A Hopeful Presidential Poor Initiative

Commentary

By Denis Murphy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:45:00 01/17/2011

IN A long-delayed meeting President Aquino and the urban poor chose to attack urban poverty and the many problems of our cities in a collegial way through discussion and common sense, as collaborators rather than as combatants. Government and the poor have more often than not seen each other as opponents, or at least as obstacles in the way of each other’s plans.

The President agreed with the request of the poor for a three- to four-month moratorium on all evictions on public and private land. He and the poor believe the moratorium will create the peaceful milieu in which a committee, appointed by the President with representatives from government, civil society and the Church, can seek solutions to the many problems of evictions the poor brought to the President’s attention. Over 350,000 families in the past six months or so have received written or oral notice they will be evicted. With an average size of five members per family, some 1,750,000 persons are under threat.

For five months the poor people tried to arrange this meeting. They began to feel the President had forgotten their concerns, though they had signed a Covenant with him during the election campaign. On the matter of evictions the President had promised in the Covenant to give decent relocation for every family evicted, and to do everything possible to relocate the people in the city itself and not in far off areas, such as Calauan, Laguna, 115 kilometers away, where there are few if any jobs. In the first few months of President Aquino’s term of office there was no change from the old ways of evicting families, and the people wondered if the promised changes would ever come. They now believe they and government are on the right track.

The problems presented to the President are of two types: one set concerns the concrete eviction threats mentioned above that need solution as soon as possible. The second type concerns the long-term land and housing policies. Government, for example, must decide on its strategic priorities in the use of urban land. Will these uses include homes and jobs for the poor as well as for infrastructure, business centers, industry and homes and recreation centers for the well-off?

Such policy questions can best be answered with the help of urban planners, architects, social scientists, moral leaders, such as the Church, and representatives of the different stakeholders. Research is needed, including a better knowledge than we have now of what is happening and succeeding in countries around the world which have similar problems.

The poor have asked that the committee include, in addition to officials of the government’s housing agencies, Cabinet secretaries Corazon “Dinky” Soliman and Jesse Robredo, experts such as Architect Felino Palafox Jr., Dr. Esteban Godilano and Mary Racelis, the Mapua Institute of Technology architects and engineers, the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning, the Church and other moral leaders and civil society leaders. The poor suggest the committee choose its own chairperson.

Eviction is not the only problem the poor face. They need legal light and water connections, better clinics and schools (shouldn’t the children of the poor have the best teachers, for example?), help in finding work, land proclamations and housing loans adapted to the abilities of the poor to repay. They need an understanding government and an understanding elite.

Is it naïve to hope this cooperative approach proposed by the poor and approved by the President will succeed? Perhaps it won’t succeed fully, but that only means other new approaches are required. What is certain is that it makes no sense to go on trying to solve the growing problems presented by millions of poor, unskilled and unhappy families in our cities without some form of systematic planning that takes all aspects of problems into account. Our present policies haven’t worked. Government cannot ignore, mistreat, cajole or abuse its urban poor, now 20 percent of the country’s total population, and expect to have a peaceful harmonious nation. The poor won’t disappear. They will continue to sit on the doorsteps of the powerful demanding change.

Perhaps farmers, industrial workers, tribal people, the aged and other sectors can find similar planning arrangements with the President. He has shown a willingness to engage in more democratic forms of decision making.

The well-being of the entire country depends in great part on the President remaining close to the poor in these planning efforts. In turn he will be supported by the poor in his efforts at curbing corruption and building a nation based on social justice. It is difficult to see how he can succeed in these tasks without the poor.

(Denis Murphy works with the Urban Poor Associates. His email address is upa@pldtdsl.net)

Dialogue with Aquino worth the wait

By Denis Murphy, Manila

The Philippines’ urban poor finally had their long-awaited meeting with President Benigno Aquino two days before Christmas and found it was worth the wait.

Since July, when Aquino came into office, the urban poor have sought a meeting with the president to clarify the government’s position on the demolition of shanties, relocation of slum dwellers, social housing and basic services for the poor.

A press report on Dec. 15 suggested that the president had forgotten all about the poor despite an agreement he had with urban poor leaders during the elections. Aquino signed a “Covenant with the Urban Poor” as one of his campaign promises.

