CHR vows to investigate violent R-10 Navotas demolition

** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE *** NEWS RELEASE **

CHR vows to investigate violent R-10 Navotas demolition

25 February 2010. Chairperson Leila de Lima of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) yesterday vowed to investigate a violent demolition along the R-10 road in Navotas, involving some personnel of the local government, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Navotas Engineering Office, Navotas Police and Navotas Fire Station.

Chairperson de Lima said she will subpoena those who were involved particularly the Navotas policemen who beat up poor women old enough to be their grandmothers.

Women and children wouldn’t disperse from a human barricade they had formed on Jan. 20 to protect their homes against actions of the DPWH which they believed were illegal. They live on land designated for the widening of R-10 road that runs along Manila Bay.

Some of the sixteen women beaten by police sought the protection of CHR during a hearing yesterday. They presented pictures showing their wounds, bandaged toes and the lesions on their arms sustained from the shields and clubs used against them. The women were also water cannoned from a distance of a few feet.

The use of water cannons is illegal in such evictions, according to lawyer Ritche Esponilla of Urban Poor Associates (UPA). Esponilla helped the women in filing a joint affidavit at the CHR right after the forced eviction.

“The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) itself wrote a letter of concern saying the Certificate of Compliance (COC) issued by the Navotas Local Housing Board to DPWH is not in accordance with the law,” Esponilla pointed out.

“The demolition is illegal because they went ahead with another questionable way to plan the eviction. Instead of relocation, the DPWH offered P21,000 to families to move, an alternative not mentioned in Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992,” Esponilla added.

Esponilla and leaders of Samahang Pinagbuklod ng Pagkakaisa (SAPIPA) went to the Supreme Court on Jan. 15 to file a very urgent motion for early resolution of petition with reiterative prayer for the issuance of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order (TRO). Petitioners filed their petition on April 16, 2008. The High Court gave due course to the said petition although it did not issue the injunction or TRO sought for. The instant petition had not been resolve yet.

The residents agree to move and they qualify for the relocation, according to Task Force Anti Eviction, an eviction watchdog composed of community organizations and NGOs such as UPA, Community Organization for the Philippine Enterprise (COPE), and Community Organizers Multiversity (COM). “In fact R-10 Navotas is listed as among the 11 priority areas for Montalban relocation which is certified by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC),” the group said

“We are not against development. We were just protecting our homes and our rights as human beings. They don’t have to use shields, truncheons and water cannons against women and children,” said Prescilda Juanich, leader of SAPIPA.

Chairperson de Lima told her lawyers to write letters inviting those who were involved in the demolition, including Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco to justify their actions. “Why do they have to inflict injuries? There should be a cease and desist order pending the investigation,” de Lima said. -30-

Speech delivered by Atty Leila de Lima, CHR Chairperson, on the Forum on Right to Adequate Housing (March 10, 2009)

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Speech on the occasion of the Shadow Report on the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Quezon City, Philippines
10 March 2009

delivered by
LEILA M. DE LIMA
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines


Good morning.

The opportunity for the Commission on Human Rights to appear before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights November of last year is what we hope to look back upon as the seminal moment in our common quest to promote and protect housing rights in the context of the State's international obligations under the UNCESR. There had never been another National Human Rights Commission invited to speak before the Committee. To be the first, I had been told, places the efforts of the Philippine human rights community on the struggle to uphold housing-related rights within the consciousness of the members of the Committee.

To be invited bears two contrasting distinctions. First, our country as one among many with severely impaired housing rights. To be invited lends to the idea that we share in the ignominious reputation of being a country that struggles to deliver to our people the right to adequate housing and security of tenure. Yet, the second distinction reveals that the Committee has recognized and taken up a fascination with the efforts of the CHR and the local human rights community in the field of housing-related rights. Their interest in the progress of the promotion and protection of these rights is a prelude that no other country investigated by the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing ever had – an initial audience with the Committee. It seems that we have gained not only a notoriety for our government’s inadequacies in promoting these rights on one hand, but a reputation as well of having strong civic consciousness in overcoming these inadequacies on the other hand.

OMNIBUS RESOLUTION
During our audience with the Committee, we had had the opportunity to report on the major advances made over the recent months since the start of the Fourth Commission. The CHR November 6, 2008 Omnibus Resolution calling for a moratorium on forced evictions and demolitions was presented to the Committee remains our hopeful first step in the field of adequate housing. The report on the Resolution elicited much praise from some members of the Committee and stood as an assurance that the human rights community of the Philippines has not wilted by the wayside despite the weaknesses of our institutions.

