PRESS RELEASE l 19 NOV 2011
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP
REFERENCE FOR INTERVIEW: Jocy Lopez, Kadamay North Triangle (09282998089)
QUEZON CITY, Philippines--North Triangle residents who for several days now have been holding a camp-out at the main office of the National Housing Authority after they received a notice of eviction on Nov 15 stage a protest today calling for the immediate conviction and incarceration of the ex-president.
They call the Arroyo as the ‘mastermind’ of massive demolitions that affect some 24,000 urban poor families in Quezon City after she signed in 2007 Executive Order (EO) 620 (Rationalizing and speeding up the development of the East and North Triangles, and the Veterans Memorial Area of Quezon City, as a well-planned, integrated and environmentally balanced mixed-use development model) and EO 620-A (Expanding the composition of the Urban Triangle Development Commission and clarifying its structure and functions).
According to Jocy Lopez, chairperson of Kadamay North Triangle, these executive orders have legitimized the land grabbing by the National Housing Authority of some 37 hectares property in Sitio San Roque, North Triangle. A previous executive order from Malacanang in 2002, EO 106, has already promised land tenure to the residents of San Roque.
No place for urban poor settlers
But the issue of land tenure and ownership of land was not resolved until the signing of EO 620 in May 2007 leading to the creation of Quezon City Central Business District (QCCBD). With the issuance of E0 620, Arroyo then drew the line for informal settlers. Under the order, affected residents can avail of on-site land sharing and medium rise buildings (MRBs), in-city relocation, or relocation to nearby cities with fair compensation packages.
“It is Arroyo who created our suffering,” adds Jocy Lopez. “You can see cheer in every face of San Roque residents as they hear the news of Ms Arroyo’s hospital arrest. She has robbed us of our right to adequate and decent housing, and the right to San Roque while she was the president. Many of us have been here for decades, and we are the ones who developed San Roque without any assistance from the national government.”
No VIP treatment
“Other than electoral sabotage and corruption, she has to be made accountable, too, without VIP treatment for thousands of families who have suffered in the relocation sites, some even have lost their loved ones because of the inhumane condition, just because of her penchant of foreign and big businesses at the expense of the urban poor,” the leader explains.
“The incarceration of Arroyo could only mean that the justice system does not only serve the interest of those who are powerful and the elite. We want to see him in jail for the countless human right atrocities she committed against the Filipino people,” Lopez says.
Aquino is worse than Arroyo
“But we also believe Aquino is worse than ‘ex-president’ on how he treats the urban poor. We had the real taste of demolition as soon as Aquino assumed his office,” Lopez adds. Last September 23, 2010, four months after Aquino sworn into office as president of the republic, San Roque residents and the nation witnessed the most tragic aggression to urban poor settlers known as the “Battle of EDSA” when NHA-hired demolition teams, SWAT and the PNP joined hands to demolish the homes of the residents. The confrontation resulted to a seven-hour stand-off at EDSA with casualties on the side of the residents and the demolition squad.
“Recent events surrounding the arrest of Arroyo must also give some lessons to President Aquino. If he remains as endorser of the interest of big capitalists like the Ayala and remain to have penchant of neoliberal policies at the expense of his constituents, as his recent actions seem to be, he would certainly suffer the same fate as his predecessor. The Filipino people will not let him escape,” Lopez ends. ###
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