Media Release
24 Mayo 2011

Ipagtanggol ang Pinaglabanan! – KMU
“Ang laban ng maralita ay laban ng mga manggagawa!”

Ito ang pahayag ng sentrong unyong Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) sa pakikiisa sa mga residente ng Barangay Corazon de Jesus, Pinaglabanan, San Juan sa harap ng banta ng muling pag-demolish sa mga kabahayan sa naturang lugar ngayong 23-24 Mayo.

Nanawagan ang KMU sa mga manggagawa na makiisa sa paglaban ng mahihirap sa mga atake ng pamahalaan, lokal man o pambansa. Ipinag-uutos ng lokal na pamahalaan ng San Juan, sa pamumuno ni Mayor Guia Gomez, ang pag-demolish sa maralitang komunidad para itayo ang mas malaki at magarang opisina ng lokal na pamahalaan.

“Ipinakita ng unang pagtatangkang i-demolish ang Barangay Corazon de Jesus na kayang biguin ng sama-samang pagkilos ng mga manggagawa at maralita ang pangwawasak ng mga kabahayan ng gobyerno. Sa harap ng panibagong banta ng demolisyon, nananawagan kami para patatagin ang pagkakaisang ito at biguing muli ang lokal na pamahalaan ng San Juan sa tangka nitong mag-demolish ng mga tahanan ng maralita,” ani Roger Soluta, secretary-general ng KMU.

Kahapon, 24 Mayo, bukod sa mga nakapalibot ng pulis sa lugar, bumisita ang dating pangulo at dating meyor ng San Juan na si Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada kasama ang ilang militar na may dala-dalang mahahabang baril. “Kinumbinsi” umano ni Estrada ang mga residenteng mag-self-demolish ng kanilang mga tirahan. Malinaw sa mga residente na panghaharas at propaganda lamang ang pagbisita ng dating pangulo.
 

“Sa agawan ng kapangyarihan lang nagtatalu-talo ang mga pulitikong katulad nina Estrada at Aquino. Sa huli, magkasabwat pa rin sila sa pagpapahirap sa mga mamamayang Pilipino. Pareho silang nangangayupapa sa dikta ng malalaking kapitalistang dayuhan at lokal na walang ibang inintindi kundi ang pagpapalobo sa sariling tubo,” ani Soluta.

“Lalong nawawasak, sa mata mismo ng mga taga-San Juan, ang pangako ni Erap at ng pamilya Estrada na sila ay ‘para sa mahirap’ sa pagsasabwatan ng buong pamilya para magpalayas ng mga maralitang lungsod,” dagdag niya.

Nauna nang nagkaroon ng marahas na demolisyon sa Bgy. Corazon De Jesus noong Enero 25, 2011. Nabigo ang kinauukulan na pulbusin ang naninindigang mga residente. Nauna pa rito, sa ilalim ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino, nakita rin ang militanteng pagtatanggol ng mga maralita sa North Triangle at Laperal sa atake sa kanilang paninirahan.

“Walang paghupa sa ikinasang gyera ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino laban sa mga maralitang lungsod. Kasabay ng kawalan ng makabuluhang dagdag-sahod, kawalan ng trabaho, nakaamba rin ang malakihan at malaganap na demolisyon sa mga komunidad ng maralita,” ani Soluta.

“Sa ganitong pagkakataon, kailangan ring patibayin nating mahihirap ang pagkakaisa ng ating hanay. Huwag nating hayaang magwagi ang rehimeng US-Aquino sa pagwasak sa ating mga kabahayan at kabuhayan. Ipagtanggol ang Pinaglabanan!” panawagan ni Soluta.###

Reference: Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general, 0928-7215313

DAKILANG BAYAN NG SAN JUAN
By Stum Casia · Sunday, January 16, 2011
 

Anong dakilang bayan itong
sa slogan ay nagbibihis masa?

Taon taong nakukuhang
magpabasbas kay Juan Bautista.

Pero mapagbigyan lang ang kapritso
ng high-end na pamilya

papaliparin ang mga
di-pa-artista-si-erap
doon na nakatira.

At si Huseng Batute,
matahimik kaya ang kaluluwa

Ngayong dadalhin sa malayong planeta
ang mga inampon
ng dakilang pangalan niya.

