MANILA, Philippines ? Passions rose among residents of Camp Karingal in Sikatuna, Quezon City Monday as a demolition team continued to tear down their houses in the area to make way for the construction of police barracks.

A police official even tried to stop the team from demolishing his house by locking himself inside.
Supt. Romeo Paguinto, however, gave himself up after a few minutes to other police officers who talked to him, said Senior Supt. Elmo San Diego, the director for administration of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

"We explained to him that although his house was already outside the security fence of Camp Karingal, it was still within the boundary of the camp," San Diego told the Inquirer.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, the demolition team had already torn down 70 houses.

Later in the afternoon, however, Judge Ofelia Arellano Marquez stopped the demolition pending a hearing on the eviction on April 30.

San Diego said it would take at least two days for the team to demolish the more than 150 houses inside the camp and a few more weeks to completely clear the area.

The displaced residents, meanwhile, criticized QCPD officials and Mayor Feliciano Belmonte for "callously" ordering the demolition without ensuring their relocation.

At least 50 antiriot policemen and 15 members of a Special Weapons and Tactics team were deployed to the camp to maintain peace and order during the demolition.

"Have pity on us. We have small children. Where will we go?" Concepcion Eristain, 42, told policemen.

QCPD officials and members of the Camp Karingal Botocan Neighborhood Association Inc. have been at odds with each other over the ownership of the disputed property.

Residents claim their houses were situated outside the five-hectare property leased by the University of the Philippines to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1974.

For his part, Belmonte said the city government would provide funding for the project as soon as the "internal problem" with the camp's residents was settled.

"The city government is willing to allocate funds for these facilities. We want to help them [QCPD]," he said.

He added that the issue of land ownership would not affect the release of funds for the project, saying city funds should be made available for facilities that would benefit residents.

"The project is for a public purpose and it will benefit the people of Quezon City so we don't see any problem there," said Belmonte.

San Diego, meanwhile, advised residents to go to their office if they want to avail of free relocation. Of the 221 affected families, only 21 have applied for a transfer, he said.

According to him, they intend to use the area for the construction of a P30-million quartering project for QCPD personnel, a building for Scene of the Crime Operatives and another one for the extension of the QCPD Women's Correctional Jail. With Cenon Bibe, Libre