Against a hail of rocks and excrement, a demolition team backed by some 300 policemen moved in Thursday morning to tear down around 50 houses in a slum community that had formed precariously under high-voltage transmission lines in Valenzuela City.
A crewman was wounded as violence erupted while authorities were still preparing to clear the illegal settlements on Hulo Street, Friendsville Subdivision, in Barangay Bignay. The site had been declared a hazardous area by the city government.
Frank Bravo, a member of the city’s engineering crew, was wounded in the chest and feet —one of his toenails was torn off—after several residents hurled rocks and bags containing feces at his team, according to Public Information Officer Ahna Mejia.
Mejia, who was also at the site, said the residents were accompanied by members of militant groups in repulsing the demolition men, who arrived in the area with a police contingent providing security.
“As we were approaching the demolition area, someone started throwing rocks and the others followed,” she said, noting that the authorities exercised “maximum tolerance” throughout the operation.
The police later arrested Ricardo Gagap, who they said was not a resident but a member of the militant group Anakbayan. Criminal charges would be filed against Gagap, Mejia said.
But Gagap’s wife Vangie maintained that they were residents in the area and denied that Gagap started the assault. On the contrary, she said, her husband wanted to negotiate properly with the demolition team.
“I was surprised when he was suddenly arrested,” Vangie said.
Val Dimayuga, media officer of Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap, one of the urban-poor groups claiming to represent the 139 families in the area, said the residents may have been provoked into throwing rocks because of the demolition team’s “forcible entry” into the neighborhood.
Later in the day, the residents were pacified as some of the families agreed to take P5,000 in financial aid from the city government.
The amount was apart from the cash assistance set by the national government at P18,000 per family, Mejia said.
The City Hall media officer said 50 of the 139 families would be moved to government relocation sites in Montalban, Rizal province, and in Marilao and San Jose in Bulacan province.
The rest could use the money while staying with their relatives until new relocation sites are established, or just return to their home provinces, she said.
Mejia recalled that several years ago, there were 209 families living in the area but some of them relocated after accepting the P5,000 from the city government.
The number went down to 20 and these families were issued a notice to vacate the area on May 3, “but now we have 139 families again,” with the latest arrivals mostly coming from neigboring Bulacan province, she added.