Demolitions
The urban poor group Kadamay, meanwhile, estimated that about half a million urban poor dwellers would be affected by the governments privatization and modernization projects in the National Capital Region, Central and Southern Luzon.
In a statement, Kadamay said 80,779 families living along the railways from Central to Southern Luzon would be affected by the North Rail-South Rail Linkage Project. For the port privatization, the homes of 65,000 families near the Manila North Harbor would be demolished, while 65,216 individuals would be affected by the Batangas City Port Expansion.
Thousands of families are also expected to be evicted when the rehabilitation of the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa is implemented while about 100,000 families would be affected by the privatization of the Laguna Lake and the C-6, STAR and CALABARZON projects.
In Kadamays conservative estimate, the number of dislocated families along the railways of Bulacan, Makati City, parts of Caloocan and Manila has already reached 18,500. Added to this are the 500 families who were rendered homeless after their houses were violently demolished in Taguig City middle of this year.
This number, Kadamay said, did not include pocket demolitions in several urban poor communities in the countrys key cities.
Militarization
The last quarter of 2006 marked the entry of government troops in urban centers particularly in communities planned to be demolished by the government, Kadamay said. In a press conference held last Dec. 23, Kadamay secretary general Ed Legson said their group has monitored at least eight barangays in Metro Manila where soldiers are holed up in barangay halls or in day care centers.
Legson said their local chapters have monitored the presence of soldiers in full battle gear in four barangays in Quezon City (Holy Spirit, Payatas, Batasan, and Commonwealth) and four others in Manila (Pandacan, Baseco, Parola, and Smokey Mountain).
Urban poor dwellers fear that soldiers in the communities would be used to tame the villagers and worse, serve as demolition crews, Legson said. He added that soldiers may also be used against progressive partylist members who will be campaigning for the 2007 mid-term elections.
Relocation
Relocation sites have been opened in the towns of San Jose del Monte and Balagtas in the province of Bulacan for families dislocated by the North Rail project while the Southville Housing project in the town of Cabuyao in the province of Laguna was opened for families affected by the South Rail project.
The relocation sites are being populated by evictees from Makati and Cabuyao because of the South Rail project; and from Caloocan, Valenzuela and Malabon in Metro Manila and the town of Meycauayan and Malolos City in Bulacan due to the North Rail project.
Meanwhile, the government, in cooperation with Jimmy Carters Habitat for Humanity project and Gawad Kalinga, built 3,000 20 sq. m. housing units for the families in Baseco.
Elmer Balondo, 45, was awarded a unit by the Gawad Kalinga in 2005 and transferred there in January, 2006. Ang binigay lang sa amin ay susi at ID, walang titulo, (They gave us keys and IDs, but no land titles) he said.
It was only on Dec. 20 that project organizers started to connect electricity in the houses. Meantime, almost all houses have illegal connections for their electricity for which residents pay more than P2, 000 ($40.65) a month for the service.
Water is scarce. Pipelines have not yet been set up as well.
Project coordinators, Balondo said, told them they are allowed to stay there for only five years. Pagkatapos ng limang taon hindi na namin alam kung saan kami pupunta (After five years, we dont know where to go), Balondo said. With reports from Angie de Lara/Bulatlat
2006: Davao Today's Year-End Series, Poverty
