Press Release
October 29, 2009
Dala ang mga sira-sirang damit at kasangkapan na sumisimbolo sa hagupit ng kalamidad, sinugod nang may-ilang daang biktima ng bagyong Ondoy, ang Mendiola para magprotesta laban sa anila’y mata-pobreng pagtrato sa kanila, palpak na programang pabahay ng pamahalaan, at banta ng pwersahang relokasyon.
Pinangunahan ang kilos-protesta ng mga miyembro ng Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) at Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) mula pa sa mga lalawigan ng Rizal, Laguna, at Bulacan. Nauna rito ay nagbanta ang pamahalaan na pwersahang aalisin ang mga maralita sa mga itinuturing na danger zone dahil ang mga iligal na istruktura umano ang bumabara sa mga natural na daluyan ng tubig na siyang dahilan ng malawak na pinsala ng mga pagbaha.
Nanawagan ang mga manggagawa at maralita sa pamahalaan na walang pwersahang demolisyon at relokasyon na dapat isagawa hangga’t walang malinaw at makataong paninirahan na maibibigay sa kanila ang pamahalaan.
Ayon kay Renato Magtubo, tagapangulo ng PM, sa halip na idagan ang mata-pobreng panunumbat sa mga maralita na silang mas malagim na biktima ng kalamidad, mas dapat ibangon di lamang ang nasalanta nilang kabuhayan kundi ang kanilang dignidad sa pamamagitan ng tamang pagtrato sa kanila at pagharap sa totoong problemang kanilang kinasadlakan.
Ang totoo umano, ani Magtubo, ay mas malaki ang kontribusyon ng mga industriya, mining companies, at land developers at kapabayaan ng kasalukuyan at dati pang mga pamahalaan sa pagkasira ng kalikasan.
Idinagdag pa ni Magtubo na lagi-laging nahahantong sa “danger zones” ang mga maralita dahil mismo sa klase ng lugar na kanilang kinalalagyan at klase ng materyales na gamit sa kanilang mga bahay. Kahit saan umanong lugar, walang laban sa hangin at baha, maging sa sunog ang mga barung-barong na gawa sa mga light materials. Ito aniya ang paliwanag kung bakit di itinuturing na nasa danger zone ang mga mansyon, malalaking gusali, at palasyo gaya ng Malacanang sa tabi ng mga ilog dahil ligtas ang mga ito kumpara sa mga barung-barong sa tabi ng mga estero.
Ayon naman kay Romeo Cabugnason, pinuno ng AMP, ang ultimong solusyon dito ay seryosong programa para sa desente at ligtas na pabahay, hindi ang paulit-ulit na ‘balik-probinsya’ program, o relokasyon sa mga undeveloped at inhabitable relocation areas gaya ng naging kaso sa Bulacan.
Naniniwala ang PM at AMP na walang mangyayari sa programang rehabilitasyon at rekonstruksyon hangga’t walang ilalaang malaking pondo para dito ang pamahalaan, laluna’t halos 30% ng pondo ng gubyerno ay napupunta lang sa pambayad ng utang.
Kaya nanawagan ang mga ito na itigil muna ang pagbabayad utang at para matugunan ang lahat ng kinakailangang pondo para sa rehabilitasyon at maisakatuparan ang isang bagong programa na tutugon sa malawak na problema ng kawalan ng desente, ligtas na pabahay at makataong pamumuhay.
Showing posts with label forced relocation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forced relocation. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Lakeside residents of Binan seek LGU, National Government aid amid miserable state
PRESS RELEASE
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Partido ng Manggagawa
26 October 2009
Residents residing at Barangays Malaban and San Antonio in Biñan Laguna will hold a rally this morning at this town’s Municipal Hall to seek aid from both the local and national government. The two barangays are just part of several barangays that are still under water since the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy that drove lake waters of Laguna De Bay to rise.
The local of Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) in Biñan said food and health conditions in the area are very bad because of lack of safe drinking water and lack of other basic supplies, among others. They also fear of forced relocation being planned by the national government without any assurance that such a plan would lead them to a better habitat.
AMP leaders Mercy Manzo and Elizabeth Mendoza describe their situation in the area as “helpless and miserable” as relief goods are still lacking in most parts of the area and many people have no more means of earning an income unlike before. Many people especially children are also getting sick because of lack of sanitation and safe drinking water.
“We don’t know how we can survive this kind of situation,” Manzo said, adding that without continuing relief operations and alternative places to live, the people around the lake face humanitarian crisis.
The group is asking the local government to formulate a short and long-term solution to this problem, including alternative places where affected residents can live safely. They are also asking for livelihood assistance to recover their means of livelihood that were devastated by Ondoy.
The AMP is also calling on the national government to give due attention to the poor people of Biñan and Laguna rather than blaming them for making themselves the victims of their own desperate situation. The government, specifically the Laguna Lake Development Authority had been blaming the poor settlers for clogging the natural waterways that aggravates flooding.
“There are bigger players to blame such as industry owners, mining companies and land developers who destroy our natural habitats. Why point all your fingers to us?,” complained the AMP leaders.
After the protest action in Laguna, the AMP and the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) will bring their issues to Malacanang in another rally to be held in Mendiola on Thursday, October 29.
