More demolitions under Aquino

EVEN with the frequent demolition incidents in Metro Manila and other parts of the country of squatter shanties, the number of urban poor families who have experienced eviction is smaller compared to the same period last year.

Based on the study of the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a total of 8,201 families were evicted in 29 demolition incidents from January to August 2010, while there were about 7,060 families who lost their homes in 14 demolition incidents this year.

From the number of demolitions this year, eight were on government lands, three in private properties and the rest in creeks or areas considered as danger zones.

However, UPA said that the number of evictions was still considered high because President Benigno Aquino 3rd signed a covenant with the urban poor during the election campaign at Del Pan Sports Complex, Tondo, Manila on March 6, 2010.

Under the covenant, the Aquino administration vowed to put an end to illegal forced evictions and show a bias for in-city relocation. Such in-city relocations have not been implemented yet. Instead, the number of demolitions have been increasing.

UPA stressed that all 14 evictions in 2011 were considered illegal because it did not meet the legal requirements for evictions of the Urban Development and Housing Act.

These include demolitions in the cities of San Juan, Navotas, Makati and Pasig that turned violent.

“If we compare President Aquino’s first complete year in office [from June 2010 to June 2011], we find he had many more evictions than former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had on average per year in her term,” the group pointed out.

The government’s reasons for demolitions were the cleaning of esteros (waterways) and expansion of government facilities.

Besides demolition of shanties, some 9,849 urban poor families lost their homes because of fires from January to May.

Three out of twelve fires were believed to have been done intentionally to force families out of privately owned lands.

Worse, the local governments of the cities of Navotas, Quezon and Makati declared the areas hit by fire as danger zones and prevented settlers from going back to the razed sites.

The number of evicted families this year is nothing compared to the expected number of families facing eviction in Metro Manila and its surrounding areas, which is about 300,000 families. –JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA REPORTER, Manila Times