The Dec. 23 meeting between the president and 10 representatives of the poor and key government housing agencies resulted in a promise that the government will declare a four-month moratorium on evictions from public and private lands. The poor said the time was needed for government agencies and the poor to come to a consensus on how the issues in the “covenant” will be implemented.

President Aquino also agreed to set up a committee with representatives from civil society, the urban poor, the government and the Church. It will analyse the situation and make recommendations to solve the issues.

A main point of contention is the relocation of people evicted from their homes. The president vowed that no family on public or private land can be evicted without decent relocation. He also agreed that relocation of displaced residents will be “in-city” and not in distant areas where there are no jobs.

Felino Palafox Jr., head of one of the country’s foremost architecture firms, told the meeting that urban poor dwellers need not be removed from canals because there are ways to address access to the city’s waterways that will be beneficial to both the government and residents.

There are more than five million urban poor people in Metro Manila, where the total population is estimated by the Asian Development Bank at 14 million.

Urban poor leaders believe the government will have to attend to the immediate problems of the poor, like imminent eviction, while looking for long-term solutions to the problem, including providing jobs for the poor, improving education and ensuring good health.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the social action secretariat of the Catholic bishops’ conference, for instance, has made attempts to train parish committees to help address the problems of urban poor communities.

The urban poor representatives who met with President Aquino found him knowledgeable of the problems people face. Results, however, will depend on seriousness of the people he appointed to address the issues of the poor.

Highblood : Santa in Payatas

By Denis Murphy Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: December 24, 2010

THIS CHRISTMAS I played Santa Claus, complete with a red and white suit and flowing beard, to 200 poor children in Payatas. It was a walk-on role with very few lines, just “Ho, Ho, Ho,” “Maligayang Pasko” and a few words about the North Pole. I wanted to be credible to the children and not spoil the party. I was nervous putting on my costume. I was like a matador, I thought, putting on his “suit of lights” while the crowd roars in the arena above. If Santa sits in the passenger seat near the driver, people see him. Everyone greets him like a pope or Manny Pacquiao. Children run along beside the car. No one seems to think it’s strange to see a grown man dressed as a child’s toy in Manila’s traffic. Our right front door, however, is broken due to an accident. I sat in the rear where no one could see me. We passed through crowds and traffic jams, but no one noticed. The Payatas Christmas party took place in a smallish covered court on top of what was once a hill of garbage. It is now covered with grass and serves as the compound of the company converting garbage to electricity there. I wondered if it was the same hill of garbage that collapsed 10 years ago. Bodies were recovered, but the local people told me at the time that there were many more bodies, especially those of children, still buried in the garbage. The government denied this, but the people said the children were dead and buried in the garbage, no matter what the government denied. I once wrote a poem about these children: The garbage hill collapsed, Burying hundreds of children. We found them, wiped slime from their faces And lay them in rows Arms crossed on their chests. Later when we looked back, They were holding tight to one another. I remembered the dead children as I made my way in among the children at the Christmas party. I think I was a flop. I wished them merry Christmas, but there was no response. I told them about the polar bears who live with Santa up north, but they didn’t seem interested. I tried to get them to sing “Silent Night” in English or Tagalog with the help of the parents. Again, no response. Is it possible they don’t know about polar bears? I looked more closely at the small children right in front of me. Their eyes and mouths were wide open in what looked like amazement. All the time I looked at them they didn’t blink. I thought I’d innovate a little, so I introduced my wife as Mrs. Santa Claus. I don’t think she was happy about that honor. Finally we gave out chocolate pops. None of the children rushed to get one, none grabbed for one; one little boy even returned an extra pop. They were definitely interested, but not in songs, animal stories, not even particularly interested in chocolates. I had played my part. If they pelted me with their chocolate bar wrappings, I wouldn’t have been surprised. I was a flop. “Goodbye, Santa,” Miss Princess and Miss Jing shouted as I got to the covered court entrance. I turned around and the children were all standing, cheering, waving their arms, and shouting, “Goodbye Santa!” “Merry Christmas, Santa,” Princess and Jing shouted. There was another thunderous roar from the little children. I felt so good I almost went back to thank each of them. I left them feeling better and wandered up the hill to a turn in the road from where I could see all of Payatas and all the way across the National Government Center to the Batasan. I thought of the children who may still be buried underfoot in the garbage. We have to be saddened by their short, sad lives, but surely they will have better Christmas parties than we have here. They’ll have God and His angels and not just an old guy who played Santa for a day. Denis Murphy works with the Urban Poor Associates. His email address is upa@pldtdsl.net.

