Military men facing eviction seek Palace help

Active and retired military personnel and their families, who have been occupying a part of a military reservation inside the Southern Command (Southcom) headquarters in Zamboanga City for more than 20 years, have been given until the end of this month to vacate the place.

The soldiers are now appealing to President Arroyo to reconsider the eviction being initiated by Southcom chief Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko.

"Instead of driving us away, we appeal to the President to issue a proclamation awarding us the lots, which we have been occupying for more than 20 years," the soldiers said in a letter to Mrs. Arroyo.

Kyamko earlier had asked Zamboanga City Mayor Ma. Clara Lobregat to look for a possible relocation site for the more or less 50 families of soldiers who will be evicted from the reservation.

He claimed the soldiers have illegally constructed their dwellings inside Camp Don Basilio Navarro in the Calarian district.

"The increasing number of squatters occupying the western portion of the South-com headquarters is quite alarming. Aside from military personnel who illegally constructed their dwellings, there are also PNP personnel and civilians who are considered security risks to the camp," Kyamko told Lobregat in a letter.

But the soldiers, mostly junior and enlisted personnel of the Army and the Navy (Marines), refuted Kyamko’s statement that they are security risks.

"Being soldiers, we’ve been fighting the enemies of the state, we’re not the enemies here. Naglilingkod naman kami sa gobyerno (We are serving the government)," they said.

With barely enough money to build new houses, they claimed that it would be difficult for their families to start all over again.

If their eviction pushes through, the soldiers will be relocated outside the camp, with the city government providing lots for them.

However, the soldiers nixed the relocation plan and want to stay where they are at present.

"Now we are uniting ourselves once again to ask and plead to the government to consider many things. We believe that the government still has a heart to look into the matter," they said.