Perhaps to our international partners, the Omnibus Resolution in itself would have been monumental in itself, considering that in the context of developed nations, such an issuance would have the coercive force necessary to secure the right to adequate housing. The strength of government institutions, however, is the normal pre-requisite to the effectiveness of such an issuance. Before all of us present here today, there is no illusion however. The call for a moratorium is only a spectre, until the local governments draft guidelines governing the conduct of forced evictions and demolitions. Such guidelines must be within the parameters set by statute, particularly the Urban Housing and Development Act (UDHA). Without the appropriate, corresponding action from the local governments, we will continue to object to future forced evictions or illegal demolitions, just as we always have.

Yet, continually objecting to forced evictions and demolitions is not the progress we seek. We have been moored to this for several years now. A careful reading of the Omnibus Resolution reveals that the goal is not to secure a blanket moratorium. Preventing demolitions is not the end-goal of protecting and promoting the right to housing. To stop at a moratorium is to settle for the less-than-dignified conditions that many of the poor live in. The moratorium itself is only an intermediate step. What remains significantly more important is to secure the commitment of both local governments and the national government to abide by the pre-requisites to valid evictions – namely, the duty to conduct a census of all beneficiaries of a low-cost housing program, to allocate land for the purpose of relocation, to devise affordable means for the poor to obtain security over the land allotted to them, and to provide the necessary infrastructure to relocation sites making them habitable, among other duties.

The recent efforts of certain local governments to abide by the Omnibus Resolution by way of local ordinances reveals the shortfall of our institutions. To enforce the moratorium without defining a concrete timetable for the local governments to fulfill their subsequent duties on housing defeats the purpose of the law and the Omnibus Resolution. We must now center our efforts on this shortfall. We cannot accept a moratorium that only perpetuates the decrepit conditions of urban poor settlements. It must be a moratorium with the end goal of decent and habitable housing in mind.

INVITATION OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
One of the next logical steps to be taken in relation to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is the invitation of National Government to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. We had seen the effect of the issuance of the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary and Summary Killings and Executions. The stinging report of Professor Philip Alston had led to the mobilization of all concerned components of the Government bureaucracy and has made a heavy impact on the threat of Extralegal Killings and Enforced Disappearances. The success, however, of this mobilization is the subject of another lengthy reflection, which I will not discuss here today.

Needless to say, to continue to engage the international community on the issue of adequate housing is one of the surest methods by which we can force government compliance. The monstrous task of relocating millions of urban poor in Metro Manila alone requires more than just a hopeful prayer that the State will come around and make housing and the security of tenure a priority. We must continue to generate enormous pressure on government that is equal to the enormity of the housing challenges we face. One of our strongest allies in human rights protection is the international community.

At the moment, the visit by the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing cannot materialize without the action of the President and the Department of Foreign Affairs. This is where we must now place another set of cross-hairs. All our efforts to generate support from the local governments and Congress will be served by the force-multiplier that the international community can bring to the table. We have the attention of the Committee. Now is the time for the Committee to have the attention of our National Government.

MMIAC
The creation of the MMIAC by executive order is a shocking development. Not that our goals for adequate housing will be undone by the MMIAC, but that it is extraordinarily belated in its creation, as if to imply that since the passage of the UDHA, or even the creation of the PCUP, the idea that a massive, complex coordination of various agencies and stakeholders had only occurred to us only now. We had always known this. The previous inter-agency collaboration had always been at the heels of evictions and demolitions. However, the critical issue of relocation had always been an afterthought to actual demolitions.

There are, as many of you are well-aware of, grave errors in the formulation of the MMIAC, especially with the primary agency responsible for demolitions sitting as the chair. This is to insinuate that the primary function of the MMIAC is eviction and demolition and not housing. That is why in a letter to the Office of the President, dated 22 December 2008, the CHR expressed objection to the choice of MMDA as the Council’s Chair.

It cannot be underscored enough - adequate allocation of housing is the mandatory pre-requisite of eviction. Adequate housing must supersede eviction. Adequate housing must be the end goal of a temporary moratorium on evictions. While moratorium on demolitions without efforts to provide housing is an empty exercise, demolition without provisions for housing is a blatant violation of law.

This echoes the concern of the Committee that more families are evicted than families who are granted relocation. It has become apparent that our capacity to evict has surpassed our capacity to provide housing. What then should be the primary task of the MMIAC? It is to equitably balance the duty to evict with the duty to provide housing.

The restlessness within the MMIAC should not dissuade us from our participation. We need the cooperation of everyone in this complex task of providing adequte housing for everyone.

PROPOSED CHR CHARTER
The concern of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the vague status of enforceability of housing-related rights will be met by the pending draft bill on the CHR Charter. I invite all of you to share in the excitement we, at the CHR, feel with the looming passage of the charter.

