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By Rhodina Villanueva (The Philippine Star) Updated May 14, 2009 12:00 AM MANILA, Philippines Tension gripped more than 262 families living in Barangay Western Bicutan, Taguig after members of the Philippine Army started knocking down houses in the area yesterday morning. However, the demolition of houses being occupied by around 262 families was stopped after Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tiga appealed to stop the demolition until the residents are relocated. Tiga visited the site and personally requested Task Force Bantay Head Col. Marcial Constante Jr. to stop the demolition of informal settlers residing in sitios Masigasig and Masagana, and parts of Katipunan Village Sunriser, who have nowhere to go once evicted. The areas in question are part of the Libingan ng mga Bayani National Shrine, owned by the Department of National
Defense (DND). The demolition was eventually stopped around 10 a.m. Tiga ordered the immediate construction of a staging area near the property, where the homeless families will be temporarily relocated. Vice Mayor George Elias said all the affected families will be accommodated in the makeshift shelter. The said families will be supplied with food and other basic necessities including toiletries, etc. Elias added that though the city government is not really the one responsible to provide a permanent relocation site for the informal settlers, they can still conduct an evaluation of the affected residents and see if they qualify for the housing programs launched in the city. There are also cases wherein the affected families can be transferred to housing projects in provinces near the city under the Balik Probinsya program. Moreover, Office of Social Welfare and Development head Nitz Jordan said the city government will continue to extend assistance to the affected families until the issue has been resolved. She encouraged the displaced residents to apply and avail of the city s housing program. On May 7, the Philippine Army s Task Force Bantay issued a memorandum asking the informal settlers to voluntarily demolish their houses based on Court of Appeals decision, affirming the DND s ownership of the area.
Yesterday, members of the Philippine Army s Task Group Bantay started to enforce the memorandum. The residents however, resisted and started throwing stones and bottles at the demolition team. A male resident identified in reports as Joemar de la Cruz reportedly sustained minor injury in the incident. But Senior Inspector Patricio Manlimil of Police Community Precinct 1 said their monitoring showed no one was injured even if there was resistance from the residents. Gunshots were also heard during the commotion but the local police said they were not able to verify who fired shots. The demolition was suspended only after Tiga intervened. Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan, Taguig police chief, said there were around 45 policemen that included members of the Civil Disturbance Management group, who were sent in the area to provide security as well as help maintain order while the operation was being conducted. Source: (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=467267&publicationSubCategoryId=65)
Source: (http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/ht/ht006624.htm)
Source: (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20090515-205107/Taguig-settlerseviction-still-on-amid-appeal)
MANILA, Philippines--A party-list group and a church are asking for an investigation into the military-led demolition of shanties in Western Bicutan in Taguig. The house resolution filed by ABA-AKO Party-list Representative Leonardo Montemayor on Thursday said the Philippine Army s Task Group Bantay had conducted the demolition without the required certificate of compliance and violated some protocols. It cited the Executive Orders 152 and 708 of President Macapagal-Arroyo, which states that the government designates the local housing boards as the sole clearing-house for all demolition and eviction activities. The military also violated the Constitution?s Section 10 Article 8 stating that poor dwellers should be evicted in a ?just and humane manner,? the resolution said. On Wednesday, soldiers of the Task Group Bantay began tearing down cramped houses in Sitio Masigasig, a land purportedly owned by the Department of National Defense. Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tiga later asked the military to suspend the demolition until the construction of the staging area for the temporary relocation. Tiga has promised the residents relocation to an empty lot beside the Centennial Village. Task Group Bantay s ground commander Col. Marcial Constante Jr. said the settlers were occupying the 40-hectare land, which is part of the Libingan ng mga Bayani National Shrine. He earlier said in an interview that his troop was only enforcing the decision of the Court of Appeals, which reversed and set aside the ruling of Commission on the Settlement of Land Problems. The residents, most of them have been living in the area for more than 10 years, got a favorable decision from COSLAP. It ruled that the land in question was alienable and disposable as proclaimed by then President Ferdinand Marcos. A bishop of the Eastern Catholic Church, Mar Yokhannan Bar-Thoma also questioned how the soldiers treated the civilians and urged an immediate investigation. They were treating (the residents) as if they were threats to national security, He told the Inquirer in Filipino. He said the settlers told him that the soldiers did not spare women and children during the demolition. We want to ask them which interest they are serving? He said. An indignation mass officiated by the Eastern Catholic Church was held in the demolition site on Friday morning. Source: (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20090516-205383/Probe-intoBicutan-shanties-demolition-sought)