2010 UPA Christmas Party

The Urban Poor Associates and other NGOs celebrated their Christmas Party at the UPA office.

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PART 2:

Urban Poor Still Search for Shelter

16 December 2010 (Thursday). Three thousand urban poor people marched from Carlos Palanca St. to Mendiola today repeating the question asked by Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem: "Do you have a decent place where we can stay?"

Young urban poor acted as Mary and Joseph led the crowd to Mendiola to remind President Benigno Aquino III that the poor are still searching for shelter. Through Panunuluyan they are knocking on the Palace door, asking the president to grant their request to meet him to discuss their pressing worries and to urge him implement the covenant he signed during the campaign period.

Participants include children, old people, victims of demolitions, scavengers, relocated railroad families, people’s organizations, various non-government organizations, friends and supporters.

The theme of this year’s Panunuluyan is “Si Maria at ang mga Mahihirap ay patuloy na naghahanap ng Matutuluyan”. For more than two decades, urban poor group reenacted the old tradition of Joseph and Mary going from place to place looking for a place to settle in and where Mary can have a baby with the modern problem of homelessness of the people.

The Panunuluyan is sponsored by members of Task Force Anti-Eviction composed of non-government organizations such as Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise (COPE), with the help of various NGOs and people’s organizations.

According to UPA, there are thousand of homeless families in Metro Manila mainly because of forced evictions, illegal demolitions, and other concerns such as lack of access to affordable housing, high cost of living, labor contractualization, rural to urban migration displacements due to armed conflict and graft and corruption.

“We are afraid that the number of homeless people will grow in Metro Manila and its surrounding areas, if the 300,000 families threatened with eviction will consent to be removed without adequate relocation,” said UPA Deputy Coordinator Ted Añana.

UPA demolition monitoring shows that most of the families who will be forcibly evicted are those living along the waterways and estuaries to give way for the rehabilitation of the Pasig River. But urban poor people living along waterways have had been proposing an alternative housing solution. They sought the help of Palafox architects who created a design of housing along the waterways that will not interfere with the cleaning of the river, and the people living on the esteros will have a decent place to dwell in the city.

Añana concluded, “There are many efforts done by the urban poor. But it is just placed in a backseat. We have high hopes that the new administration will consider the proposal of the people and that the president will heed our call to implement the covenant he signed during the campaign period.” -30-

Panunuluyan ng Maralitang Tagalungsod 2010

We are having our annual Panunuluyan of the Urban Poor again on the morning of December 16, 2010 (Thursday) from 8:00 to 11:00 AM.

Panunuluyan recreates the search of Joseph and Mary for shelter where Jesus might be born. We see this event in the light of the urban poor people’s search for homes, peace and a decent life. The theme of the celebration, “Si Maria at ang mga mahihirap ay patuloy na naghahanap ng Matutuluyan.”

Beginning at 8:00Am, about 3,000 urban poor will march from Carlos Palanca Street (Near Quinta Market) to P. Casal Street and on to Mendiola.

The celebration will be led by 200 urban poor women and men portraying Mama Mary and Joseph. There will be a mobile stage for the reenactment of the search of Joseph and Mary for a place to dwell in.

Urban poor say, “Through this Panunuluyan, we want to show the President that we want to meet with him to discuss our present worries and to push for the covenant he signed during the campaign period to be implemented.”

Photo ops: 200 women will dance and end the dance by holding up the 200 baby dolls, demanding a better life for their children. There will be three walking billboards labeled (1) “Have you forgotten us?” referring to the difficulty they have had meeting the president; (2) The covenant signed by the President and the poor during the campaign period; (3) “We are still here” saying we are still suffering in the slums.

Date: December 16, 2010 (Thursday)

Time: 8:00 to 11:00 AM

Assembly Point: Carlos Palanca St.

Please Cover.

