NIKKI TENG
BALITA
Murang pabahay, ligal na pagkilala, isinusulong ng Kadamay sa Lakbayan KENT IVAN FLORINO Tatlong taon mula nang okupahin ng mga miyembro ng Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) ang bakanteng pabahay sa Pandi, Bulacan, di pa rin itinuturing na lehitimo ng pamahalaan ang paninirahan ng mga residente sa lugar. Kabilang sila sa 1,000 maralitang nagkakampuhan sa Commission on Human Rights mula Enero 23 bitbit ang panawagan para sa mura at disenteng pabahay. Sa 5,000 pamilyang naninirahan sa housing site sa Pandi, wala pa ring residente ang binibigyan ng entry pass na kailangan upang makatanggap sila ng serbisyo gaya ng tubig at kuryente. “Certificate of Lot Allotment (CELA) pa lang [ang naibibigay]. Yun yung unang yugto sa proseso para magkaroon ng loan agreement, saka pa lang makakuha ng entry pass,” ani Ka Mimi Doringo, tagapagsalita ng Kadamay. Sa kasalukuyan, 1,066 na pamilya pa lamang ang nakatatanggap ng CELA. Isang beses kada dalawang buwan mamamahagi ang National Housing Authority (NHA) ng CELA, ayon sa diyalogo ng Makabayan bloc at ng ahensya, Setyembre 19. “Ang gusto sana namin ay mas mabilis na pagbibigay [ng
CELA] kasi matagal na namin yang hinihingi—halos magtatatlong taon na. Masyadong mabagal yung tagdalawang buwan pa … mahirap ang mamuhay na kulang kami ng tubig at kuryente,” ayon kay Ka Mimi. Bagaman hindi pa natutukoy ang magiging mode of payment (MOP) para sa mga pabahay, nangangamba ang mga residenteng ihalintulad ito sa MOP ng pabahay sa Montalban, Rizal. Bubunuin ng mga residente roon ang P1,500 bayad kada buwan sa loob ng 30 taon, kabilang ang interes nito. “Kaya ang tawag namin d’yan [sa pabahay] ay negosyong pabahay na scheme ng NHA. Patuloy na ineexpose ng Kadamay na hindi housing service ang umiiral na housing policy ng NHA kundi pinagkakakitaan yung basic service [para sa] mamamayan,” ani Tori Fortuno, miyembro ng Education and Research Committee ng Kadamay. Kasalukuyang nasa P480,000 hanggang P580,000 ang price ceiling ng mga pabahay na nakadepende sa laki ng yunit, ayon sa kasunduan ng National Economic Development Authority at Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council. Habang isinusulong ng Kadamay na ibaba ito sa P150,000 hanggang P200,000, pilit namang sinusulong ng mga developer na itaas ito sa P533,000 noong 2019. Ikinadismaya ito ni Risa* na umalis
sa kanilang inuupahan sa Guiguinto, Bulacan upang makahanap ng mas abot-kaya at disenteng pabahay sa Atlantica Village sa Pandi. Ngunit dahil sa kakulangan ng oportunidad sa lugar, tumungo ang kanyang asawa at dalawang anak sa Maynila upang humanap ng hanapbuhay. “Malaki talaga yung paninindigan ko para sa karapatan sa pabahay. Wala na silang alam sa pinagdadaanan ko habang lumalaban pero patuloy ko namang ipinapaintindi yung pinasok ko para suportahan ako,” ani Risa. Dahil sa bigat ng gastusin at maliit na kita ng kanyang asawa na aabot lamang sa P8,000, minsan nang nasilaw si Risa na sumapi sa “progovernment group” na nangakong mamamahagi ng pera at CELA kapalit ng pagtiwalag sa Kadamay. “[Pero naisip kong] bakit ako magpro-pro eh Kadamay ako pumasok dito? Kadamay ang dahilan kung bakit kami may bahay tapos gusto nila umalis akong sa Kadamay?” ani Risa. “Kung ano ako pumasok dito, ganun pa din akong lalabas.” Sa buong Timog-Silangang Asya, ang Pilipinas ang may pinakamaraming mamamayang walang tahanan na aabot sa 4.5 milyon ayon sa ulat ng Reuters noong 2018. May 5.5 milyong housing backlog naman sa bansa noong 2016 na inaasahang tumaas sa 6.7 milyon ngayong taon dahil sa tumitinding pangangailangan sa
TIRA-TIRAHAN • Naghuhugas si Juliet*, 60, ng kanilang pinagkainan, umaga ng Pebrero 4, bago magsimula ang kanilang diskurso ukol sa isyu ng pabahay sa Pandi, Bulacan. Dahil sa sapilitang demolisyon ng kanilang tirahan sa Manggahan Floodway, Pasig City noong Agosto 31, 2017, isa siya sa mga miyembro ng Kadamay na umokupa sa mga bakanteng pabahay sa Pandi. Hindi malilimutan ni Juliet kung paano sapilitang binuwag ng mga pulis ang kanilang human barricade gamit ang water cannon. Sinagasaan ang ibang residente, habang hinuli ang nasa 40 indibidwal. Ngayong higit dalawang taon na siyang naninirahan sa Pandi, ginagamit ni Juliet ang kanilang maliit na tindahan at parlor upang tustusan ang gastusin sa araw-araw. Gayong mabigat ang kaakibat na hirap ng paninirahan sa lugar, patuloy siyang makikibaka kasama ang Kadamay upang igiit ang karapatan ng maralita sa disente at murang pabahay.