Among the crucial provisions embodied by the proposed charter is the expanded power of the CHR to investigate possible violations of economic, social and cultural rights. Now, by itself, this does not add anything to the scope of investigations covered by the CHR, as we already investigate evictions and forced demolitions. But certainly it adds statutory basis for our investigations.

More importantly, however, is the repercussions that it may have on the justiciability of rights embodied in the UNCESCR. In addition to the expanded power of the CHR to investigate violations of these kinds of rights, Congress is currently ironing out provisions that will give more teeth to the CHR through the grant of certain quasi-judicial powers in aid of the Commission’s investigative mandate. Express and well-defined powers, such as issuance of cease and desist orders and mandatory powers will come a long way in affording concrete remedies to ESCR violations as forced evictions or illegal demolitions. If all goes well, and the possible conflicts with existing laws and jurisdictions resolved, then the justiciability of the Covenant will be without question.

The slow progress or development of jurisprudence on these rights has placed a long shadow over efforts on protection and enforceability of housing-related rights. With an express grant to CHR of expanded powers to investigative not only violations of civil and political rights but ESCR violations, with concomitant auxiliary powers to effectively discharge such mandate, the tipping point is nearing, and a drastic change is coming. The significance of this development, I can barely convey in words.

POSTSCRIPT
No one will disagree that the situation of the urban poor has barely moved forward over the years since the implementation of the UDHA. However, while compliance with statute and the Covenant has been intermittent at best, there is good reason to believe that all our efforts, especially the efforts of civil society involved in the upliftment of informal settlers, are paying off. We have set the stage for our success. While it remains a daunting task to compel the government to consistently implement housing policy, the tools available are known to us.

Against the backdrop of the coming 2010 elections, we can further create an impetus for prospective elective officials to seriously undertake the promise of the UDHA and the UNCESCR. By far, the largest voting bloc in urban areas are the very people who have the largest stake in adequate housing. It is up to all of us to ensure that part of the campaign to push housing reforms includes informing the stakeholders, the communities of informal settlers, that moratorium on evictions is not enough. We must educate communities – to teach them about their right not just to the shanty-dwellings they occupy, but their right to decent, hygienic, habitable, structurally-sound homes. We must teach our clientele that there is no long-term protection in voting for officials who promise not to evict, but impliedly never promise to provide decent shelter either. There is no security in having no title. There is no opportunity to access to substantial wealth without collateral. There is no place to raise a family without a home.

Indeed there is so much to be done – by those present here today, the organizations we represent, by the government and the agencies concerned, and most importantly, much can still be done by the informal settlers themselves to further our cause. Let us not waver now because as many of you have suspected, we are making our mark and we are making progress. Foreign partners have noticed. Media has noticed. The public at large is aware. All it takes is our patient resolve.

Thank you.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Forum on Right to Adequate Housing

Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

MEDIA ADVISORY

Forum on Right to Adequate Housing

It is our distinct honor to invite you to attend a forum on the Shadow Report on Housing Rights sent to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UNCESCR) and the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the compliance of the Philippine government on the right to adequate housing.

Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Atty. Leila de Lima will be one of the main speakers. During the morning session, Chairperson de Lima will share her reflections on the Shadow Report process and the UN’s remarks.

Other resource persons are coming from NGOs such as Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SALIGAN), John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (JJCICSI), Foundation for the Development of the Urban Poor (FDUP) and Urban Poor Associates (UPA).

The speakers will share their thoughts on the Shadow Report; Legal Issues; Overview of the Housing Situation; Housing Finance and the Community Mortgage Program; Evictions; Relocation and Proclamations; and the Concluding Remarks made by the UNCESCR.

The forum will be held tomorrow, March 10 (Tuesday), at the Audio Visual Room of the Social Development Complex, Ateneo de Manila University. It will begin at 9:00 AM and end at 3:30 PM. A modest lunch will be served.

Various government agencies, people’s organizations and civil society groups are invited to attend the forum. We hope to see you there.


Date: March 10, 2008 (Tuesday) / 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM

Venue: Audio Visual Room, Social Development Complex, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City

Speech delivered by Chairperson Leila M. de Lima of Commission on Human Rights (CHR) upon receiving the "Urban Poor Person of the Year Award"

THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PHILIPPINES

on the Occasion Organized by the Urban Poor Associates

Palma Hall, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
19 December 2008

delivered by
LEILA M. DE LIMA
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines



Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat.
In the past six months, we have gained so much ground in our fight to promote the right to an adequate standard of living and more specifically, the right to adequate housing. All the efforts of the Urban Poor Associates had paved the way for various forums and dialogues, where we have gotten the attention of the personalities who can most efficiently enact the changes that we need in relation to housing and forced evictions.

