MALOLOS , Philippines – Police officials here vowed to prevent members of the militant Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) from occupying vacant government housing units outside Pandi, Bulacan.
Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, Central Luzon police director, assured the public that the police would not allow members of the militant group to occupy other government housing units.
Members of Kadamay forcibly occupied close to 6,000 housing units of the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Pandi last month after they complained of the government’s failure to provide houses to poor citizens.
The housing units were supposed to be distributed to policemen and soldiers.
President Duterte announced last Tuesday that the Kadamay members would be allowed to stay in the housing units that they have occupied in Bulacan.
Aquino told The STAR that the militants could only stay in the NHA housing units in Pandi as stated by the President.
However, Kadamay coordinator Elizabeth Guerrero said that their members would try to occupy the vacant government housing units reserved for soldiers and policemen in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Senior Supt. Romeo Caramat Jr., acting Bulacan police director, said that they would stop Kadamay members from occupying vacant housing units in Bocaue and Bustos, Bulacan.
After occupying the military and police housing units in Pandi last March 8, the militants tried but failed to enter other NHA sites in Bocaue and Bustos.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had accepted President Duterte’s decision to let the Kadamay members keep the homes they have forcibly occupied in Pandi.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said soldiers do not mind giving up the houses allocated to soldiers and policemen so that the issue may be resolved peacefully.
“Our position in the Armed Forces is that there is no problem with the transfer (of rights to avail) and the President’s move so this can be resolved peacefully as he also announced that awardees affected would have their units replaced,” he announced in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo yesterday afternoon.
Padilla said soldiers did not suffer any loss because of President Duterte’s promise of better housing units for them, which would be built fast, hopefully before the end of the year.
He even admitted that some soldiers have complaints on the Pandi housing units that are reportedly too small for them, with some soldiers wanting to acquire two units to accommodate their growing families.
“The point here is that our government recognizes the shortage in housing and as far as we know, this is being properly addressed through programs that will be launched,” he added.
Wake-up call
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said yesterday the takeover of NHA housing units in Bulacan should be a wake-up call for the Duterte administration to address the country’s massive housing problem.
Ejercito, chairman of the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement, said the housing problem was evident with President Duterte’s decision to allow the Kadamay members to keep the houses they forcibly occupied.
“Resolving housing woes should not be as complicated as this. While I appreciate President Duterte’s heart for the poor and homeless, this should not be the means for anyone to become a recipient of housing projects. I am against any form of a government project being held hostage in order to justify anyone’s need for shelter, unless in times of calamity,” Ejercito said.
He said Kadamay should still go through the proper process in the turnover and awarding of housing units so that the incident would not be a bad precedent for other groups demanding government housing.
Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao lauded yesterday Duterte’s order to allow the Kadamay members to keep the housing units they have forcibly occupied in Pandi.
He, however, said that the housing units were substandard but the Kadamay members would stay in their new houses instead of having nothing.
“It is a good call by the President, by heeding the legitimate calls of the poor for shelter and we are hoping that his talk could do the walk in the soonest possible time,” Casilao said in a press statement.
He also cited the help of National Anti-Poverty Commission head Liza Maza, who was instrumental in conveying the demands of the urban poor to the President.
– With Paolo Romero, Michael Punongbayan, Ding Cervantes