‘Have you forgotten us, Mr. President?’

Commentary

By Denis Murphy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:44:00 12/15/2010

Filed Under: Human Rights, Housing & Urban Planning,Governance, Politics

URBAN POOR groups have written a very sad letter to President Noynoy. It begins, “Have you forgotten us, Mr. President?” and goes on to talk about their failure to get a meeting with the President, despite four months of continuous effort. It is sad because they had expected so much from the President.

During the election campaign the urban poor and then Senator Noynoy signed a covenant in which he promised to treat the urban poor in a just and generous way in matters of eviction, relocation and other urban poor concerns. It was the first time a presidential candidate signed such an agreement with them, the people said. They looked on the covenant as a solemn promise by the President, much more serious than ordinary political gimmickry. Correspondingly, they are surprised and disappointed when the promises are not kept.

They point out that in some matters affecting the urban poor the present government comes out poorly in comparison with the government of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Their prime concerns now are that government follows the law in evicting and relocating poor families, and that it relocates people in-city. The families living on the esteros, for example, whom the government threatens to evict after Christmas, want to be housed on the esteros, but in housing designed by Palafox Associates that mitigates flooding, yet allows the families to keep their jobs, schools and the old neighbors they would lose in distant relocation. The people of Laguna Lake, Manggahan Floodway and Lupang Arenda have similar plans. The families in these places who are liable to relocation total 250,000 families or one million men, women and children.

This may be a very temporary estrangement between the President and the poor. There is a danger, however, in the modern world that presidents are so busy with so many different problems, they may lock themselves away in their presidential offices, and sever on-going close dialogue with the ordinary people who elected them and their social movements. The presidents may consider this a more efficient way to govern, but the chief victims of such lack of dialogue are the major justice issues of the day. Justice is not realized.

When presidents and the ordinary people are close to one another there is a good chance that justice can win out. When they are not united there is little chance of this happening: the president either will not attempt to pass the needed legislation or he will try but fail because the majority of the people, the poor and near poor, do not rally to support him.

Jim Wallis in Sojourners Magazine (November 2010) gives examples of this dynamic from American history. Abraham Lincoln was moved to free slaves by the Abolitionist Movement and by persons, such as, the Afro-American writer and orator Frederick Douglas. Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s was pressured by the labor unions to institute the Social Security System and thereby free ordinary people of a poverty-ridden old age. Wallis also remembers how Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement pushed Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to pass the voting rights legislation and Medicare which looks after the health needs of old people.

These issues—freeing slaves, freeing old people from poverty and sickness, and restoring the right to vote to all people—are clearly central in any understanding of justice and human rights. These are not mere political matters, but are the deep down concerns of what it means to be human. This characteristic accounts for the mass popular support such issues received. Wallis credits the presidents with good faith in these matters, but says they would not have acted without the popular pressure the ordinary people’s movements generated and men like Martin Luther King and his like.

Wallis traces President Barack Obama’s current loss of influence to his decision to remain closeted in the White House, cut off from close communication with ordinary Americans, unlike Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Johnson.

A president needs a movement to help him realize justice and human rights issues. When he feels the ordinary people’s pain and is assured they are behind him and cover his back, then and only then will he act. Presidents are not gamblers.

How will matters work out in the Philippines? Will President Noynoy patch up his relationship with the urban poor and resolve to stay close to the poor of all sectors? Everyone hopes so, especially the poor. Perhaps he can have the meeting the people want.

What are some of the issues today in the Philippines in which the President needs the powerful support of ordinary Filipinos? What are the deep down justice issues comparable to freeing slaves and voting rights? A truly successful land reform program seems to be one. There has been more than enough blood of farmers spilled already. Legislation that would narrow to a significant degree the income gap between rich and poor is another high priority.

Maybe it is not legislation that is needed so much as an attitude in the President and all government people that can be compared to the Catholic Church’s “preferential option for the poor.” For the President this would mean that in all the issues that arise he looks to see how the poor can benefit and how he can give the poor a little extra by way of resources, social services and opportunities. In all matters that come before him, the President will consider how the matter affects the poor, and look after them and make sure other government people do the same.

(Denis Murphy works with the Urban Poor Associates. His email address is upa@pldtdsl.net.)