The AMP and PM will demand a moratorium on debt payments and massive government funds saved from debt service be allotted for rehabilitation and reconstruction program. “Rehabilitation and reconstruction are dead words without the funds,” stressed the group.
The groups will also press for a new housing program that decisively addresses housing problems -- the main reason why poor settlers are forced to live and face their deaths in “danger zones”. Another demand is for a new, centralized and coordinated land use policy to prevent land developers and miners convert and destroy lands so that the poor can be accorded habitable and sustainable places to live.
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Partido ng Manggagawa
26 October 2009
Residents residing at Barangays Malaban and San Antonio in Biñan Laguna will hold a rally this morning at this town’s Municipal Hall to seek aid from both the local and national government. The two barangays are just part of several barangays that are still under water since the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy that drove lake waters of Laguna De Bay to rise.
The local of Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) in Biñan said food and health conditions in the area are very bad because of lack of safe drinking water and lack of other basic supplies, among others. They also fear of forced relocation being planned by the national government without any assurance that such a plan would lead them to a better habitat.
AMP leaders Mercy Manzo and Elizabeth Mendoza describe their situation in the area as “helpless and miserable” as relief goods are still lacking in most parts of the area and many people have no more means of earning an income unlike before. Many people especially children are also getting sick because of lack of sanitation and safe drinking water.
“We don’t know how we can survive this kind of situation,” Manzo said, adding that without continuing relief operations and alternative places to live, the people around the lake face humanitarian crisis.
The group is asking the local government to formulate a short and long-term solution to this problem, including alternative places where affected residents can live safely. They are also asking for livelihood assistance to recover their means of livelihood that were devastated by Ondoy.
The AMP is also calling on the national government to give due attention to the poor people of Biñan and Laguna rather than blaming them for making themselves the victims of their own desperate situation. The government, specifically the Laguna Lake Development Authority had been blaming the poor settlers for clogging the natural waterways that aggravates flooding.
“There are bigger players to blame such as industry owners, mining companies and land developers who destroy our natural habitats. Why point all your fingers to us?,” complained the AMP leaders.
After the protest action in Laguna, the AMP and the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) will bring their issues to Malacanang in another rally to be held in Mendiola on Thursday, October 29.
The AMP and PM will demand a moratorium on debt payments and massive government funds saved from debt service be allotted for rehabilitation and reconstruction program. “Rehabilitation and reconstruction are dead words without the funds,” stressed the group.
The groups will also press for a new housing program that decisively addresses housing problems -- the main reason why poor settlers are forced to live and face their deaths in “danger zones”. Another demand is for a new, centralized and coordinated land use policy to prevent land developers and miners convert and destroy lands so that the poor can be accorded habitable and sustainable places to live.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Militant urban poor group opposes forced relocation
Press Release
October 5, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
The urtban poor group Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino opposes the governments’ forcible relocation that will affect thousand of families living in major water ways and Laguna Lake.
“The governments’ plan of forcible relocation will be a man made disaster that comes on top of the natural catastrophe brought about by tropical storm Ondoy. We hold on our basic right to decent shelter, thus we are calling on the government to create an inter-agency committee with representation from the affected families to ensure decent relocation as declared in the Urban Development and Housing Act,” Romy Cabugnason, AMP, Chairman, stated.
The government proposes to relocate families in Calauan, Laguna and San Miguel, Bulacan. Calauan, Laguna is also a resettlement area to families from PNR, and was already reported for lack of basic services such as water, power, health, education and means of livelihood.
Cabugnason added that, “We were never anti-development as this elite government wish to project, only that we know that we have the right for a decent shelter instead of forcible relocation in some area without employment and/or basic services. Decent shelter is a basic policy of the government that Secretary of Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr., should have known as he aspires to be head the state.”
“The Filipino unity is inspiring we know that we are not facing the tragedy of tropical storm Ondoy alone. But then, since we are from the danger zone the government should not put us in harm by putting us in the death zone,” Cabugnason ended.
October 5, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
The urtban poor group Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino opposes the governments’ forcible relocation that will affect thousand of families living in major water ways and Laguna Lake.
“The governments’ plan of forcible relocation will be a man made disaster that comes on top of the natural catastrophe brought about by tropical storm Ondoy. We hold on our basic right to decent shelter, thus we are calling on the government to create an inter-agency committee with representation from the affected families to ensure decent relocation as declared in the Urban Development and Housing Act,” Romy Cabugnason, AMP, Chairman, stated.
The government proposes to relocate families in Calauan, Laguna and San Miguel, Bulacan. Calauan, Laguna is also a resettlement area to families from PNR, and was already reported for lack of basic services such as water, power, health, education and means of livelihood.
Cabugnason added that, “We were never anti-development as this elite government wish to project, only that we know that we have the right for a decent shelter instead of forcible relocation in some area without employment and/or basic services. Decent shelter is a basic policy of the government that Secretary of Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr., should have known as he aspires to be head the state.”
“The Filipino unity is inspiring we know that we are not facing the tragedy of tropical storm Ondoy alone. But then, since we are from the danger zone the government should not put us in harm by putting us in the death zone,” Cabugnason ended.
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