Road 10 expansion worries squatters facing eviction

Around 1,000 families stand to lose their homes as the government plans to expand a major thoroughfare in Navotas City, according to the official of an urban poor group.

Carlito Badion, secretary general of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), said the expansion of Road 10 (R-10) —from the corner of Agora market and Navotas Fishport to the C-4 Bridge—would lead to the displacement of illegal settler-families whose houses by the roadside would be demolished.

He said the planned expansion of R-10 was part of the national government’s project to link the South Luzon Expressway with the North Luzon Expressway, declared a priority program by President Aquino in 2010.

“There’s no formal announcement of a relocation site (for the families) or formal dialogues. We heard there was a site in Muzon, Bulacan, but those are just rumors up to now,” said Badion who organized a noise barrage in the area last week to air the families’ demands.

In line with the project, the houses located “between the two gates of the Navotas Fishport” were demolished last December, he added.

While Badion admitted that Kadamay did not have a figure for the families that would be displaced by the project, he pointed out that they have yet to be relocated. The families who lost their houses last year “insisted on living by the side of the road until the government was forced to [relocate them to] Bulacan.”

“We are not against progress. When the government strives for progress though, shouldn’t it include everyone [in its efforts]?” he asked.

He proposed that the government expand only the left side of R-10 to prevent the demolition of houses or for it to construct an on-site relocation site for affected families whose heads  were mostly porters and fishermen reliant on the operations of the Navotas Fishport.

“At least that way, they won’t be far from their source of livelihood,” Badion said.

He said they tried speaking with National Housing Authority (NHA) representatives who, however, directed them “every time” to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

No reply

In February, he said the group, through letters, asked the DPWH and the Navotas local government for a dialogue although they have yet to get a response.

Jayne Banayad, the city’s public information officer, said she has yet to check whether the letter supposedly sent by the affected families reached the city authorities concerned.

“I’ll ask them first,” Banayad told the Inquirer.

However, she said that the expansion of R-10 was under the jurisdiction of the national government, which meant it should be in charge of sending out demolition notices and the relocation of the informal settlers.

“But for our part, we will coordinate with the NHA and the DPWH,” she added.