Pasig govt moves 500 families off floodway slum

The demolition of an informal settlement along Manggahan Floodway in Barangay Sta. Lucia, Pasig City, pushed through on Wednesday, as the local government started moving at least 500 families off a danger zone.

The police said the clearing operation, which is expected to take three days, started peacefully despite an earlier protest action that ended in violence.

On Aug. 31, residents organized by the urban poor group Kadamay barricaded a road leading to the site, sparking a clash with the police that left around 30 people wounded.

Each evicted family was given P20,000 in cash assistance and food kit from the city government, according to Nelia Vicente, community welfare officer of the National Housing Authority in Pasig.

At least P30,000 has been allotted for each family who will opt to go back to their home province.

At least 180 families had earlier agreed to be relocated to Tanay, Rizal province, Vicente added.

“They thought that if they won’t accept the P20,000, their house will not be demolished. That’s not true,” she said. “What’s good here is that they have homes that they can now call their own and they are safe, unlike on the floodway.”

Barangay Sta. Lucia chair Edwin Bunag said most of the residents had been residing in the flood-prone area for 30 years.

“We have been convincing them since 2013 to go and accept the relocation offer as it is really dangerous there. Some reluctant since they were making money by renting out their houses,” he said.

Vicente said the informal settlers had three options for relocation: the E-Shine site in Tanay, Rizal, where they can pay for new houses at P250 a month; a five-story condo building within Barangay Sta. Lucia, near the demolished area; and the Eusebio-Bliss medium-rise building in Barangay Maybunga.

The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), however, aired its objection to the “forced relocation” of the residents.

In a statement, NAPC lead convenor and activist Liza Maza said it was carried out in disregard of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA).

The law, she said, states that a demolition can proceed only with “due cause” and when an “appropriate relocation acceptable to the parties involved has been provided.”

“The poor are not garbage that can be thrown to hell-like places andwasted just like trash,” Maza said. “They have rights and deserve more protection (compared to) other citizens because they lack vital resources and can only bank on basic decency and the law to protect themselves.”

She also disputed the city government’s assertion that the affected families were facing danger, noting that they had been living there for decades.

Maza also accused the city government of ordering the removal of the residents to “facilitate the construction of favored projects” that will benefit “elite interests.” –With a report from Jaymee T. Gamil