pabahay, batay sa tala ng HUDCC. Sa pagdami ng katulad ni Risa na walang permanenteng tirahan, patuloy na igigiit ng mga maralitang tagalunsod ang pagpapatayo ng pabahay na makamasa at disente. “Kaya nandito kami sa kampuhan ay para ipamukha sa gobyerno nating mali yung ginagawa nila ... Hindi sa pagtatapat-tapat naming
mga Kadamay at pro-government [organization] nila mapapatigil yung mga tulad naming lumalaban,” ani Risa. “[Kung] bibigyan nila kami ng batayang serbisyo, maaaring matapos itong lahat.” •
* Hindi niya tunay na pangalan. Itinago ang identidad ng residente para sa kanyang seguridad.
Democratic spaces shrink as gov’t assails dissenters DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ While Tacloban City was still asleep on February 7, state forces were busy brewing chaos. In the wee hours of the morning, police officers raided the offices of several legal organizations, leading to the arrest of five individuals. Out of nowhere, high-powered guns, grenades, and cash were allegedly recovered inside. In a Gestapo-style raid, the police nabbed four community organizers and a journalist, along with an infant whose mother was among the arrested. But instead of undergoing inquest procedures, the five were forced to stay behind bars without formal raps filed against them. This is similar to the case of Panday Sining 4 in November 2019 when they were illegally detained in Manila for over a week. Individuals accused of violating grave offenses can only be detained with no formal charge for a maximum of 36 hours, but prosecutors only filed cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosives against the five after two days. Only Bayan Eastern Visayas staff Mira Legion
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is temporarily out on bail, as the Collegian went to press. Around a week later in Quezon province, meanwhile, two volunteer organizers for a peasant group went missing for about two weeks, according to Karapatan. Such incidents manifest the dire human rights situation in the country, perpetuated by state policies that coddle violence and impunity, according to the Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights). This state-sponsored violence, however, not only endangers the lives of those on ground like community organizers and farmers, but also those who choose to speak against the government’s policies. ‘Hush’ money “[The government’s] crackdown on dissent through legal and military [ways] only proves na yung democratic spaces [sa bansa] ay shrinking na at a drastic state,” said Philip Jamilla of Karapatan, a nongovernment human rights group. Instead of addressing the causes of the country’s problems like poverty and lack of national industries, the government has instead subscribed to silencing those who dare to speak up against issues, he added.
The Department of Information, Communication, and Technology, for example, used P300 million on surveillance activities. Not only is it beyond the ambit of the department; it also showed the government’s weaponization of civilian agencies to snoop on Filipinos. This is further legitimized by the “whole-of-nation” approach following Executive Order 70 (EO 70) against communist groups. The funding for such a policy also comes into question as the government doles out money to those who surrender as rebels. “Matatandaan nating gumamit ang [militar] ng manipulated photos ng pekeng surrenderees,’” Jamilla said, referring to the fabricated photo of supposed armed rebels surrendering to the government that the Armed Forces of the Philippines posted online in December. If the military is capable of faking surrenderees, then the money that is supposed to be given to surrenderees might fall into wrong hands, said Jamilla. “The taxpayer’s money is being used against them.” Economic attacks Assaults against human rights, however, do not only happen through killings and arrests, as the people’s economic, social, and cultural rights are also under siege, PhilRights noted.
The fiasco on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, for example, would effectively curtail the people’s right to information, according to Jun Sepe of the Photojournalists Center of the Philippines during a mobilization in front of ABS-CBN on February 14 (see related article on page 5). Other legislative and policy measures implemented by the government such as the Rice Tariffication Law and Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, meanwhile, seek to further wreak havoc on Filipinos, economically, as prices of commodities climb while salaries stagnate. Aside from having the lowest minimum wage in the country at P282, tobacco farmers in Region 1 suffer from a much worse condition, as the sin tax law also gravely affected their livelihood. “It has become increasingly clear that this administration’s approach to economic development has a blinkered view of the relationship between socioeconomic progress and human rights–one that disregards the rights of many for the benefit of a few,” PhilRights wrote. Tipping point Amid attacks from the administration, cause-oriented formations have made significant strides along the way.
The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council has passed a resolution to probe extrajudicial killings in the country. The UN International Criminal Court is also set to release its findings on the country’s human rights situation this year that will determine whether or not they will proceed to try the president for so-called crimes against humanity. Locally, a house bill seeking to protect and promote the rights of human rights defenders like the Tacloban 5 is also pending at the House of Representatives. The Makabayan bloc similarly authored a resolution urging Congress to investigate human rights violations. Both measures, however, remain at the committee level. Among other things, the fight towards respecting human rights must ultimately push for the junking of all legal codes and instruments that allow for these attacks to thrive, said Jamilla. “Mahalagang mapaingay natin ang mga isyung kinakaharap ng bansa di lamang sa social media, o kaya sa mga legal ways, kundi sa parlamento rin ng lansangan upang marinig ng pamahalaan ang ating boses,” he said. “Kung ‘whole-ofnation’ ang atake sa atin, dapat ‘whole-of-nation’ din ang pagkakaisa natin sa paglaban.” •