1 hurt as informal settlers clash with demolition team

Several small explosions rocked a portion of BIR Road in Barangay (village) Central, Quezon City, at around noon Monday as informal settlers lobbed pillboxes to fight off a demolition team’s attempt to tear down their houses.

A member of the militant group Kadamay was hit in the head with a rock in the standoff between the members of the demolition team who were backed up by a police team and the residents in the area.

Policemen later arrested a resident, Patrick Posadas, 33, after he was caught with an improvised shotgun.

Superintendent Crisostomo Mendoza, Kamuning police station commander, said the city government had asked 100 families to leave the area to no avail.

A few months ago, some 400 families agreed to be relocated to resettlement sites in Rizal and Bulacan provinces although some 100 others returned to their houses on BIR Road.

According to him, the residents, accompanied by militant groups, had established a barricade in the area to prevent the demolition team from carrying out their task.

A scuffle then ensued between the two groups, accompanied by the throwing of rocks and gunshots being fired.

The police, however, denied that the shots came from their side.