Bets from Caloocan seek Kadamay votes in Bulacan

Kadamay members watch over their children as they gather in one of the housing units they occupied in Pandi town, Bulacan province. —EDWIN BACASMAS

PANDI, Bulacan — Candidates from Caloocan City traveled 50 kilometers to this town to woo votes from members of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) who forcibly occupied hundreds of low-cost houses here in 2017 and are still registered voters in their original towns and cities.

On Sunday, four Caloocan candidates for kagawad (village council) in Barangay 8 took a two-hour drive to Pandi Heights 1 (BFP Housing site) in Barangay Cacarong Matanda to campaign.

Last month, some of them also went to the housing sites now occupied by Kadamay and conducted medical missions, including distributing nebulizers and blood pressure kits.

Water pumps

Residents of the housing sites here were also visited by candidates from the Bulacan towns of Guiguinto, Bocaue and Sta. Maria.

Some of these candidates were from the villages of Bunsuran 1st, Bunsuran 2nd, Pinagkuwartelan, Cacarong Matanda and Cacarong Bata here.

Some of them brought water pumps to houses still not connected to the local water system, said Lea Maralit, Kadamay Bulacan spokesperson. She said many members could not vote in Pandi on May 14 because they were not considered permanent residents yet.

Barangay Mapulang Lupa chair, Leonardo de Leon, said none of the Kadamay members had been issued an identification card or gate pass on orders of the National Housing Authority (NHA).

Mapulang Lupa is host to NHA housing projects like Pandi Residence 1, Pandi Village 2 and Pandi Residence 3 here, which were put up for urban poor families displaced from Metro Manila and Bulacan.

Original beneficiaries

Many families at Pandi Residence 1 are original beneficiaries who were awarded houses in 2016.

Kadamay families took 500 units in Pandi Residence 3 and 600 units in Pandi Village 2, De Leon said.

Ronald Sta. Ana, barangay captain of Cacarong Bata, said 15 Kadamay members, who were village residents before they joined the takeover in March 2017, could vote in the May 14 elections.

The situation was the same for some Kadamay members who occupied the Villa Louise housing project at Barangay Siling Bata and Villa Elise project at Barangay Masuso.

Edna Gener, Pandi town election officer, said no Kadamay member had registered as transfer voter.

Of 8,000 Kadamay members who joined the takeover, only about 20 percent came from Metro Manila. The rest were displaced from danger zones in Bulacan, Maralit said. —Carmela Reyes-Estrope