Slum dwellers’ plea: Free homes

CITY OF MALOLOS—Metro Manila’s poor families, who have been relocated to Bocaue town, are asking President Duterte to waive all payments for their government-issued homes, saying they were displaced without being offered new jobs or livelihood opportunities.

Beneficiaries were expected to pay P230,000 for each home in up to 30 years. “We cannot pay for the homes the government has given us. There are 6,000 poor households here. We urge the government to give these to us for free,” said Martha Aparil, spokesperson of the Saint Martha Relocatees Alliance.

Representatives of more than 30,000 residents of Saint Martha Village in Barangay Batia in Bocaue have scheduled a dialogue on Aug. 18 with Vice President Leni Robredo, who also chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

Aparil said she was among those in Quezon City whose houses were demolished in 2014. “We had jobs and livelihood where we came from,” she said.

Other families came from Balara and Commonwealth also in Quezon City, and Tondo, Sta. Mesa and Quiapo in Manila.

Aside from the absence of jobs, residents of Saint Martha Village complained about the quality of power and water services, peace and order concerns, and the need for a hospital or a health center and an ambulance. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon