Residents of Maysapang in Brgy. Ususan, Taguig City boycotted the pre-demolition conference held in their community earlier today, November 10.
Present in the conference were representatives from RII-Builders and MGS Consortium, the management company who uses the services of Jericko Security Agency that the residents have reportedly experienced a series of harassment and threats.
Nagkakaisang Residente ng Maysapang Homeowners Association Inc (NRMHAOI) said that the residents have long been demanding for a dialogue on the threats of demolition and eviction, but was constantly ignored by the said management.
Now with the PDC, the management along with its security personnel and police forces sought for cooperation with the residents.
The residents decried how their attendance in the PDC would be deemed a “consultation” with the residents and part of the completion of requirements to legalize the demolition in their community despite their protest. Such cases, they said, have happened in other urban poor communities in Metro Manila that were demolished.
“Sa loob ng anim na taon, wala kayong naging tugon sa aming mga panawagan tapos sasabihin niyo ngayon dito sa amin na makipagcooperate kami, at pipiliting pumayag sa programang kayo lang ang nagdesisyon?” said NRMHAOI president Girly Caduco.
[In 6 years, you ignored our demands and now you tell us to cooperate and force us to agree to a program you decided?]
The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor requires a pre-demolition conference certificate before a demolition or eviction can take place.
Under Republic Act 7279 or Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 requires consultation or participation of “program beneficiaries” or the affected residents “to be heard and to participate in the decision-making process over matters involving the protection and promotion of their legitimate collective interests.”
The homeowner’s association has appealed for a demolition moratorium while the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions imposed by the government are still being suffered by the people, yet there have been several demolition threats in the past year.
Threats of land-grabbing, eviction, demolition, alongside the series of harassment and physical violence were endured by the residents of Maysapang since 2015.
More than 550 families residing in Maysapang, including homeowners, tenants, and sharers, would be affected by the planned demolition.
On October 22, there were 10 to 15 guards from Jericko that roamed the streets of Maysapang. This was followed with the arrival of three backhoes and pick-up trucks the residents feared to have been included in the demolition forces.
“Kapag naipapasok ninyo iyan dito, maaaring gamitin niyo iyan laban sa amin,” Caduco said.
[If they will be able to bring the equipment, they might use that against us.]
Simultaneous with the PDC, residents lit candles and held a silent protest against the plans to remove them from their community and for the government and corporate interests to recognize their rights.
According to NRMHAOI, several residents have been occupying the area for more than three decades just before Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) claimed and developed the land for expansion.
Section 10, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution provides that “urban and rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwellings demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner.”
UDHA, meanwhile, stresses that eviction or demolition as a practice shall be discouraged and certain requirements must first be complied.
In November 2013, the management of R-II Builders and MGS Consortium won the lease sales via bidding as conducted by BCDA which included the 5.2 hectares of Brgy. Ususan in Taguig. Of the 5.2 hectares, a land parcel of 2.2 hectares lived the residents of Maysapang.
R-II Builders is a construction firm company owned by Reghis Romero, who also owns the Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc. in Manila.
