Lack of sincerity to address squatter problem, behind 'Sendong' tragedy--urban poor group

PRESS RELEASE l 18 DECEMBER 2011
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP
Reference: Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary general (0921.392.7457)

An urban poor group, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) has blamed the recent tragedy brought by typhoon Sendong on the government's lack of sincerity to address the worsening housing problem of Filipino urban poor nationwide, especially those who live along riverbanks and other danger zones.

Reminiscent to the onslaught brought by Ondoy in 2009, urban poor living near riverbanks were drowned to death as Sendong hit Cagayan de Oro City , Iligan City and other cities in Mindanao and Negros island. According to reports, it is the most destructive calamity to hit the South in years.

The number of dead had risen to 436, according to the latest report from the Philippine Red Cross (PRC).

According to Gloria Arellano, "the recent report of the Aquino government to allot budget P10.55 billion relocation program for those who live in danger areas and slum areas is too late, as the government has never sincerely addressed the squatting problem ever since Ondoy. And we doubt that this fund would even benefit the urban poor."

"Either the residents would reject the relocation offer to far-flung relocation sites because of lack of livelihood opportunities, or the P10 billion relocation funds would only fall into hands of a few politicians and non-government organizations that are in connivance with big low-cost housing firms," she says.

"Meanwhile, in-city relocation plan has remained on the drawing board," she adds.

Criminal minds
"It is not the stubbornness or the 'criminal minds' of the urban poor that made them decide to live in danger areas," Arellano explains.

"They are forced to live along river banks because their income cannot make them avail of a house in city's residential areas that seem to be only for the elite or the middle class, while danger areas give them easy access to where their livelihood is,” she adds.

The Aquino administration should address the basic problem of lack of regular employment and decent wages for the millions of urban poor nationwide so they can afford decent housing in the urban centers, the group says.

"Unless this is resolved, no relocation program will answer the squatter problem in the country, and avoid another tragedy brought by Ondoy and Sendong," Arellano adds.

The group says, Aquino should as well address the 'faulty' land reform program in the country.

As landlessness in the countryside drives hundreds of thousands of peasants into urban centers nationwide each year, Arellano says, the limited employment in the cities will only force the urban poor to live on city spaces free from monthly rentals, or where housing rentals is less costly.

The group calls for assistance for their members and the urban poor victims in Cagayan de Oro City that has been hit worst by the typhoon, as well as in other areas that have been and will be havocked by Sendong. ###