Patapos na ang binubuong draft amendments ng Urban Development and Housing Act, ayon kay Senador Noynoy Aquino. Pinag-aaralan na ng Korte Suprema ang aplikasyon ng Writ of Amparo sa mga kasong sangkot ang economic, social and cultural rights, pati na rin ang mga kaso ng iligal na demolisyon. Ipinahayag na ng Komisyon noong ika-6 ng Nobyembre ng taong ito sa Omnibus Resolution on Forced Evictions and Demolitions ang panawagan na pansamantalang itigil ang lahat ng demolisyon habang hindi pa nakabubuo ng panibagong patnubay mula sa Metro Manila Council sa pamamalakad ng sapilitang ebiksyon. Kamakailan lang, ipinarating ng Komisyon ang Omnibus Resolution sa United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at lubhang sinusuportahan ng pandaigdigang komunidad ang mga hakbang itinutupad natin para sa karapatan ng mga maralitang nananahanan.

Maraming salamat sa karangalang handog ninyo para sa akin at sa Komisyon. Ngunit naayon lang na palakpakan din natin ang ating mga dakilang bayani sa Urban Poor Associates, na pinangungunahan ni Mr. Denis Murphy. Palakpakan din natin ang ating mga sarili, ang mga komunidad na ipinaglalaban ang kanilang mga karapatan sa pamamagitan ng pagbubuklod at hindi sa paraan ng dahas. Ang karangalang ito ay para sa ating lahat.

Hindi natin alam kung ano ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit hindi na natin nababalitaan ang mga malawakang demolisyon sa kasalukuyan. Ito ba ay dahil may nangangarap na tumakbo sa eleksyon ng 2010? Hindi rin natin alam kung totoong pinag-aaralan na ng Metro Manila Council ang mga panibagong guidelines para sa demolisyon. Sa mga nakabasa ng Omnibus Resolution, hindi natin alam kung nagbabalak ang Department of Foreign Affairs na irekomenda sa Executive Department and pag-iimbita sa UN Special Rapporteur para suriin ang totoong kalagayan ng maralitang nananahanan.

Sa ngayon, mas marami pang tanong ang naidulot ng ating pagtugon sa problema ng kabahayan. Kung tutuusin, wala pa tayong tunay na tagumpay na nakamit. Ang mga nawalan ng tirahan, wala pa ring makamtam na relokasyon at pabahay. Bukod sa Omnibus Resolution, wala pang LGU ang nagpahayag na ipinagbabawal ang demolisyon sa kasalukuyan. Sa ngayon, hindi natin alam kung kailan isasabatas ang panibagong UDHA, at kung matutugunan nito ang mga kahinaan ng naunang batas.

There are still many more questions left unanswered. While we wait to see if the enormous efforts of the Commission and the Urban Poor Associates will bear fruit, we must remain vigilant. Hindi maaaring mawalay tayo sa ating minumungkahing makatarungang polisiya sa pabahay. We should not waver in our effort to organize communities, to generate further support for the cause of protecting the right to adequate housing.

Pansinin ninyo kung saan tayo nagtitipon ngayon. Unibersidad ng Pilipinas – home to the brightest Filipino youths, the most active student movement in the country. It is home to the most diverse set of students, rich and poor, militants and moderates. The most open, exposed and compassionate minds of the intelligentia are here. The struggle to bring to their attention the conditions surrounding government efforts for urban renewal must be made known not only to the urban poor, but to everyone, and it can start here in UP. Maaaring kakailanganin natin ang mas malawakang supporta para sa mga mungkahi natin. After all, human rights are for everyone, and therefore it is of every person's concern to protect them.

There are many who turn a blind eye to the plight of informal settlers. Mga nagbubulagbulagan ba. Yet, how can anyone who cherishes his or her own rights not be concerned about the rights of his neighbors? Ang hinihingi nating pagmamalasakit ng ating mga kababayan ay hindi nakabatay sa awa. Nakabatay 'to sa kung ano ang makatarungan.

To those of you who are here today, the urban poor groups, to the students of UP, to the public in general, this assembly here represents not an appeal for sympathy, but a show of power - the power of collective action, the power of organized civil society, the power of collaboration between the government and its constituents, the power to bring change to circumstances that are not just, that are not humane. I ask all of you who are here today, whether you are part of the urban poor groups who continue to suffer from inhuman evictions, or part of the student community, or the general public, to stand in solidarity with us. I ask all of you to speak to everyone you know about the struggle to retain dignity in an age of modernity and so-called civilization. Hindi pa natin nakakamtam ang tunay na katarungan para sa maralitang nananahanan. For this reason, we must never let up, we must never be lulled in our own comfort, we must never stop supporting the causes that work to bring justice to every Filipino.

