Supreme Court allows MMDA to demolish shanties

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to push through with the demolition of illegal structures that contribute to the deterioration of Manila Bay. In a resolution, the court said that its order to clean up Manila Bay was not a license to evict any individual without observing the law.

“The authority of the MMDA to dismantle illegal structures was not given as a means to circumvent the Lina Law. As the lead agency in the flood-control projects and drainage services in Metro Manila, it is tasked with the removal of structures that contribute to the discharge of waste into the Manila Bay,” the resolution stated.

The Supreme Court reminded the MMDA to observe the rules on summary evictions.

“While the MMDA’s zeal in improving the state of Manila’s drainage system and water bodies is laudable, this endeavor cannot go against the rights of those whose dwellings are in danger of being torn down,” it said.

“Movants’ fears are justified if there is truly a non-compliance with the rights accorded under the Lina Law. At the very least, it must, thus, be emphasized that the court’s ruling in [favor of] MMDA does not give the MMDA and other concerned government agencies the power to evict any individual from his or her home without first giving notice,” the court explained.

Under threat

Earlier, various groups such as Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise (COPE), Kabalikat sa Pagpapaunlad ng Baseco (Kabalikat), Ugnayang Lakas ng mga Apektadong Pamilya sa Baybaying Ilog Pasig (ULAP) and residents along Radial 10 (R-10) Boulevard in Manila’s Tondo district, told the Supreme Court that they were under continuous threat under the Metro Gwapo Project because the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority neither furnished prior notification nor held consultations and provided relocation areas.

In December, the Supreme Court, through Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., said that concerned agencies should coordinate in the clean up, restoration and preservation of the water quality of the Manila Bay. It decried the alleged lack of concern of the people and institutions to implement programs intended for its rehabilitation.

The Supreme Court recalled that Manila Bay was “a place with a proud historic past, once brimming with marine life and, for so many decades in the past, a spot for different contact recreation activities, but now a dirty and slowly dying expanse mainly because of the abject official indifference of people and institutions.” –Ruben D. Manahan 4th, Reporter, Manila Times