Probe of Kadamay’s takeover sought

Sen. Antonio Trillanes INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV wants a Senate inquiry into the illegal takeover of government housing projects in Bulacan province by an organized group of land grabbers, which he insists is a front organization of communists.

In a statement, Trillanes said he had filed Senate Resolution No. 345 that also sought to look into the national security implications of the occupation of these houses built for the police and the military by the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay).

Sought for comment, Trillanes underscored the need for an inquiry, especially since some Cabinet officials on top of government housing were alleged members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The senator sought the inquiry even as the Senate and House agreed last week to file a joint resolution allowing the National Housing Authority (NHA) to reaward the government houses to certain sectors, including the informal sector such as Kadamay.

The joint Congressional resolution allowing the reawarding of the houses was in keeping with President Duterte’s wish to turn them over to the urban poor families who forcibly occupied them last March. The President in turn had promised to build better homes for the police and military.

Sen. JV Ejercito is leading a Senate probe into the Kadamay issue and is set to conduct, along with some legislators, an ocular inspection of the houses occupied by Kadamay in Pandi town and San Del Monte City in Bulacan on Tuesday.

Trillanes said the illegal occupation of these houses were “deliberate” and “orchestrated” and part of the CPP plan to “consolidate and expand.”

He said another militant group identified with the CPP had barricaded another government housing project in Montalban, Rizal.

Asked what could be the motive of communist front organizations to occupy government land, Trillanes said they could be probably “testing the waters for insurrection.”

In his resolution, Trillanes said that he had received information that Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., NHA general manager Marcelino Escalada Jr. and Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chair Terry Ridon were involved in the CCP.

Evasco is allegedly a member of the CPP, and was elected CPP Central Committee member in the 8th Central Committee Plenum (1981) in Mt. Susung Daraga, Bicol province.

Escalada is reportedly a full CPP member while Ridon was allegedly elected CPP Central Committee member in the 13th Central Committee Plenum (2012) in Quezon City.

“If said reports are true, the wholesale takeover of several communities by Kadamay may mean the creation of sanctuaries for communist groups in Bulacan, which is strategically located near the National Capital Region,” Trillanes said.

“We need to enact a remedial legislation to ensure that use of force and violence is not resorted to in the future by groups seeking housing assistance from the government,” he said.