['Nothing but jail for Mrs Arroyo'] Urban poor settlers around VMMC reject hospital arrest for CGMA, vow to stage protest upon her arrival to the hospital

PRESS RELEASE l 02 DEC 2011
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP
REFERENCE FOR INTERVIEW: Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national sec-gen (09213927457)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines--North Triangle residents whose lives have been miserable because of threat of demolition vow to make Mrs Arroyo's every day in the Veterans Memorial Medical Center as miserable as theirs. They plan to stage protest action as soon as the ambulance carrying the ex-president arrives to the hospital.

"It is our means of seeking reprisal for the thousands of lives that have become worse after she ordered the demolition of our homes, including the VMMC, five years ago," said Jocy Lopez, and community leader from Sitio San Roque.

"A hospital arrest is not enough to make her pay. Everyone in San Roque (in North Triangle) would be happy to see her in jail. She has robbed us not only of the right to adequate and decent housing, but also the right to a decent life," explains Lopez.

Residents consider RGMA as the ‘mastermind’ of a massive demolition that affects 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 Lopez, chair of Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (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 occupied by not less than 11,000 families by 2007. A previous executive order from Malacanang in 2002, EO 106, has already promised land tenure to the residents of San Roque.

EO 620 &620-A
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 to fence them out of Sitio San Roque. 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.

“Other than electoral sabotage and corruption, she has to be made accountable, too, for thousands of families who have suffered in the relocation sites in an inhuman condition. She must pay for the misery that we feel as we are bothered every now and then by threats of eviction from our community,” Lopez explains.
"While Arroyo now feels how it is to be against-all-odds, as we have experienced every time the government tried to demolish our homes, she must have regretted the day she signed those executive orders, and had a done-deal with the Ayalas and big businessmen."
According to Kadamay national secretary-general Gloria Arellano, “the urban poor won't feel justice being served unless CGMA is treated like an ordinary citizen facing a court trial and put into jail. We never forget the countless human right atrocities she had committed against the Filipino people. Ang VMMC ay para sa mga beterano, hindi para sa mga berdugo.”

Aquino may be worse than Arroyo
“But it seems Aquino has been worse than ‘ex-president’ on how he treats the urban poor. North Triangle residents, for example, have had the real taste of demolition as soon as Aquino assumed his office,” Arellano adds.

Last September 23, 2010, four months after Aquino has sworn into office the nation has witnessed the 'most tragic aggression to urban poor settlers' known as the “Battle of EDSA” when NHA-hired demolition team, SWAT and the PNP joined hands to demolish the homes in Sitio San Roque. The confrontation has 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 the president, according to Kadamay. "If Aquino 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 urban poor and the Filipino people will not let him escape,” Arellano ends. ###