90 families leave disputed land in San Juan City; 152 families to stay on

MANILA, Philippines—Some 90 families voluntarily evacuated from the contested land in Pinaglabanan Shrine, San Juan City, on Monday but 152 others chose to stay and face the demolition expected to take place Tuesday.

At around 8 a.m., residents began to dismantle their houses, which the San Juan City government claimed was illegally built on a government lot. They relocated to a settlement area in Rodriguez, Rizal, where houses and lots had been awarded to them.

Arnold Repique, president of the residents’ group Sandigang Maralita Nagkakaisa (Samana), said some 152 stayed behind to face the demolition teams anytime starting Tuesday.

“This is harassment by the local government and we won’t agree to be relocated,” Repique told the Inquirer.

Before dusk, tension arose between 30 deployed policemen armed with truncheons and shields and protesting residents.

The tension happened while former President Joseph Estrada with police escorts was in the area to convince the residents to move out peacefully.

A video footage taken by a resident’s mobile phone showed the irked Estrada confronting one of the illegal settlers. When a resident shouted “Oppose demolition” in Filipino while the former president was speaking, Estrada shouted, “Who are you, are you a resident?”

Jessa Jane Dulay, a Kabataan party-list member, said Estrada commanded the police to immediately arrest outsiders and remove their barricades.

“For a few minutes, shoving, pushing and shouting ensued,” Dulay said. Chief Insp. Melchor Rosales, chief of operations of the San Juan police claimed some of the residents hurled stones in the direction of Estrada’s car and the policemen.

The tension lasted for about 10 minutes without a casualty, Rosales said.

Those who opted to be relocated preferred to avoid the violent confrontation between protesters and the authorities.

Gerbelyn Subong, 23, whose husband has been earning his keep as a construction worker, was one of those who moved out.

“I chose to leave…It’s better to be sure for my kids,” Subong, a mother of a two-year-old child and a nine-month-old baby, said.

Apart from the barricades, Repique said they have prepared bottles, water containers with chili peppers, and human refuse to throw at the authorities if they were provoked.

Susana Ybona, 46, refused to heed the order of the San Juan city government to leave. “How can we live in a place without a livelihood? We have been here for three decades” Ybona said.

Ybona said she would not sleep through the night to hold a vigil and defend her house.

The demolition of houses built on the 1.6-hectare lot near Pinaglabanan Shrine in Barangay Corazon de Jesus will give way to the construction of a new San Juan City Hall and a government center.

The city government had repeatedly assured the affected residents, estimated at 2,000 families, of their relocation to settlement areas.