** 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.” ###
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Squatters protest MMDA demolition in Pasay and Makati
Mahigit 1,000 residente ng Makati at Pasay, nagprotesta laban sa napipintong demolisyon ng MMDA
MMDA dismantles 60 more Pasay, Makati shanties
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Slow motions highlight 3-year old case vs MMDA
** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE ***
Slow motions highlight 3-year old case vs MMDA
23 August 2007. Some 70 poor families who are seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to prevent their eviction and the demolition of their houses along San Juan River are hoping that their 3-year old case may finally be heard at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon today after series of motions to reset hearing filed by the MMDA’s legal counsel.
Petitioners, who are residents of Gregorio Araneta Avenue Extension, Brgy. Dona Imelda in Quezon City, filed their petition for injunction and for a TRO November 4, 2004 at the Quezon City Hall of Justice.
Pursuant to the order of Hon. Vivencio Baclig, the Presiding Judge of Branch 77, the case was set for pre-trial conference on June 29, 2005. With an urgent motion to reset hearing, lawyer Thomas Laragan, a Senior State Solicitor, requested the court that the hearing be cancel and reset to August 31 because he will be attending several cases against the government in Bago City and Bacolod City.
The Solicitor again begs for the “understanding” of the court as he requested for the cancellation of the pre-trial and its resetting to October 12 because he will be leaving for Washington D.C. and San Francisco California, United States of America (USA) to attend the observation tour for Philippine law enforcement. However, in a very urgent motion to reset hearing, the Solicitor again requested for the cancellation of the hearing and its resetting to November 16 or any other date convenient to the calendar of the court because he is busy preparing the government’s comment on the constitutionality of Executive Order No. 464.
“The instant motion is not intended to delay, much less to trifle with the generosity of the honorable court,” Laragan stated in all his motions, to which the court acceded.
Thereafter, on July 13, 2007 the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) received court order setting the case for hearing on August 1. However, with another urgent motion to reset hearing, the Solicitor requested for the cancellation of the hearing and its resetting to August 23 because the Solicitor will travel to USA and that his trip abroad is covered by a duly approved application for leave of absence chargeable against his leave credits and that his expenses shall not be borne by the government.
“Mga 15 to 20 times na siguro na-reset. Bihira ko makita abogado ng MMDA. Siguro delaying tactic nga. Kasi labag sa batas ang mga ginagawa ng MMDA sa pagdedemolis,” said Jose Morales, one of the 25 petitioners.
To assuage their fear of being thrown into the streets, petitioners had sought the assistance of Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization defending the housing rights of the urban poor.
Evictions are not a viable solution to the problem of slum dwelling, according to UPA. UPA research demonstrated that evicting poor people, without alternatives, does nothing to reduce the total number of slums. This is so because evictees invariably move into other slums in the area, sometimes after long periods of out on the street. Conditions in street are generally just as or even more unhealthy and unsafe as the shanties from which evictees were originally removed.
“We are deeply saddened by the impunity of illegal demolitions which swept through several areas in Metro Manila as typhoon lashes the country,” said Teodoro Añana, UPA deputy coordinator.
“The government is under a constitutional duty to devise and implement a plan to provide basic shelter for those who are in desperate need. Yet the government has manifestly failed to perform on its obligation to cater for them. It is this failure to provide alternatives which leaves the poor vulnerable to disasters,” Añana added.
MMDA personnel have recently informed the poor families that their homes will be demolished any time this August 17 to 31. ###
Slow motions highlight 3-year old case vs MMDA
23 August 2007. Some 70 poor families who are seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to prevent their eviction and the demolition of their houses along San Juan River are hoping that their 3-year old case may finally be heard at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon today after series of motions to reset hearing filed by the MMDA’s legal counsel.
Petitioners, who are residents of Gregorio Araneta Avenue Extension, Brgy. Dona Imelda in Quezon City, filed their petition for injunction and for a TRO November 4, 2004 at the Quezon City Hall of Justice.
Pursuant to the order of Hon. Vivencio Baclig, the Presiding Judge of Branch 77, the case was set for pre-trial conference on June 29, 2005. With an urgent motion to reset hearing, lawyer Thomas Laragan, a Senior State Solicitor, requested the court that the hearing be cancel and reset to August 31 because he will be attending several cases against the government in Bago City and Bacolod City.
The Solicitor again begs for the “understanding” of the court as he requested for the cancellation of the pre-trial and its resetting to October 12 because he will be leaving for Washington D.C. and San Francisco California, United States of America (USA) to attend the observation tour for Philippine law enforcement. However, in a very urgent motion to reset hearing, the Solicitor again requested for the cancellation of the hearing and its resetting to November 16 or any other date convenient to the calendar of the court because he is busy preparing the government’s comment on the constitutionality of Executive Order No. 464.
“The instant motion is not intended to delay, much less to trifle with the generosity of the honorable court,” Laragan stated in all his motions, to which the court acceded.
Thereafter, on July 13, 2007 the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) received court order setting the case for hearing on August 1. However, with another urgent motion to reset hearing, the Solicitor requested for the cancellation of the hearing and its resetting to August 23 because the Solicitor will travel to USA and that his trip abroad is covered by a duly approved application for leave of absence chargeable against his leave credits and that his expenses shall not be borne by the government.
“Mga 15 to 20 times na siguro na-reset. Bihira ko makita abogado ng MMDA. Siguro delaying tactic nga. Kasi labag sa batas ang mga ginagawa ng MMDA sa pagdedemolis,” said Jose Morales, one of the 25 petitioners.
To assuage their fear of being thrown into the streets, petitioners had sought the assistance of Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization defending the housing rights of the urban poor.
Evictions are not a viable solution to the problem of slum dwelling, according to UPA. UPA research demonstrated that evicting poor people, without alternatives, does nothing to reduce the total number of slums. This is so because evictees invariably move into other slums in the area, sometimes after long periods of out on the street. Conditions in street are generally just as or even more unhealthy and unsafe as the shanties from which evictees were originally removed.
“We are deeply saddened by the impunity of illegal demolitions which swept through several areas in Metro Manila as typhoon lashes the country,” said Teodoro Añana, UPA deputy coordinator.
“The government is under a constitutional duty to devise and implement a plan to provide basic shelter for those who are in desperate need. Yet the government has manifestly failed to perform on its obligation to cater for them. It is this failure to provide alternatives which leaves the poor vulnerable to disasters,” Añana added.
MMDA personnel have recently informed the poor families that their homes will be demolished any time this August 17 to 31. ###
Monday, August 20, 2007
Shanties near Buendia Avenue in Makati demolished
Clashes erupt at demolition at Pasay, Makati esteros
MMDA demolition affects 1,000 families
1,000 families evicted from Pasay, Makati esteros
MMDA continues demolition of houses along waterways
Mahigit 1,000 pamilya, apektado ng demolisyon ng MMDA
MMDA continues clearing, flood control operations
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