YEARENDER: 2011, a precarious life for the urban poor

YEARENDER: 2011, a precarious life for the urban poor
In 2011, rights group Karapatan – National Capital Region has monitored at least one case of demolition a month, which more or less translates to at least three families losing their homes everyday due to demolition.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — The violence that accompanied the demolition attempts in urban poor communities Corazon de Jesus in San Juan City and Sitio San Roque in Quezon City hit the headlines resulting in a temporary halt to the demolition. Yet, unknown to many, more and more communities are facing displacement from their homes and livelihood. Urban poor and progressive organizations monitored an average of one community confronting demolition every month for 2011.

“We receive many requests for assistance from organizations of the urban poor. They want to guard and barricade their communities from threats of demolition. As long as these calls keep coming, it only shows how this administration is neglecting the urban poor and ignoring their right to housing,” Carlito Badion, vice president of Kalipunan ng Damayang mahihirap and co-convenor of Alyansa Kontra Demolisyon, told Bulatlat.com.

Badion said President Benigno Aquino III is a failure for poor Filipinos because of the absence of a comprehensive plan to address their concerns. It has instead, he added, prioritized big private firms and its vested self-interest, leaving urban poor dwellers displaced from their homes.

Public Private Partnership monster that demolishes the homes of urban poor dwellers(Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / Bulatlat.com)

In 2011, rights group Karapatan – National Capital Region has monitored at least one case of demolition a month, which more or less translates to at least three families losing their homes everyday due to demolition.

First demolition of 2011

The year 2011 began with demolition operations targeting Barangay Corazon de Jesus in San Juan City on January 25. The displacement of more than a hundred families would supposedly give way to the project of the local government to build a United States-White House-like city hall. The residents responded by barricading the community to defend their homes from the demolition team.

The tension ran high when the police moved toward the barricade. Around mid-morning, a canister of teargas was fired at a portion of the community. The police doused the residents with water canons. The residents, on the other hand, fought back using slingshots, stones, bottles and plastic bags filled with human feces, which they call “tae bombs or t-bombs.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/01/03/yearender-2011-a-precarious-life-for-the-urban-poor/