Aquino the new 'Grinch' this Christmas--urban poor group

PRESS RELEASE l 13 DECEMBER 2011
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP
Reference: Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary general (0921.392.7457)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines--Urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) tags President Benigno Aquino III as the new Grinch who has stolen Christmas from the urban poor this year.

According to Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary general, "Many urban poor won't be having enough food on their table to celebrate Christmas, nor money on their pockets because of the massive unemployment. Thousands urban poor families, too, will celebrate Christmas without homes, if not hungry and impoverished in the government's relocation sites, because of uninterrupted demolition of urban poor communities."

"Aquino will be among the very few Filipino families who will have luxurious Christmas dinner this year while millions worry where to get their food for the Noche Buena," says Arellano. "More than 500 days after he becomes President, the poor have become poorer, and more food-poor than ever. He has done nothing to address the high poverty and hunger rate, as prices of petroleum products and basic commodities like food, electricity and water soar to record level."

Paskuhan ng Maralita
On December 17, Kadamay is set to hold for the second time its Paskuhan ng Maralita, a yearly event characterized by floats handcrafted by different urban poor groups and showcasing the issues that confront the sector. A parade around the Quezon City Elliptical road will start the program.

The group will hold the main program of Paskuhan ng Maralita at the gate of the National Housing Authority as they ask the Aquino administration to halt demolition of homes of urban poor setters.

They will install a ten-foot high Christmas tree at the facade of the agency, while urban poor leaders from different communities in Metro Manila will hang their Christmas wishes written on placards designed as Christmas balls.

This year, paraders will stop by several government agencies around the Elliptical road, such as the Department of Agrarian Reform, the National Anti-Poverty Commission, and the National Food Authority before holding the main program at the National Housing Authority. Each station will feature urban poor carolers singing the sector's demand to the particular agency.

Aside from the tall Christmas tree, this years' celebration will feature President Benigno Aquino III dressed as the 'Grinch' to lead the parade of floats.

Homeless and food less Christmas
The group slams the Aquino's demolition rampage even as Christmas is fast approaching, citing yesterdays' violent demolition of homes in Dypac Compound in Tondo, Manila that has left not less than 100 families homeless.

Kadamay says threats of demolition of homes continue including North Triangle community and others affected by the Quezon City Central Business District. Arellano adds, "Thousands of urban poor homes nationwide are set to be demolished as early as January next year."

Urban poor wish this Christmas
The group denounces Aquino's 'pro-poor' showcased programs including the Condition Cash Transfer (CCT), with its P39 billion fund for next year to be signed by the President in the coming days, and the P10.55 billion-worth relocation program for the urban poor.

Instead of these 'palliative' programs, the group wishes that the government would implement a genuine agrarian reform program. Arellano says, "The unequal distribution of land in the Philippines has propelled urban migration year after year as urban poverty reaches record high."

"Also, a national industrialization program, free from the dictates of neo-liberal policies would answer the widespread unemployment and stop the export of Filipino laborers to overseas," she says