Adequate housing is only one right among a deluge of rights. And yet, to some people, it is almost everything that they can ever have, a humble symbol of their own dignity in a world infected with inequality. Iilan lamang sa kabuuan ng mga karapatang pantao ang karapatang magkaroon ng sapat na kabuhayan, sapat na kabahayan, mamuhay nang may dignidad. Ngunit para sa maraming Pilipino, ang sariling bahay ay siyang pinaka-simbolo ng namumuhay ng mayroong dignidad. It is such a small, yet important thing that we take for granted. For this reason, this deprivation should not continue for anybody.

More work has to be done. I ask all of you to be steadfast, patibayin ang inyong mga kalooban. We have not achieved enough yet. Gather your courage, gather your families, your friends, neighbors, gather your employers, your employers' children, gather your customers, gather people on the street... tell them what a failure Urban Renewal has been for decades. Tell them about the failure of our laws to protect the dignity of informal settlers, of ordinary Filipinos. Tell them, so that they may know, and that they will someday join us in our struggle.

Muli, maraming salamat sa karangalang ito at sa pagkakataong dumalo sa pagtitipon ninyo. Thank you. Mabuhay po kayong lahat.

MMDA dismantles houses along C-5

09/02/2008 | 06:42 PM




Informal settlers seek intervention of CHR (Read on at http://tinyurl.com/6afklm

Speech delivered by Commision on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Atty. Leila M. de Lima

On the Occasion of the Launch of the Manifesto on Illegal Demolitions and Forced Evictions

Quezon City, 2 September 2008

delivered by
LEILA M. DE LIMA

Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat.

The Fourth Commission has just marked the first 100 days in office and we reported to the media many of the accomplishments achieved in the past three and a half months. One of the most important campaigns of the Commission on human rights protection is the drive to put an end to illegal demolitions and forced evictions.

Today is an especially important landmark for the Fourth Commission. The Manifesto presented here today represents the first giant step forward for the Commission on the cause of putting an end to illegal demolitions and forced evictions. The passage of the UDHA several years ago was billed as a breakthrough for informal settlers. As we've seen over the years, however, the deficiencies of the UDHA have become apparent. Hindi na tugunan ng UDHA ang 'di makatarungan at maka-taong demolisyon at ebiksyon. Hindi lubusang matupad ng mga lokal na pamahalaan ang mga probisyon ng Saligang Batas at ng UDHA. This Manifesto represents the strongest statement from those affected most by MMDA and local government demolition operations. We at the Commission are thrilled that our contribution to and support for the efforts of the urban poor groups has culminated in this presentation of the Manifesto. We have noted, with great pride, that many of the recommendations of the Commission on the amendment of the UDHA have been incorporated into the Manifesto.

The Commission lauds the efforts of the Urban Poor Associates and its affiliated organizations. The strength of this campaign is not merely in the multitude that it seeks to protect and represent but in its effectiveness of organization. The Manifesto is a unifying document that brings together the thousands who are adversely affected by illegal demolitions. Hereafter, it is vital that the presentation of this Manifesto to the media will generate even more support from more urban poor organizations and bring as many stake-holders together and speak with one voice through one Manifesto.

The task is, by far, not over. From the hundreds here this morning, we have to gather thousands and thousands more. Remember that the strength is not just in the numbers. It must be in organized numbers.

There are many critical contributions that must follow for this campaign to succeed. Since the local government is a critical part in the process of demolitions and evictions, their positive action is key to our campaign. It is not enough that we invite representatives of the local government to attend our forums on illegal demolitions. Hindi sapat na sabihin nila na alam nila ang mga hinanakit ng mga impormal na nananahanan. Hindi rin sapat na alam nila na may problema sa implementasyon ng UDHA. Hindi sapat na sasabihin ng MMDA na sumusunod lang sila sa isang resolusyon ng Metro Manila Council. Sa panig naman ng mga LGUs, PCUP at NHA, hindi sapat na panay ang bintang nila sa MMDA. Nangangailangan na ng aksyon sa pamamagitan ng mga local legislation at ordinansya na ipinagbabawal ng di-makatarungang demolisyon. Having said this, it is extremely important now to foster cooperation between organized urban poor groups and the various mayors. Before the passage of any amended law on the UDHA, the local government units must be on-board and supportive of alternatives to forced evictions and proactively preventing illegal demolitions.

In addition, the contribution of the media in disseminating our cause is key. Today's event is intended to generate media interest. However, the campaign is far from over and media coverage must be sustained over the course of our struggle to bring about just and humane solutions to the urban housing problem. All the more, the efforts of the UPA and other groups have to be coordinated and organized, in order to sustain a public relations campaign. As with other human rights issues that occupy the front pages of the news, this campaign must gather enough momentum to find its way onto the newspapers and evening news. It must not stop until both the local and national government fulfill the promises of the UDHA and Constitution.

