[APWSLMembers 295] On the fourth day of protest caravan: Residents of
relocation site air dismay over dismal conditions,
welcome protest caravan of urban poor in Southern Tagalog
Kilusang Mayo Uno
kmuid at tri-isys.com
Sat Jul 22 21:43:53 JST 2006
Dear Friends,
Below please find press advisoriy and news
releases of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap -
Southern Tagalog (KADAMAY-ST; Urban Poor
Confederation) on their on-going “Lakbay-Riles ng
Maralita laban sa kagutuman, dislokasyon at
karahasan,” (Urban Poor Caravan against hunger,
dislocation and repression). The caravan has
started since July 19, 2006 and has already
traversed several provinces and barangays
(villages) which will be affected by the
government's Philippine National Railways
Modernization Program. The program threatens to
demolish 70,000 families in the region.
The caravan has already experienced several
military checkpoints and blockades in the
provinces. It is expected to experience more
blockades along the highways and railways
tomorrow as it navigates towards Manila to join
the protest actions during the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The Philippine National Police has announced that
it will deploy 17,000 troops in Metro Manila to
ensure that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's SONA will be "peaceful".
KMU International Department
-------------
KADAMAY-ST
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP-SOUTHERN TAGALOG
ATTENTION: NEWS DESKS
MEDIA
ADVISORY
Reference: Adel Tolentino
July 22,
2006
Secretary-General, KADAMAY-ST
The “Lakbay-Riles ng Maralita laban sa kagutuman,
dislokasyon at karahasan,” a six-day protest
caravan of the urban poor in Southern Tagalog led
by Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap-Southern
Tagalog (KADAMAY-ST), Alyansa Laban sa
Dislokasyon at Demolisyon (ALDD), and Samahan ng
mga Mamamayan sa Tabing Riles (SMTR), is now on its fourth day.
The caravan now nearing the Metro and is set to
converge with protesters during Arroyo’s State of
the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24. Protesters
fear that the military and police force beefed-up
for Monday’s SONA will prevent them from entering
the NCR, especially with NCRPO Chief Vidal
Querol’s statement on Thursday that more
checkpoints will be established in the next three
days in areas leading to the nation’s capital.
But the protesters are determined to be able to
air the calls of the urban poor in Southern
Tagalog, especially against the Southrail Project
of the Philippine National Railways Modernization
and Rehabilitation Program which will affect
around 70,000 families in the region alone.
PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:
Wearing native hats and waving flaglets depicting
Arroyo with the infamous Hitler moustache and
swastika, the protesters will be warmly welcomed
at various whistle stops in Laguna, including the
Southville Housing Project, the government’s
resettlement program. Residents of Southville
will air their complaints of lack of services
such as water and electricity, the high cost of
the Community Mortgage Program, and air their
calls for decent homes and livelihood.
CONDUCT OF THE ACTIVITY:
July 22
8:00 AM Take-off from Brgy. Del Remedio, San Pablo City, Laguna
9:00 AM Salubong, Brgy. San Antonio, Los Banos, Laguna
10:00 AM Whistle stop, Brgy. Bucal, Calamba, Laguna
12:00 NN Lunch
1:00 PM Salubong and program, Brgy. Parian, Calamba, Laguna
3:00 PM Whistle stop and salubong,
Brgy. Mamatid and Brgy. San Isidro, Cabuyao, Laguna
4:00 PM Salubong and program,
Southville Housing Project, Cabuyao, Laguna
Tulog
July 23
8:00 AM Take-off from Cabuyao, Laguna
8:30 AM Salubong and program, Brgy. Labas, Sta. Rosa, Laguna
11:00-12NN Lunch
1:00-2:00 PM Caravan to Binan, Laguna
2:30 PM Program, Brgy. San Vicente, Binan, Laguna
3:30 PM Whistle stop at San Pedro, Laguna
4:30 PM Caravan to Commission on Human
Rights office, Quezon City to converge with
contingents from other sectors in Southern
Tagalog led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Tagalog (BAYAN-ST)
July 24 Convergence with protesters
from other regions during Arroyo’s SONA
MEDIA COVERAGE HIGHLY REQUESTED.