From dream to nightmare
AT GROUND LEVEL By Satur C. Ocampo

(The Philippine Star) Updated May 28, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (2)

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=690538&publicationSubCategoryId=64

In the past several weeks thousands of families of informal settlers in the National Capital Region have had their houses or communities demolished or threatened to be demolished by the government and private business interests.

In some instances, the demolitions were attended by violence and physical injuries, such as what happened at the Laperal Compound in Makati City last month, and before that at New Manila and North Triangle in Quezon City, and at San Roque in San Juan. Threats of demolition keep residents on edge at the Dypac Compound in Tondo, Kadiwa in Navotas, and Pangarap Village in Caloocan, to cite a few cases.

Per Metro Manila Development Authority 2010 data, there were 556,526 informal settler families in the NCR. In a technical working group report that he submitted to President Noynoy Aquino last March 15, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo says the members of these families comprised “almost 25 percent of the 11.5 million total population of the NCR.”

Of the total, 40 percent or 222,744 families lived in Quezon City, while 18.8 percent or 104,643 families were in Manila. Overall, the number of informal settler families increased by 2.14 percent since 2007.

Against the rising numbers, the government’s shelter program in resettlement areas falls short in response, the report acknowledges. It points out:

“Supply of housing units based on the current allocation scheme is not enough even for relocating informal settler families in danger areas that are considered priority (i.e. along waterways as well as those occupying roads, alleys, and sidewalks), which total to 73,720 families. For these alone, the shortage of housing units amounts to 40,958. If we add thereto the remaining informal settler families living in other danger areas, the shortage rises to 69,644.”

The shortage of housing is not the only problem; the poor quality of resettlement areas is another. This forces many of those resettled to return to their former communities and become informal settlers again. The report observes:

“Economic and social displacement in terms of loss of livelihood, uprooting from communities, and other hardship conditions are faced by the beneficiaries at their relocation sites. Mismatch between skills and job opportunities are often confronted when resettled and a sharp decline in incomes occurs. These situations not only lead to hardship for the families but affect the performance of their shelter programs as well, (because) some people are unable to pay their monthly amortization rates...”

A dire situation, indeed. We shall analyze its causes and discuss the recommended solutions in another column. Meantime, let’s briefly look into the peculiar case of the residents of Pangarap Village in Caloocan.

Pangarap Village covers 156 hectares of the 7,000-hectare Tala Estate (named after the state-operated leprosarium in the area), which was declared a government reservation in 1971 under Proclamation 843, issued by then President Marcos. In 1973, through Presidential Decree 293, Marcos designated the 156 hectares as settlement for low-income families and government employees, including members of the Armed Forces and the Presidential Security Group.

Many of the families have been living there since the 1970s. The place is now a thriving community of 40,000.

However, a dispute arose between the government and a private firm, Carmel Development, Inc., owned by the wealthy Araneta clan. CDI claims ownership of the estate through three Torrens titles and contests the presidential edicts.

Ironically, the CDI is now headed by Greggy Araneta, Marcos’ son-in-law, who’s trying hard to undo the probably one good thing his departed father-in-law did.

In 2002, the Solicitor General filed a petition at the Regional Trial Court to nullify the titles held by CDI and uphold PP 843 and PD 293. The RTC ruled in favor of the government. But in the subsequent appeals, both the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court favored CDI.

Today the issue is pending at the SC after the government filed a motion for reconsideration.

While the case awaits final judgment, CDI has employed various means to induce or coerce the residents to give up their homes. Among the complaints are:

• CDI has engaged the services of a security agency whose guards, armed with M-16 and M-14 rifles, have been going around the village telling the residents to vacate their homes.

• Last March 15, the guards kept firing their weapons for an hour in broad daylight.

• The guards have allegedly demolished a number of houses in the middle of the night.

• At past midnight on April 28, the guards fired indiscriminately at residents who rushed to a house being demolished, wounding three, including a teenage boy and a barangay tanod.

Last May 10, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares delivered a privilege speech denouncing the violence and harassments by CDI. He urged the House of Representatives to support the Pangarap Village residents. The legislators agreed to send a delegation to assure the people of their support.

That emboldened the residents to fight for their homes. One mother declared: “Ang pangarap naming magkabahay ay natupad noong 1973. Ayaw naming mauwi ito sa bangungot. (Our dream to have a home was realized in 1973. We will not let it turn into a nightmare.)”
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E-mail: mailto:satur.ocampo@gmail.com