At the moment, we are witnessing some progress in the fight against unjust and inhumane evictions. In finding other allies in government, the efforts of both the Commission and the urban poor groups have been recognized by the Supreme Court no less. This is a very important development especially since there has hardly been any declared support from the Executive Branch and LGUs, and Legislative support, spearheaded by Senator Aquino will take time before an Amended UDHA can be passed. The Chief Justice, however, is already exploring the possibility of amending the Writ of Amparo to extend to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights, and thus the same writ intended to protect victims of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances may soon protect victims of illegal demolitions and forced evictions as well.

The gains are still small, but they are promising. What we need now is not so much a show of anger or dissidence or violence, but sobriety. We need to be very deliberate in our efforts to gain the cooperation of key sectors of government and civil society. We need to be calculating in our managing of our resources and networks in sustaining media coverage. We need to contribute, with earnest effort, to find alternatives to forced evictions in order to suggest solutions to the government authorities, instead of expecting them to devise their own solutions. In all, our campaign must not be driven by anger, but by soberness. We will attain the justice for all informal settlers not by indignation, but with clarity of thought.

Nang mabasa ko ang Manifesto,napansin ko na may pagkakatulad ito sa aming mungkahi para sa aming kampanya laban sa ilegal na demolisyon. Sa panawagan ninyo para sa moratorium sa demolisyon at sapilitang ebiksyon, imumungkahi ko sa Commission En Banc na magpalabas ng resolusyon ukol dito.

Ipagdasal natin na makakamit natin ang mga hangarin ng ating Manifesto at ang ating layunin ng ating pakikibaka. Ipagdasal din natin na mananatiling matatag ang loob ng mga lahat ng nagbubuhos ng pawis at dugo para sumulong ang kampanya natin na makamtam ang tunay na justisya para sa mga maralitang komunidad. Nawa'y maging tunay na makatao at makatarungan ang ating lipunan.

Maraming salamat po.

References: ADVISORY ON THE CONDUCT OF FORCED EVICTIONS AND HOUSE DEMOLITIONS

Urban Poor Stages Rally to Support CHR De Lima and Call for Moratorium on Evictions

NEWS RELEASE
02 September 2008

Urban Poor Stages Rally to Support CHR De Lima and Call for Moratorium on Evictions


Some 500 urban poor people staged a demonstration rally this morning from the National Housing Authority in Quezon Circle to the Commission on Human Rights compound in Diliman to show their support for its current Chairperson Leila de Lima’s fight against human rights violations by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in its clearing operations of sidewalk vendors and informal settlers and to jointly call for a moratorium on evictions.

The group, the Task Force Anti-Eviction, an alliance of urban poor in Metro Manila, depicted MMDA’s Chairman Bayani “BF” Fernando as “Satan”, a person masked with BF face complete with “devil’s horn and tail” in a fight with the “Angel” Saint Michael, represented by a woman with the face of CHR Chairwoman Leila de Lima. The group spokesperson, Presilda Juanich of Navotas, praised De Lima and assailed Chairman Fernando. “Chairwoman Leila de Lima is an angel sent from heaven for us, the urban poor, in her courageous stand against human rights violations, while BF, the undisputed “berdugo ng maralita” is Satan personified”, she said.

The Commission on Human Rights is currently investigating the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in its conduct in evicting poor families from their dwellings due to complains from various urban poor organizations in Metro Manila. The Task Force Anti-Eviction stated that they documented and submitted to the CHR eight cases of violent demolitions conducted by the MMDA, in R-10 Navotas, Manila Estero, Pasay Estero, Quirino Bridge in South Super-Highway, Quaipo, Balintawak Market, Tatalon Quezon City, and Pasig City that affected more than 2,000 families. Majority of the evicted families are still living literally on the streets as no relocation was provided.

The government is set to demolish more than 300,000 families in Metro Manila because of its infrastructure projects and the Metro Gwapo project of the MMDA. From this, more than 70,000 families are living along the esteros whose majority is in Quezon City, Manila and Pasay City set to be cleared by the MMDA without the capacity to provide relocation.

Aside from the call for a moratorium to demolition, the Task Force Anti-Eviction in a Manifesto, presented to Chairwoman Leila de Lima a 10 point agenda that ask for the strict compliance of the procedures in eviction as stated by law, put a stop on treating informal settlers as “nuisance”, and for the Commission to require government officials to undergo seminars on human rights, among others. The group is also calling for the amendment of the Urban Development and Housing Act to strengthen the law against “callous” officials like Bayani Fernando.

