Filtered By: Topstories
News

29 hurt, 9 arrested in clashes at Quezon City demolition


Around seven hours of sporadic clashes between the Quezon City police and illegal settlers on Agham Road on Monday left 29 individuals hurt and nine others in police custody.
 
The police threw tear gas at the mass of illegal settlers and members of militants groups. This was answered with soda bottles, rocks, "pillboxes", and feces.
 
The demolition team started in front of the Office of the Ombudsman around 9 a.m. At around 3 p.m., the police were able to advance to Veterans Memorial Medical Center, breaking a barricade set up by the illegal settlers.
 
Around 250 families in Sitio San Roque were affected by the demolition of their houses, a report on GMA’s “24 Oras” aired Monday evening said.

The demolition team from Quezon City Hall dismantled houses within 11.3 meters from the side of the road, the report said. The city government intends to use the space to widen the road.
 
Around 23 people from the militant groups and illegal settlers were hurt, while three policemen and three members of the demolition group were injured in the clashes.
 
The police also arrested nine people for allegedly throwing bottles, pillboxes, and "human bombs."
 
The demolition in Sitio San Roque will continue until Friday, the television report said.
 
According to Voltaire Alcantara, team leader of the demolition group, the illegal settlers have been told to leave their homes since last year.
 
However, residents denied this claim. In an interview with GMA News TV’s “Quick Response Team,” Romeo Bandiola, resident at Sitio San Roque, said: “Wala po silang abiso. Lapsed na po ‘yung sinasabi nilang notice na binigay noong November pa po ‘yan.”
 
“Hindi kami aalis kahit anong mangyari...lalaban kami dahil karapatan namin ‘yan,” he noted.
 
The residents also complained that no representative from the Commission on Human Rights was present to monitor the demolition.
 
The television report noted that some residents opted to dismantle their own houses. They have been brought to a relocation site in San Mateo, Rizal.
 

In 2010, homes in Sitio San Roque were also demolished to make way for the Quezon City Central Business District. However, some of the shanties remained there for the next few years.
 
Last year, a riot also broke out after the police tried to demolish more shanties along Agham Road.

The city government plans to turn Sitio San Roque into mixed-use commercial and residential areas for Triangle Park, the new Quezon City central business district called Triangle Park. 
 
"Pure brazen violence"

Kabataan party-list Representative Terry Ridon condemned the "violence and wanton disrespect for basic human rights" in the demolition, which he said was done on the strength of a demolition order that expired last year.

“No demolition order. No dialogues. Just pure brazen violence. And the police even nabbed the already harassed residents. This is impunity, this is injustice in its rawest and steeliest form,” he said in an e-mailed statement.
 
Meanwhile, activist youth group Anakbayan said it will hold a vigil in front of Camp Karingal, the headquarters of the Quezon City Police District, on Monday night to demand the release of those arrested during the demolition.
 
“The group also denounces the violence and illegality of the demolition, and demands an immediate halt to any and all related operations in the said community,” it said in an email statement.
 
In a separate statement, the group claimed that those arrested were “actually assisting children and even toddlers who were affected by the indiscriminate use of tear gas by elements of the PNP.” — Rouchelle R. Dinglasan/JDS, GMA News
LOADING CONTENT