QC squatters protest eviction
Submitted by pirate on 28 September 2008 - 11:49pm
MANILA, Philippines -- Some 50 residents of a squatter colony trooped Monday to the Commission on Human Rights compound to protest their impending eviction from a government lot in Quezon City.
The protesters, all clad in black, sought the intervention of CHR commissioner Leila de Lima as the local inter-agency committee, headed by the Quezon City police district, gave them until Saturday to stay on the 1,500-square meter property.
Pacita Quesada, 62, a resident of the area for 24 years, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that a seven-day notice was given to at least 75 families last Friday. "It is unfair to give us only seven days. We know that we settled on a property that we do not own and would voluntarily leave when asked, but they could at least give us more time to find means to move to new homes," she said.
She added that the QCPD was offering P3,000 to every family.
Inquirer learned that the QCPD was planning to build a model police station and fire station on the site.
The illegal residents also planned to troop to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, which would be implementing the demolition, to seek a moratorium on their scheduled eviction.
