The homes of 50 families were demolished on Wednesday to make way for a hospital parking lot in Sitio San Isidro, Brgy. Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City, the most recent in a pattern of railroaded demolitions made by authorities without sufficient consultation or legal basis.
Urban poor organization Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) reported in a statement that residents were kicked out of their homes without any prior warning by members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Housing Authority headed by the Quezon City Local Government Unit (LGU) Task Force Control on Prevention and Removal of Illegal Structures (COPRISS).
Despite not being able to present any legal document for the demolition, the residents including children, senior citizens, and pregnant women were forced to stay along Quezon Avenue, where they currently reside.
“Walang naging konsultasyon sa mga residente, walang nangyaring pre-demolition conference, walang alok na relokasyon o cash assistance. Bukod sa biglaan at ilegal na pag-demolish ng bahay ay pinagbantaan pa silang kasuhan kapag hindi pumayag na magpa-demolish,” Kadamay said.
Residents said the demolition was part of an effort to fast track the construction of a parking lot for the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, which is operated by the Department of Health. Demolitions to make way for government infrastructure projects are allowed under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
However, the law also mandates the LGU and the agencies implementing the demolition to hold consultations with residents and, more importantly, identify possible relocation sites. Task Force COPRISS skipped these processes and rushed the demolition, according to Kadamay.
This is not the first time that the Quezon City LGU has railroaded demolition efforts.
In November 2023, the city’s Local Housing Board (LHB) held pre-demolition consultations for the demolition of neighboring Sitio San Roque without including Kadamay and ignored the Community Development Plan made by the residents. San Roque residents have been resisting the demolition since Ayala Land Inc. bought the land in 2004.
Moreover, Sitio San Isidro residents have been relocated to areas such as Pandi and Norzagaray in Bulacan, and Morong, Rizal since 2010. Demolition jobs have since shrunk the sitio’s population from 1,700 to now just 700 households.
The pattern of urban poor evictions is not just isolated to Quezon City. Demolitions under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have sharply increased to 14,634 cases since the start of his term compared to 6,912 over the entirety of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, according to Karapatan’s 2023 year-end report on human rights abuses in the country.
Elsewhere in the country, demolitions have been prioritized for the benefit of either government projects or government-backed private infrastructure projects, such as in Cavite which has seen an increased number of fires in areas marred with demolitions and reclamation projects.
"Kadamay calls on the Filipino people to unite, resist, and hold the Quezon City LGU, the PNP, and the entire Marcos Jr. administration and its attached agencies accountable. The government should not be accomplices to the violation of rights that they themselves vow to protect," the organization said. ●
