Urban poor groups brace for 'bigger, angrier' SONA protest

Urban poor groups in Barangay Payatas who are facing threat of eviction from their homes will hold a community forum this afternoon as they brace for bigger mobilization for the upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino.

The government has earlier announced that some 20,000 families that are to be evicted from their communities along waterways in Metro Manila.

Some 200 residents are expected to gather this afternoon from different communities in Barangay Payatas and nearby Barangay Commonwealth to express their disgust over the massive demolition plan of the local government of Quezon City and the Aquino administration, not to mention the chronic poverty and unemployment, as they vow to mobilize thousands of residents for the upcoming SONA.

They will hold a community protest later along Payatas Road, to commemorate the 13 years of Payatas Tragedy, and to call on more residents to join the SONA protest.

In Quezon City, there are around 194,000 informal settler families as of December 2012 that are to be evicted in the coming months. According to Urban Poor Affairs’ Office of QC LGU, 33% of the 2.91 million population of the city are considered informal settlers, homeless and underpriviled.

As in the past years, QC residents, particularly from Barangays Payatas, Commonwealth, Batasan, Holy Spirit and Bagong Silangan that surround the Batasang Pambansa, comprise the majority of protesters along Commonwealth Avenue during the SONA. 

The PNP earlier presumes that there will be an increase in the mobilization on July 22, due to plans of demolition in urban poor communities in Metro Manila. 

According to Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), a militant urban poor group, “the urban poor contingent in the upcoming SONA protest will be bigger, hungrier and angrier.”

The group plans to mobilize its members not only in Metro Manila, but also in major cities nationwide. Their marching theme for this year’s SONA protest is : “End demolition of urban poor communities in favor big business and foreign interest! Urban poor, revolt against poverty, oppression and exploitation by the US-Aquino Regime!

Aside from holding community fora and massive leafleteering effort in urban poor communities, KADAMAY will stage sychronized community protests in the coming days before July 22 to ensure a bigger contingent for the upcoming SONA protest.###

Reference: Gloria Arellano, KADAMAY national chairperson, 09213927457