KADAMAY-ST
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP-SOUTHERN TAGALOG
PRESS RELEASE Reference: Adel Tolentino
July 22, 2006 Secretary-General, KADAMAY-ST
On the fourth day of protest caravan:
Residents of relocation site air dismay over dismal conditions,
welcome protest caravan of urban poor in Southern Tagalog
Residents of the Southville Housing Project in
Cabuyao, Laguna, the government’s resettlement
program for demolished communities, warmly
welcomed the six-day protest caravan of the urban
poor in Southern Tagalog that is now on its
fourth day. The Southville Housing Project,
where around 10,000 families from demolished
communities in Makati and Paco, Pandacan and
Tondo, Manila were relocated, aptly illustrates
the dismal condition in relocation areas – lack
of services such as water and electricity, and lack of livelihood.
Based on data gathered by Kalipunan ng Damayang
Mahihirap-Southern Tagalog (KADAMAY-ST), two
individuals in Southville have already died from
typhoid because of lack of finance to have them
treated at a hospital. Due to lack of
livelihood, some residents are already eating the
suso and tulya that are normally used to feed
ducks. In San Pablo City, the electricity lines
of many residents along the railways have already
been cut because they could no longer pay their electricity bills.
Adel Tolentino, secretary general of KADAMAY-ST,
condemned the grim conditions of relocation areas
being sold by the government to the urban poor
through the Community Mortgage Program
(CMP). “This is the true plight of the urban
poor that we want to air to Arroyo and the
people. The condition of the hundreds of
families whose homes were already demolished
belies Presidential Chief of Staff Michael
Defensor’s statement yesterday that the poverty
index has been trimmed down to 24 percent from 34 percent,” he said.
Tolentino said that the government’s so-called
development projects do not lead to development
but massive dislocation of urban poor. “Arroyo’s
SONA on Monday which will focus on strengthening
supra-regions will surely be composed of more
projects that will serve the selfish interests of
capitalists and foreign investors and will
neglect the welfare of the poor. The Arroyo
administration keeps on stating that we need to
sacrifice for development, but it is only the
poor who are already suffering under the current
economic conditions that are sacrificed. ”
Around 70,000 families in the region alone will
be affected by the Southrail Project of the
Philippine National Railways Modernization and
Rehabilitation Program. The demolitions were set
to start this year and government representatives
have already been going around barangays along
railways convincing the people to enter the Community Mortgage Program (CMP).
The “Lakbay-Riles ng Maralita laban sa kagutuman,
dislokasyon at karahasan,” sponsored by
KADAMAY-ST, Alyansa Laban sa Dislokasyon at
Demolisyon (ALDD), and Samahan ng mga Mamamayan
sa Tabing Riles (SMTR), is calling for the
scrapping of the CMP, and against the demolition
and destruction of homes and livelihood of the
urban poor due to the PNR Modernization and
Rehabilitation Program. Urban poor along the
railways have expressed support to the call and
warmly welcomed the caravan together with various
sectors at whistle stops at Brgy. San Antonio in
Los Banos, Brgy. Bucal and Brgy. Parian in
Calamba, and Brgy. Mamatid and Brgy. San Isidro
in Cabuyao. The caravan began in Gumaca, Quezon
last July 19 and was also welcomed by urban poor
in Quezon, some even lighting firecrackers.
The protesters waved flaglets depicting Arroyo
with the infamous Hitler moustache and swastika
while aboard a train and holding an AK-47, set
amid a background of a blood-red map of
CALABARZON showing the route of the railway from
Tagkawayan, Quezon to Manila.
As the caravan nears the Metro, protesters fear
that the military and police force beefed-up for
Monday’s SONA will prevent them from entering the
NCR, especially with NCRPO Chief Vidal Querol’s
statement on Thursday that more checkpoints will
be established in the next three days in areas
leading to the nation’s capital. But the
protesters are determined to be able to air the
calls of the urban poor in Southern Tagalog.
“We have already braved the rains, hot sun, and
even the military and police blockades in Quezon
to be able to air the plight and the demands of
the urban poor in Southern Tagalog. Querol’s
propaganda about a supposed NPA plan to sneak
into Manila is surely part of their tactics to be
able to block protesters from Southern Tagalog
and prevent them from joining protests as Arroyo
delivers her SONA,” Tolentino said.
