Members of urban poor group fail to occupy Bustos housing site

“It took a very long time to negotiate with these families,” Bustos Mayor Arnel Mendoza said, referring to the Kadamay members who tried to occupy Bustos Heights. (Photo from his Facebook page)

CITY OF MALOLOS — About 700 people belonging to the militant urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) tried but failed to occupy a low-cost housing site in Bustos town in Bulacan province on Friday.

Policemen, villagers, and security guards of the Bustos Heights housing project drove back Kadamay families following a 7-hour stand-off from 7:30 p.m. on Friday to 2:30 a.m on Saturday.

“It took a very long time to negotiate with these families,” Bustos Mayor Arnel Mendoza said. “I tried very hard to explain to them that the houses they wanted to take were intended for residents and those living near creeks in Bustos. They refused to budge so I kept repeating that until they finally relented and left.”

Kadamay first tried to occupy 877 houses in Bustos Heights in Barangay Bonga Mayor on March 19.

These houses are intended for military troopers, police officers, firefighters, and jail personnel.

On March 8, 5,000 people identified with Kadamay broke into idle and still to be completed housing units in six resettlement sites in Pandi town.

Many of them were handed eviction notices by teams deployed by the National Housing Authority (NHA), which oversees five of the six housing projects that had been occupied.

The notices gave the families seven days to voluntarily leave, starting March 27.

Chief Insp. Victor Bernabe, Bustos police chief, said the Kadamay members who tried to occupy Bustos Heights were also among those who took over the houses at Pandi Village 2 and Pandi Residences 3 in Pandi.

Pandi Village 2 was developed by the Atlantica Realty and Development Corp., which retains control of the housing project until it has been turned over to the NHA.

Bernabe said the Kadamay members alighted from 30 jeepneys at Barangay Tibagan in Bustos and hiked 3 kilometers to reach Bustos Heights. When the police advised them to leave, the Kadamay members said the jeepneys had already left them.

Mendoza said the negotiations were peaceful, denying allegations that the Kadamay members were violently dispersed.

Annalyn Guirhem, leader of the Kadamay group that tried to enter Bustos Heights, said they had to move to another housing site because they had been sharing illegally occupied units with other families in Pandi.

Atlantica had deployed work crews to Pandi Village 2 to complete the drainage system now that families who occupied 900 units had been using the toilets there.

But the workers were driven away by the families, who said they were sent there to prepare for their eviction, according to Edward Gabriel, Atlantica security head. /atm