To give way to the government's so-called development, they have to clear areas which they consider as an eyesore. According to National Housing Authority's 2007 data, there are around 544,609 informal settlers' households in the National Capital Region and thousands more are undocumented in the region and all over the Philippines. As a result of these "development projects", hundreds of thousands of families are displaced and some are thrown to evacuation or relocation sites far from their livelihood, their children's schools and without basic social services like water, electricity and health facilities.
The government uses different tactics to force the residents of communities to leave their homes. In some areas where there are no resistance, they deceive the poor by offering them small amounts of money in exchange for "voluntary" eviction. Some communities are allegedly burned down and not let the affected residents come back to rebuild their burned houses. Meanwhile, in some communities where there are strong resistance like in
Corazon de Jesus, San Juan, the demolition always ends up violently.
In Kadiwa, the community behind the San Roque Elementary School in Brgy. San Roque, Navotas City, a
fire hit the community last January 29, 2011 which killed 12 residents, including 5 children and 2 elderly. The residents were surprised when, not merely a month has passed since the fire, a demolition team arrived and started to clear their burnt homes.
According to the Office of the City Engineering of Navotas, they are not demolishing the community but they are only clearing the area to flatten it because the structures have become dangerous due to the fire.They are also planning to build a high-rise building where the residents of the community can live. And while the building is under construction, the local government will provide tents for the displaced residents where they can live temporarily. But asked about how the displaced families can be assured that they will be able to live in the planned building, there's no direct answer.
Yesterday, after the failed attempt of the demolition team to completely tear down the remaining houses at the entrance of the community, the residents decided not to give up the fight--strengthen their organization to further consolidate themselves and exhaust every avenues to stop the demolition and allow the displaced families to rebuild their homes.
Here are some of my shots in the community.
