Families facing eviction to leave Muntinlupa City land if …

What began as a tense standoff in a slum community facing demolition in Muntinlupa City on Thursday ended with the informal settlers agreeing to leave if they would be paid by the private owners at P36,000 per family.

Residents of Carmina Compound in Barangay Cupang put up barricades using pieces of furniture and set tires on fire to stop authorities from enforcing a November 2010 demolition order issued by Judge Ethel Mercado Gutay of the Muntinlupa Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 80.

The order stemmed from a civil case filed by the landowner Sonia Lim and representatives of the late Teodoro Lim against the Carmina Compound Homeowners Association composed of 122 members and the Samahan ng Kapitbahay sa Carmina Compound Inc. which had 166 members.

The owners have been calling since 2006 for the two groups to vacate the 11,500-square meter property, saying their occupation of the land was illegal.

On Thursday, the residents put up a barricade on East Service Road to stop a demolition team backed up by police units from the city and the Southern Police District.

But according to Barangay Cupang chair Celso Dioko, the residents became defiant because they wanted to see a “compromise agreement” in writing stating that the landowners would pay P36,000 per family before they leave.

The residents received an assurance by the owners’ lawyer that they would be paid an initial P15,000 per family on Wednesday and would receive the P21,000 balance within six months, Dioko told the Inquirer in an interview.

The residents later agreed to demolish their own structures, the village official said.

Muntinlupa chief of police Senior Supt. Roque Vega said they were given until Sunday to tear down their shanties.