Urban poor demand probe into attempted Davao shantytown demolition

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Urban poor groups trooped to the regional office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) here to demand an investigation into alleged police violence at the Barangay (village) Soliman demolition site in Agadao District instead of just looking into the punching incident involving Mayor Sara Duterte.

The groups, bearing placards which read, “Imbestigahan ang mga pulis sa demolisyon (investigate police at the demolition site)” and “P-noy walang programa sa pabalay (Aquino has no housing program),” marched from Agdao to the DILG office in Matina.

Their leaders said the government fact-finding team should investigate the violence committed by the police against people instead of just looking at the mayor’s actions.

Sheena Duazo, deputy secretary general of the urban poor group Kadamay, said similar groups will also march to the DILG head office in Manila because demolition has the same face everywhere: the violence done to homeless urban settlers.

Ananias Villacorte, DILG regional director, said people are free to express themselves but the housing problem was beyond the jurisdiction of his office.

He said the regional office had no direct role in the investigation, which was directly handled by Manila.

He said that although all eyes have been focused on the punching incident, the violence at the demolition site has also been taken account by the investigating team.