QC court orders release of Kadamay members

FILE – KADAMAY banners in front of housing units occupied by its members at the Padre Pio de Pandi Resettlement Project, Barangay Cacarong Bata, Pandi, Bulacan.
INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

The detained members of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) were ordered released by a Quezon City court after posting bail on Wednesday.

But even with the temporary freedom, a bigger challenge already awaits the group once they leave their holding facility in Camp Karingal: They still have nowhere to go home to.

The Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 38 ordered the release of the 40 individuals currently at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), where they were temporarily held for 10 days.

They posted a cash bail of P7,000 each for charges of other forms of trespass and grave coercion.

Lawyer Kathy Panguban, legal counsel from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said the bail bond was initially at P14,000 each.

“But we filed a motion to reduce their bail on Monday because these people are members of the urban poor community,” she told the Inquirer.

“They are really indigent and that’s how they were involved in this case in the first place,” Panguban added.

With the motion granted, the bail was reduced to half, with the total bail posted at P320,000, the lawyer said.

Panguban said the money came as form of help from several organizations.

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, QCPD director, said they are now processing the release, as of press time.

Before the bail was posted, Eleazar had expressed willingness to allow the Kadamay members to stay for a couple more days at their holding facility at the District Public Safety Battalion, citing humanitarian reasons.

Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus and National Anti-Poverty Commission lead convenor Liza Maza had requested the police to let the detainees stay in Karingal while the bail was being processed, he added.

Last week, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo had also appealed for the immediate release of the 8 senior citizens who were also charged along with the group.

Gloria Arellano, Kadamay chair, said their group is glad to hear of the release, but is disappointed of the police’s “delaying tactics” in processing their members’ documents.

Eleazar, however, strongly denied the allegation.

On March 3, at least 60 people were arrested by the QC police at No. 14 Apollo Street in Barangay Tandang Sora for occupying a private property claimed by two businessmen.

Led by the urban poor group Kadamay which successfully occupied government housing projects in Bulacan province, the families sought reoccupation of the property after they faced threats from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

The government agency reportedly told them that their shanties built on the peripheries of the gated lot would be destroyed.

Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Ramoncito Ocampo Jr. found probable cause during the inquest proceedings to file charges against 41 people. Eleazar said a woman posted bail ahead of the group.

Even with the provisional liberty, the charges against the Kadamay members remained, Panguban said, with the arraignment set on May 8.

But Arellano said the same issue still lingered over the families.

“They still have nowhere to go home to,” she told the Inquirer.