MMDA says no let-up in crackdown against ‘squatters’

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Tuesday said there will be no let-up in its campaign to clear the C-5 road in Makati of “informal settlements." MMDA demolition crew, accompanied by anti-riot police, demolished more than a hundred shanties encroaching into the highway as early as 8 a.m. on Tuesday, prompting residents to march to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) office to seek help. CHR Chairperson Leila De Lima in Quezon City, who met with the evicted residents on Tuesday, expressed concern over the MMDA’s campaign and promised to ask for a moratorium on any further demolitions in Metro Manila. De Lima, along with urban poor groups and some lawyers have criticized MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando and his men for the “harsh dispersal" of vendors and informal settlers. Roberto Esquivel, director of the MMDA Sidewalk Clearing Operations, denied charges that the demolition was arbitrary. He said the residents, most of whom are informal settlers or “squatters" living along Kalayaan in barangay East Rembo, were given enough time to pack their belongings and abandon the illegal settlement. “We have given them enough time to leave the area which they are illegally occupying. Actually this is the second time that we have to do this," Esquivel said. He said the MMDA will construct a transport terminal in the area to accommodate public utility jeepneys plying the Taguig-Makati route. Esquivel explained that most of the residents have followed the MMDA’s appeal but there are others who refuse to budge. But the affected residents voiced their anger at Fernando who they said has no heart for poor residents. Another said they were not given resettlement sites, forcing them to make do with squatting. But Fernando vowed to get tough with informal settlers saying that the MMDA has already set in motions plan to remove the 75, 000 squatter families in Metro Manila in coordination with local government units and the National Housing Authority. - GMANews.TV