KADAMAY-ST
KALIPUNAN NG DAMAYANG MAHIHIRAP-SOUTHERN TAGALOG
PRESS RELEASE Reference: Adel Tolentino
July 21,
2006 Secretary-General, KADAMAY-ST
Protest caravan from Southern Tagalog
fear more police and military blockades
Protests from the urban poor in Southern Tagalog
geared towards Monday's State of the Nation
Address (SONA) began as early as Wednesday and
are now on the third day of a six-day caravan
dubbed "Lakbay-Riles ng Maralita laban sa
kagutuman, dislokasyon at karahasan ." The
caravan took-off from Gumaca, Quezon around 8AM
today and is set to reach San Pablo City at
around 3PM, but protesters fear that they may be
blocked again amid NCRPO chief Vidal Querol's
statement that a special operations group of the
New People's Army from Mindoro would try to sneak into the capital.
"Querol's propaganda about a supposed NPA plan to
sneak into Manila is surely part of their tactics
to be able to block protesters from Southern
Tagalog and prevent them from joining protests as
Arroyo delivers her SONA," Adel Tolentino,
secretary-general of Kalipunan ng Damayang
Mahihirap-Southern Tagalog (KADAMAY-ST), said.
Citing Wednesday's incident when the military
blocked them at Brgy. Sugod, Lopez, Tolentino
noted that they will be passing at least two more
military and police detachments in Quezon and
more in Laguna where they may be blocked.
Tolentino also condemned the distribution of
"black propaganda" by members of the military
which depicted peasant leader Guillermo Bautista,
chairperson of Katipunan ng mga Samahang
Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK) who
is with the caravan, with tags bearing acronyms
of the caravan's organizers – KADAMAY, Samahan ng
Mamamayan sa Tabing Riles (SMTR), and Alyansa
Laban sa Demolisyon at Dislokasyon (ADD) - as
supporters of the NPA. "This proves that the
Arroyo administration does not recognize the
difference between legal organizations and the
armed Left; their propaganda seeks to justify
whatever actions they will do against us. Their
black propaganda is a desperate attempt to
deceive the people but it cannot disprove the
fact that the urban poor are becoming poorer," Tolentino added.
In proof of Tolentino's statement, urban poor in
Brgy. Cotta in Lucena, Brgy. Lusacan in Tiaong,
Wawa, Brgy. Del Remedio in San Pablo City
welcomed the caravan with streamers and placards
bearing calls against demolition and calling for
Arroyo's ouster. In San Pablo, a trolleycade is
set to start this morning to gather residents
along the railways to an assembly against
demolition due to the Southrail Project.
Participants to the caravan wore t-shirts
depicting Arroyo with the Hitler moustache and
swastika, wearing military uniform and carrying a
gun while atop a train; in the background is a
red-blood map of CALABARZON marking the towns
where the train passes through from Tagkawayan,
Quezon to San Pedro, Laguna. A large tarpaulin
with the same design is mounted on a truck that
serves as an MPT during the caravan. Participants
also wore hats bearing their calls.
Tolentino said that around 70,000 families stand
to lose their homes and livelihood due to the
Southrail project. Implementation of Phase 1 and
Phase 2 of the project from Caloocan to Calamba,
Laguna has already began. He condemned the
Community Mortgage Program being sold by the
government to the urban poor, saying that this
only "sinks the people further in debt and
poverty." The relocation areas under the CMP
amount to around P100,000 per family.
Tolentino said that based on visits to the
Southville Housing Project in Cabuyao, Laguna,
they found out that the 7,000 families relocated
there are suffering from lack of services such as
electricity, water, and lack of livelihood. On
the other hand, thousands of residents of 13
barangays of Sta Clara, Batangas also face
threats of demolition due to the expansion of the
Batangas International Port. In Cavite, 34
barangays will be demolished due to private and
public corporations and the expansion of MRT 2
from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite. In Rizal,
communities in Daang Tubo, San Mateo and along
the dumpsite in Montalban, Rizal also face threats of demolition.
The protest caravan will be welcomed by residents
of Los Baños, Brgy. Bucal, Calamba, and Brgy. San
Isidro, Cabuyao on its way to Cabuyao, Laguna
where the protesters will rest tomorrow. The
caravan will then converge with other contingents
from Southern Tagalog on July 23 to air the real
plight of the urban poor on Monday. Tolentino
said the Arroyo administration's so-called
development programs such as the Southrail do not
lead to genuine development. "For the urban poor
of Southern Tagalog massive demolitions and
disregard to their welfare amid the worsening
economic crisis are our bases for calling for Arroyo's ouster." ###
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