North Triangle residents sling mud at Ayala office, cite ‘corporate greed’ behind implementation of QC business district [With threat of demolition of homes tomorrow]

PRESS RELEASE l 26 OCTOBER 2011
CONTRA-CBD
REFERENCE: Carlito Badion, Convenor (09393873736)

MAKATI CITY, Philippines— With a new threat of demolition of homes tomorrow, residents of North Traingle together with members of Courage Partylist and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap trooped to themain office of Ayala Land, Inc. in Makati to condemn the implementation of Quezon City Central Business District project.

The protesters brought cans with lands from North Triangle and throw them at the ground entrance of the Ayala Land, Inc. “It’s all the land that the Ayala corporation can get from North Triangle. We call on them to stop their ‘landgrabbing’ of Sitio San Roque, and withdraw its joint business venture with the National Housing Authority,” Esterlieta ‘Ka Inday’Bagasbas said, who is a local leader from North Triangle.

According to a statement from CONCERNED ORGANIZATIONS AGAINST TRANSFER, LAY-OFF, DEMOLITION AND PRIVATIZATION FOR THE QUEZON CITY CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (CONTRACBD), “the demolition of homes of some 24,000 urban poor families for a single business district shows how corporate greed is tramping on the right of the Filipino toiling masses.”

Thousands of government and hospital workers shall also be dislodged from their work as the implementation of PhP22B-worth QCCBD kicks in, according to the group.

“The urban poor has no place in the development plan of the Aquino administration, as bad as treating them as garbage and impendent to development,” said Ka Inday. Tomorrow, residents of Sitio San Roque in North Triangle are once again facing a threat of eviction as the 60-day extension given by the NHA and the QC LGU expires.

PPP, anti-poor
Yesterday, members of the group also threw mud at the main office of Public-Private Partnershop Center. According to Carlito Badion, lead convener of Alyansa Kontra Demolisyon, a national alliace against demolition and forced evictions, “PPP as the framework of development of the Aquino administration is anti-poor for it will only bury the already suffering Filipinos into bigger debt. Only foreign and big local corporations like the Ayalas will benefit from these PPP projects, aside from tramping on the rights of thousands of urban poor Filipinos for a decent housing program.” ###