Navy to evict 115 overstaying men

After the successful eviction of its overstaying retired officers last Saturday, the Navy is now looking to evict 115 of its retired enlisted personnel occupying the Married Enlisted Quarters (MEQ) at Fort Bonifacio Naval Station in Taguig City.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga said the 115 retired servicemen were served with a final notice of eviction and given seven days to move out.

Mayuga said the eviction notice stemmed from a resolution of the Navy Housing Board chaired by Navy Vice Commander Rear Admiral Abraham Abesamis.

Abesamis stressed the 115 retired Navy personnel have deprived active enlisted men of the opportunity to avail of housing privileges offered by the Navy to families.

The MEQ has a total of 225 housing units intended for the active enlisted personnel. There are about 103 active personnel while 122 units are listed under the names of retired navy personnel, seven of whom are members of the Coast Guard.

The 115 retired Navy servicemen, on the other hand, are members of the Navy Enlisted Homeowners’ Association Inc. (NEHAI) which was organized in 1992 by both active and retired enlisted men residing at the Navy Fort Bonifacio’s MEQ.

The 115 were served with the final notice of eviction after seven of them were able to secure a court injunction.

The move came after the Navy top brass succeeded last Saturday in driving out 56 retired officers overstaying at their quarters at the 20-hectare housing project in Fort Bonifacio Naval Station.

A day after, Mayuga and Abesamis led the Navy top brass in allowing six active senior officers to move into the controversial housing project.

Mayuga claimed the 115 overstaying retired enlisted personnel were simply following the example set by retired officers when they formed a group to question the eviction order against them.

But Mayuga expressed optimism that, by Friday, the 115 would voluntarily leave their quarters.

"I believe that our soldiers are disciplined. I don’t see any forthcoming problem," Mayuga said, referring to last Saturday’s dramatic eviction operations.

Mayuga added the 1,300-strong Navy and Marines assembled under Task Force Lipat Bahay are still intact and would be employed for next week’s operations.

Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan said one of the 115 retired enlisted personnel had volunteered to leave his quarters.

"One retired enlisted personnel has requested transportation and (he) will leave this weekend," Malabanan said. – Jaime Laude