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Brief narrative |
Brutal eviction of 141 families in Manila, Philippines\r\n\r\nMetro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) personnel and armed police forcibly evicted 141 families (about 700 people) living under the South Superhighway Bridge in Manila and the San Andres Bridge 1 on the Osmena Highway, Paco, in late February this year.\r\n\r\nAccording to local civil society organisations, a demolition crew comprising of 200 MMDA personnel and armed police entered the community on 27 February without prior notice and forcibly evicted 54 families living under the San Andres Bridge. Community leaders who were in the nearby village centre attending a meeting, which had been called by government officials, rushed back to the community to request time to collect their personal belongings from the authorities. However, the authorities denied these requests and police fired shots in the air and began demolishing the houses. Many people, mostly women and children, were injured during the demolitions. Five men, including a village official (Barangay Captain), were severely beaten with crowbars and sticks by MMDA personnel.\r\n\r\nEarlier in the morning, the MMDA demolition crew destroyed the houses of 87 families living under the South Superhighway Bridge. Presently the evicted families are living along the Superhighway. \r\n\r\nDan Nicholson, the Coordinator of COHREï?½s Asia-Pacific Programme, said, ï?½COHRE reminds the Government of Philippines that Article 13, Section 10 of the Philippines Constitution explicitly provides that ï?½Urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwellings demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner.ï?½ Furthermore, Executive Order no 152, issued on December 10, 2002, instructs all government officials to secure a certificate of compliance from the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) to ensure that procedures for a just and humane demolition, as mandated by the Constitution and as set out in the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, are followed.ï?½\r\n\r\nPrior to the demolitions of 27 February, an official of the PCUP issued a letter saying that the MMDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways did not apply for and therefore did not have a certificate of compliance when they conducted the demolitions. Furthermore, the MMDA and Department of Public Works and Highways did not carry out adequate consultations with families on the matter of the eviction, nor did they provide adequate relocation to evictees.\r\n\r\nNicholson added, ï?½Given the Philippinesï?½ increasingly poor human rights reputation, both internationally and domestically, we call on the Government to halt all evictions immediately and take concrete steps to prevent any further housing rights violations.ï?½\r\n\r\nThe Government of the Philippines was the recipient of a 2006 COHRE Housing Rights Violator Award in December 2006, for the forced eviction and mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, and its blatant disregard for the human right to adequate housing. A recently released draft COHRE report, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights - Global Survey No. 10, reveals that the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project will be responsible for the forced eviction of approximately 400,000 people (80,000 families) ï?½ the largest planned displacement of people in the history of the Philippines.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.cohre.org/view_page.php?page_id=260 |
