A woman takes a child to safety as the authorities in Caloocan City in Metro Manila launched a demolition drive to clear illegal settlements on March 27. (Photo: Caloocan Diocese)
Apr 3 2023
About 300 poor families who lived in illegal settlements for years have been forced to take shelter on the streets and under bridges following a demolition drive in the Philippine capital Manila.
The families became homeless after the authorities in Caloocan City in Metro Manila launched a demotion drive following a court order on March 27.
Rodolfo Totanes, 42, a scavenger and father of two, said that his family lost everything and is now sheltering in front of the Post Office headquarters.
“We don’t know where to go. Just one day, police and the demolition teams came to smash our walls with iron rods and removed our roofs… They did not give us any lot where we could transfer,” Totanes told UCA News.
“We will be staying here until we find a vacant place to live,” said the man who makes a livelihood by collecting garbage from fast food shops in the city.
He said their homelessness has become a serious problem as his wife is pregnant and due to deliver in three weeks.
His wife, Geraldine, is worried as her delivery time approaches fast.
“I don’t know where my baby would be born. It might be here or in an open space at the park. I have not visited any doctor yet,” she told UCA News.
On March 27, the Department of Public Works and Highways demolished dozens of houses made of light materials by illegal settlers for road widening and expansion.
The department claimed residents were allocated an evacuation center in Bulacan province, north of Manila, but refused because of the distance.
Carl Cloribel, 36, a jeepney driver along with his wife and two sons have been sleeping inside the vehicle at night since the eviction.
Their children, Gerarld and Francis, aged 12 and 11, stopped going to school because their school materials were gone during the demolition.
“Our father grabbed us right away. It happened so fast. He just picked a few clothes and hurried off,” Gerald Cloribel told UCA News.
Cloribel said he asked his wife Jenny, 34, to “immediately” bring their children to safety after hearing the demolition alarm.
“I knew the team would not save the children’s things. After destroying our walls, they pumped us with water cannons to ensure we’ll go out of our hiding places,” he said.
A police officer who joined the demolition drive said they followed due process and informed residents about the order three months ago.
“There were several negotiations- nine of them in fact. But they took it lightly. They never expected they would be taken so seriously by the government,” sergeant Rommel Lichauco told UCA News.
He said the city government of Caloocan authorized them to negotiate with the residents by giving them free housing in Bulacan province but they all refused.
“They didn’t want to leave Manila. Manila is the end and be all for their family members. It’s as if, this is the only place where they get their income,” the policeman told UCA News.
Church groups including religious congregations opened their facilities for the homeless. However, those facilities can support needy people for a maximum of several weeks.
Divine Word Father Flavie Villanueva, a rights activist who runs Kalinga Center for the homeless in Manila, strongly criticized the move as “anti-poor.”
“Building roads? Making more homeless. One is a solution that led to a bigger problem. Without giving them lands where they could rebuild their lives, the demolition is ‘anti-poor’,” Villanueva told UCA News.
About 4.5 million out of the nation’s estimated 106 million people are homeless with the majority living in the streets of Manila, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. – UCA News
