their houses were demolished by the NHA and the the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) to give way for the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project (NSLP). Contrary to the government's position, they assert that they have the right to be given relocation. Now their rights to express their grievances and to seek redress are also being denied.

“Kami ay biktima ng rehabilitasyon ng PNR na di nabigyan ng relokasyon. Para kaming mga hayop na itinapon ng NHA sa kung saan-saan. Para di maharas ang aming mga kasama sa bangis ng mga pulis, naging atrasan namin ang CHR upang maging pansamantalang kanlungan habang inilalaban namin ang aming karapatan sa paninirahan” said Glenn Loloy, leader of Samahan ng Maralita sa San Antonio (SAMASA).

Until today, these families have been enduring hunger and sickness being exposed to the natural elements. Among them are 4 babies, 14 children, 3 pregnant women and 2 elderly. The poor families fear another forced eviction by the UP Police if National Capital Region CHR Commissioner Wildhen Soriano will not consider their petition to temporarily stay on the CHR grounds while looking for a staging area.

The Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization that helps thousands of poor railway families facing evictions, condemned the government’s insensitivity to the needs of the evicted families. “The inhuman eviction being practiced by the NHA, Philippine National Railways (PNR) and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) violates the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which guarantees everyone the right to adequate housing,” said Teodoro Añaña, coordinator of the Eviction Watch of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights. "It violates the international principle that evictions should not render anyone homeless. Since the railway project is a foreign funded project it is covered also by the guidelines on international cooperation between nations, in this case, the Philippines and South Korea, which prohibit massive forced evictions."

The Philippines is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), a international treaty that obliges the Philippines to respect, protect and fulfill the right to adequate housing. Furthermore, the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) conform with the guidelines of the United Nations on eviction process which states that a relocation/resettlement plan should be prepared and implemented which allocates sufficient resources to ensure that those affected are fairly compensated and rehabilitated to at least their former socio-economic level.

More than a hundred railway families were forcibly evicted by the NHA, PNR and the LIAC last April 4 in Barangays San Antonio, Magallanes and Pio del Pilar in Makati City. Hundreds of demolition crews escorted by policemen implemented the demolition activity. Some families have chosen to accept a distant relocation at the Southville Housing Project in Cabuyao Laguna despite its disgraceful condition and lack of livelihood opportunities. However, many of them were tagged by the NHA as ‘disqualified’ for relocation because they have failed to secure necessary documents. -30-