MMDA, NHA get ‘horror award’ from Pasig folk

In time for the celebration of Earth Day, settlers from the Pasig River Friday prized the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the National Housing Authority (NHA) their prestigious ‘horror role’ awards for being the worst agencies in the government.

In a forum, urban poor groups Ugnayang Lakas ng mga Apektadong Pamilya sa Baybaying Ilog Pasig (ULAP), and Kasiglahan Village (KV) 1 Action Group in Montalban, Rizal accused the two government agencies of not complying with their social obligation for the past nine years while rehabilitating the Pasig River.

"Earth Day reminds us of our part in cleaning the river but in the rehabilitation process, our basic human needs were neglected by these agencies," said Vener Alpapara, president of ULAP.

"We should not forget that a human (being) is also a part of the environment," she said.

The MMDA has implemented the 10-meter easement along the stretch of the Pasig River where an estimated 10,000 families were already demolished allegedly without proper relocation. According to the group, the implementation of MMDA Resolution No. 3-1996, adopting the 10-meter easement, is invalid and has no legal binding effect. It has resulted to forcible evictions in Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Pateros, Taguig and Manila. NHA‘s summary of relocation and resettlement operations reported that 10,219 families along the river were already relocated while some 5,557 families still face evictions.

Other points that made the MMDA deserving of the "horror role" award, the group noted, is the violation of its own policy when it demolished homes and properties of urban poor families within the 10-meter easement to give way to the construction of government buildings and funeral parlor, the use of the resolution as if it were a law as an excuse to relocate more families this year, the violation of the several provisions in the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) such as the defying of the 30-day demolition notice and the absence of consultation to affected residents. – Katherine Adraneda