Ideologies of Kadamay not the issue here, Ejercito tells Trillanes

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is just “creating more tension” by linking urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), Senator JV Ejericto said Monday.

Ejercito, chairman of the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement, said the ongoing probe should focus on how the government can provide basic services to the marginalized sector.

“With all due respect to my colleague, Sen. Trillanes, his comments will just create more tension than a peaceful resolution of what transpired in government housing projects located in Pandi, Bulacan,” Ejercito said in a text message.

“The ideologies of the Kadamay group is not the issue at hand,” he added.

Trillanes filed a resolution last week seeking an inquiry on Kadamay’s takeover of housing units in Pandi. Some of the units are intended for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Trillanes said Kadamay’s occupation of housing units “may mean the creation of sanctuaries for communist groups in Bulacan, which is strategically located near the National Capital Region.”

Trillanes, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, claimed he received information that some members of the Cabinet involved in the housing sector are linked to the CPP.

Those he mentioned are Cabinet Secretary and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chair Leoncio B. Evasco Jr., National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Marcelino P. Escalada Jr., and Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chairperson Terry L. Ridon.

According to Trillanes, Evasco was elected a CPP Central Committee member in the 8th Central Committee Plenum in Mt. Susung in Dalaga, Bicol.

He also said Ridon was elected a CPP Central Committee Member in the 13th Central Committee Plenum in Quezon City, while Escalada was reportedly a CPP full member.

Ejercito said the Senate should focus on addressing the concerns in the housing sector.

“Our immediate concern now is how to provide decent housing, basic services, access to livelihood, transportation, education and health facilities to the marginalized sector of our society,” he said.

Ejercito’s Senate committee is scheduled on Tuesday to conduct an ocular inspection on the housing sites occupied by Kadamay. — RSJ, GMA News