Task Force Anti-Eviction
c/o COPE-COM-UPA 27 Ignacio Diaz St. Cubao, Quezon City
Contact: Soti Sabarre 09103916128 / 723-74-20

MANIFESTO

KAMING mga MARALITANG KOMUNIDAD SA LUNGSOD, ay saksi at dumanas ng di-makatao at mapanghamak na gawi ng MMDA, iba pang ahensiya ng pamahalaan at ibang lokal na pamahalaan sa tuwing may demolisyon at ebiksyon na isinasagawa na tahasang salungat sa itinakda ng ating Saligang Batas, batas na sinang-ayunan partikular ang UDHA at mga pandaigdigang kasunduan kung saan ang Pilipinas ay lumagda. Nagtutulak ito sa amin – mga kababaihan, kabataan at nakatatanda – sa kalsada lantad sa lahat ng porma ng pang-aabuso, inagawan ng aming mga pag-aari at, pinakamasama, hinubaran ng dignidad bilang tao.

Sa pagsasagawa ng mga kasamaang ito, pinoprotektahan nila ang kanilang mga sarili ng kadahilanan na ang kanilang isinasakatuparan ay para sa kapakanan at kaunlaran tungo sa ikabubuti ng nakararami. Samantalang, kaming mga maralitang komunidad sa lungsod ay tao rin na ginagarantiyahan ng mga batayang karapatan – sa sapat na proseso, karapatan sa pagmamay-ari, karapatan na hindi makaranas ng anumang anyo ng pang-aabuso at karapatan na magkaroon ng disenteng pabahay. Ang kabutihan para sa nakararami ay dapat isinasama ang karapatang pantao ng bawat isa. Hindi tayo makakapagbuo ng isang disenteng lipunan sa paglabag ng karapatan ng mga mahihina.

Hindi kami dapat ipinalalagay na panggulo o problema, sa halip ay bahagi ng kaunlaran ng bansa. Kung anumang kabutihan mayroon na hinahangad ang pamahalaan, hindi ito dapat lumalabag sa batas o yumuyurak sa mga karapatang pantao.

Upang alisin ang lahat ng mga nakagugulong bahagi sa pagpapatupad ng UDHA, ang mga maralitang komunidad sa lungsod ay isinusulong ang mga mungkahing pagbabago sa kongreso at senado hinggil dito upang anuman ang itinataguyod ng batas na ito ay maisakatuparan.

1. Dapat isama ng UDHA ang malinaw na pagbabago sa “title 12” ng “Civil Code” sa nuisance, sa pagsasaad na kung ang sasailalim ay mga tirahan ng mga di pormal na nananahan, ang seksyon 27 at 28 ng UDHA at ang IRR ang dapat na gamitin sa halip na ang probisyon sa “Civil Code.”

2. Ang hangganang panahon na 1992 ay dapat na alisin. Ang mga lokal na pamahalaan ay hindi sumunod sa batas na paglalaan ng lupa para sa pabahay ng mga maralita at hindi nagawang ilikas ang mga di pormal na nananahan sa lungsod sa loob ng dalawang taon tulad ng iniuutos ng UDHA. Kinakailangan ang bagong paraan ng pagtatakda ng hangganang panahon sa sa bawat demolisyon. Iminumungkahi na magsagawa ng census sa lugar na may nakatakdang demolisyon kung mayroon nang nakahandang relokasyon. Ang lahat ng nasa census, kasama ang mga umuupa at nakikitira, ay benepisyaryo.

3. Dapat na tahasang ilahad ng UDHA na ang di pagsasagawa ng lokal na pamahalaan sa census ay inilalagay na ang sinuman na magkakaroon ng ebiksyon at demolisyon sa ilalim ng UDHA ay awtomatikong dapat na makatanggap ng mga benepisyo ng relokasyon. Dagdag pa, ang hindi pagsasagawa niyan sa bahagi ng lokal na pamahalaan ay nagpipigil sa pagpapatupad ng biglaang ebiksyon sa ilalim ng IRR.

4. Ang UDHA ay dapat na banggitin ang mga opisyal at kinatawan ng pamahalaan na dapat na naroroon sa lahat ng panahon sa buong durasyon ng aktwal na ebiksyon o demolisyon. Dagdag pa, dapat na banggitin na ang lokal na pamahalaan ang siyang pinunong ahensiya na mangunguna at magsasagawa ng demolsiyon.

5. Dapat na nakasaad sa UDHA na maglaan ng pera sa “summary adjudicatory court procedures” (espesyal na proseso ng korte) na maaaring mag-utos na may layon na masagot ang mga di pormal na nanahaan laban sa pang-aabuso ng mga lokal na alkalde at iba pang mga opisyal ng pamahalaan na sangkot sa isinagawang iligal na demolisyon.

6. Mahigpit na ipatupad ang Seksyon 28 ng UDHA bago ang pagpapatupad ng demolisyon. Ang mga opisyal ng pamahalaan ay dapat na parusahan kung ang lahat ng hinihingi sa ilalim ng Seksyon 28 ng UDHA ay hindi istriktong ipinatutupad.

