The onsite relocation of informal settler families (ISF) from Pook Arboretum and Pook Marilag is a step closer to implementation, following the UP Board of Regents’ approval of the draft agreement between the university and the Quezon City government on April 26.
The proposed usufruct agreement will allow the city government to use Pook Arboretum and Pook Marilag—totaling 48,501 square meters, which is almost as large as two Sunken Gardens—as temporary relocation sites (TRS) over a 25-year period. Quezon City will then transfer ISFs from those areas to housing units it will build on the TRS. The contract is awaiting final approval from both parties.
Within UP’s rainforest across Commonwealth Avenue is Pook Arboretum. Though it is only a small area of residents without land titles, it is a community nonetheless. (Luisa Elago/Philippine Collegian)
Though the residents were told before that they would be relocated eventually, the details of this current contract have not yet been coursed through them. They can only, for now, hold onto past commitments made by the UP administration.
“Ang pinaglalaban namin sa UP, onsite relocation. Ang sinabi naman ng [dating UP] president noon, ‘Hangga't nandiyan kayo, pwede kayong tumira diyan. Hangga't nandiyan kayo, diyan muna kayo,’” said Salvacion Tuboro from MAGKAISA Pook Arboretum, a group of residents from the area.
Conditions
Tuboro has lived at Pook Arboretum for nearly 40 years with her husband—who was a UP employee before retirement—and four children. Like all other households at Pook Arboretum, her family does not hold a land title, but this has not stopped them from forming a community.
Tuboro, like other residents, maintains close ties with the UP community, from the administrative to the student level. Residents welcome visitors from UP with open arms. (Luisa Elago/Philippine Collegian)
Residents here are engaged, Tuboro said, with some volunteering as barangay public safety officers and some tending to their own urban gardens.
But these lives could be uprooted upon relocation, especially if done without proper consultation of the residents. Tuboro recalled that one of the last conversations they had about the relocation was when Gerardo Lanuza, the former UP Diliman Office of Community Relations director, asked for assistance to ascertain the number of affected residents.
Without further dialogue with the residents, details like the size and fee of the housing units could fall short of what the residents themselves need and can afford.
“Sana naman wag hingian ng mga bayad yung mga ililipat sa relocation na pabahay. Syempre, nakikita ko naman dito sa amin na, as in, walang wala naman ang estado ng karamihan. Kung may bayad man, wag sana malaki,” said Tuboro.
At the mouth of Arboretum Block 5, an area was finally cemented to allow for a basketball court and stage area. The community is most alive in these spaces, especially with the hot climates as of recent. (Luisa Elago/Philippine Collegian)
The draft agreement does not yet specify a rental fee, if any, for the housing units to be relocated to. The only details written are that each unit must have 28 square meters of living space and must be connected to water and electricity lines and sewage collection points.
But these housing units are still temporary, as the draft agreement states that the TRS must be free of ISFs upon the expiration or termination of the usufruct agreement. Barring any further agreement between UP and city hall after the 25-year period expires, the residents will likely have to be relocated again.
Complications
For Pook Marilag residents, the idea of another relocation upon another has become rather undesirable.
Lanie Pasco and her family of six, like other residents, were displaced from the fire that razed Villages A and C in March 2022. They were then temporarily relocated to transition housing units (THU) in Marilag, without rent or payment. But over a year into her residence, she no longer wishes to transfer again.
“Palipat-lipat, ang hirap sobra. Noong lumipat kami dito, kami na ang naglinis sa loob, nag-design, nagpintura, nagpakisame. Kung ililipat na naman kami doon, edi [gastusin] na naman. At sa maliit na sweldo ng empleyado, mababaon lang ulit sa utang,” Pasco said.
As opposed to the THU, residents were told that they would have to pay a rental fee upon their relocation. But the specific costs remain unknown as, like Arboretum residents, Marilag residents have not yet been consulted on the details of the relocation.
The uncertainty of another relocation has left Pasco and other residents wary. Instead of another transfer, they only ask that their water and electricity be sorted out, so they can have individual meters to bring down costs.
Concerns regarding fees, housing requirements, and whether they even want to be relocated cannot be forwarded to UP or the city government without initiative from officials to even talk to the residents. But residents stay firm on their right to protect their own communities.
“Ang sabi sa amin noon, ‘Matagal na kayo diyan. Ipaglaban ninyo ang mga paninirahan niyo diyan.’ … Kaya sana onsite kami at kung may bayad man, wag sanang malaki,” said Tuboro. ●