7. Mayroon dapat mga konsultasyon sa komunidad sa layunin ng paghahanda sa mga di pormal na nananahan para sa ebiksyon at demolisyon. Dapat na bigyang ng pagkakataon na magmungkahi ang mga apektadong pamilya ng mga alternatibong relokasyon at dapat ding kilalanin ang mga alternatibong plano ng mga tao.

8. Dapat magsagawa ng mga pagpapaliwanag sa batas upang masiguro na ang mga naninirahan sa komunidad na nakalaan sa demolisyon ay alam ang kanilang mga karapatan at kaparaanan partikular sa ilalim ng UDHA. Magtalaga ng ahensiya ng pamahalaan na magsasagawa nito.

9. Bago ang pagsasagawa ng ebiksyon ang mga kasapi ng grupo ng demolisyon ay dapat na dumaan sa isang seminar sa karapatang pantao o pagbabalik-aral para sa karapatang pantao.

10. Dapat magtukoy ng paraan para masiguro na may relokasyon ang mga pamilyang pinalikas dahilan s autos ng korte sa mga lupang pribado.


IPAGLABAN ANG ATING MGA KARAPATAN!

HANGGANG HINDI NAISASAKATUPARAN ANG MGA HAKBANG NA ITO DAPAT MAGKAROON NG PAGPAPATIGIL SA LAHAT NG DEMOLISYON SA LUPA NG PAMAHALAAN!

TASK FORCE ANTI-EVICTION

MEDIA ADVISORY : Urban Poor Set to March to CHR for Eviction Moratorium

Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

MEDIA ADVISORY

Urban Poor Set to March to CHR for Eviction Moratorium

Five hundred urban poor people will march to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Tuesday (September 2) to meet with CHR Chairperson Leila de Lima in order to discuss the moratorium on forced evictions until the laws governing evictions and relocation are clearly agreed upon by all government agencies and the people concerned.

The idea of such a moratorium was suggested by government officials and various people’s groups associated with the Task Force Anti-Eviction. The people agree it is necessary. Too many families are being evicted in violation of the law, the people say.

People from urban poor communities around Metro Manila will march towards CHR at 8:00 AM beginning in front of the National Housing Authority (NHA) office at the Elliptical Road in Quezon City.

Photo ops: People will have someone to impersonate MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando as “the devil with horns and tails.” There will be a skit and hopefully agreement about the moratorium.

Assembly point: National Housing Authority, Elliptical Road, Q.C.

Date: September 2, 2008 (Tuesday)

Time: 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Venue: Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Commonwealth Avenue, UP Complex, Diliman, Q.C.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Human Rights and Access to Justice for the Poor

Attention: News Editor, News Desk, Reporters and Photojournalists

MEDIA ADVISORY

Human Rights and Access to Justice for the Poor

It is our distinct honor to invite you to attend a special seminar entitled, “Amending UDHA: Human Rights and Access to Justice for the Poor.” Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Leila de Lima, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, Supreme Court Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez and Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo will be the main speakers.

The seminar will be held August 4, 2008 (Monday) at the Audio Visual Room, Social Development Complex of the Ateneo de Manila University. It will begin at 9:00AM and end at 1:00PM. A modest lunch will follow.

The seminar brings together initiatives that promise improvement in the manner in which urban poor people are treated, especially in matters of evictions and relocation. Senator Aquino as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Local Government has already begun hearings on amending UDHA.

Chairperson de Lima took up the issues of evictions and relocation with a special emphasis on the human rights of the people involved in such activities contained in the country’s Constitution and laws and the International Covenants the country has signed.

The seminar is also our effort to follow through the highly successful "Forum on Increasing Access to Justice: Bridging Gaps and Removing Roadblocks" which the Supreme Court Chief Justice has initiated.

Naga City has been awarded the 2007 Housing Rights Protector Award for its Kaantabay sa Kauswagan Programme, an initiative providing security of tenure and improved living conditions for thousands of its residents.

After the speakers make their opening statements, urban poor people will have a chance to tell stories of how they have suffered in recent evictions, for example, the absence of consultation, legal notice and relocation. Government agencies will have time to make their comments on what has been said by the speakers and the poor. Then there will be an open forum.

At the end, the speakers will share their final thoughts on the subjects discussed. There will be a large poster-size statement of purpose that the participants will be asked to sign.

Date: August 4, 2008 (Monday) / 9:00AM - 1:00PM

Venue: Audio Visual Room, Social Development Complex, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City

CHR warns MMDA, other govt agencies vs forced eviction, demolition

06/17/2008 | 05:08 PM




CHR chief warns gov’t vs abuses in demolitions