Kabilang umano sa mga biktima ng demolisyon ay mga kababaihan at mga bata. Kaya naman paalala ni Revilla, ginarantiyahan ng RA 9262 o ang Violence Against Women and Children Act ang kapakanan ng mga kababaihan at mga bata. Ang makitang winawasak ang kanilang tahanan at kawalan ng tiyak na masisilungan habang matindi ang buhos ng ulan ay tiyak na makakapangamba sa isang ina o bata hinggil sa kanilang kaligtasan," ayon sa senador. Bukod sa matinding hirap sa kalooban, sinabi ni Revilla na nalalantad ang mga kababaihan at bata sa mga sakit kapag nabasa ng ulan gaya ng sipon, lagnat at mga water-borne diseases tulad ng dengue, diarrhea, cholera at leptospirosis. Sa halip na gamitin ang malaking bilang ng demolition crew at security forces sa paggiba ng bahay ng mga mahihirap, makabubuting gamitin ang puwersa sa mga search and rescue mission, evacuation at relief operation sa mga magiging biktima ng bagyo. Ang tigil-demolisyon ay maaaring ipatupad habang naghahanap naman ng solusyon ang pamahalaan sa tumitinding suliranin sa kakulangan ng mahusay na programang pabahay. Base umano sa ginawang pag-aaral ng Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) noong 2010, kabilang ang Pilipinas sa mga bansa sa Asya na may malaking bilang ng mga slum dweller. Mula 2000 hanggang 2006, tumaas ang slum population sa annual rate na mahigit na 3.5 percent kumpara sa urban population growth rate ng 2.3 percent. Sa Metro Manila lang, tinatayang 37 porcent ng population o mahigit 4.0 milyong katao ang naninirahan sa slum areas noong 2010. Pagdating ng 2050, tinatayang aabot pa sa siyam na milyon ang slum population sa Metro Manila. -- GMA News Source: (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/229309/pinoy-abroad/tigil-demolisyon-sa-mga-iskuwaterhiniling-ngayong-tag-ulan)
The Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed the criminal complaints filed against Taguig City Mayor Sigfrido Tinga and 28 other officials in connection with the alleged illegal demolition of squatter shanties at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) in Western Bicutan, it was learned Wednesday. In a 21-page decision approved by Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez, the anti-graft body said there was no substantial evidence to proceed with the prosecution of the case. Also cleared of the case were Capt. Oscar Quilang Sr., OIC of the Administrative Office of Fort Bonifacio; Josephine Papa, Local Housing Office; Virginia Cruz, Department of Education; Dalisay Lizardo, National Housing Authority; Virgilio Llemeses, Urban Poor Affairs Office, demolition and vending office chief Edgardo Mendoza; Barangay Chairman Danilo Rivera; Barangay Kagawad Armando Lopez; Atty. GIlbert Boiser, Commission on Human Rights; Percival Chavez, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor; Teresita Cuevas, Department of National Defense; Honorita Bayudan, Department of Social Welfare and Development; and 16 others who are mostly military officials. The charges stemmed from the alleged illegal demolition of the residence of private complainant Gloria Macaraeg, a member of the Sitio Masagana Taguig Neighborhood Association, Inc. (SMBTNAI) in Barangay Western Bicutan, on January 29, 2008. Macaraeg alleged that on April 10, 2006, she and other residents were issued notices to vacate by the Taguig local government even if the administration and jurisdiction over the lot is with the Military Shrines Services (MSS) of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO).
Moreover, she said the Philippine Army has been authorized by the Department of National Defense to undertake measures to demolish or file appropriate charges against illegal incursions in the LNMB. The complainant averred that for more than 10 years already, she is a bona fide resident, lawful professor and owner of the residential lot consisting 100 square meters in Sitio Masagana wherein her demolished residence was built.
Source: (http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/255045/tinga-28-others-cleared-over-illegal-demolition)
Source: (http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290786/taguig-get)
MANILA, Philippines Taguig Mayor Ma. Laarni Lani Cayetano is dead-set on recovering the lost city government properties that were purportedly given away by her predecessor just before she assumed office last June 30. The camp of the incumbent mayor said it has taken legal steps to solve the headaches caused by the so-called midnight donations by former three-term Taguig mayor Freddie Tiga. We have taken the necessary legal steps to recover vehicles, equipment and even property which we deemed as missing from the actual inventory or are in the possession of unauthorized personalities, lawyer Darwin Icay, Team Cayetano spokesperson, said. According to Icay, a former city councilor, Cayetano is determined to get back the missing properties for the benefit of her constituents. We will not tolerate this obvious attempt at sabotaging city hall operations and will apply the full force of law to punish the perpetrators, he said. The last-minute donations made by Tiga to his 25 allied barangays involving some 283 vehicles, office equipment, supplies and even lots owned by the City Hall had been deemed illegal by the new local administration. We are still in the process of recovering what we deemed as illegal donations of 283 service vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks, tourist buses, military trucks, and motorcycles, Icay said. Vice Mayor George Elias, a staunch ally of now District I (Taguig-Pateros) Representative Tiga, said the barangays are now the legal owners of the vehicles by virtue of the deed of donation, as ratified by the City Council. The donation was therefore above-board and Cayetano has no right to take or confiscate them, Elias said. When Cayteno assumed her post as mayor, nearly all City Hall offices were found sacked of essential supplies and equipment, handicapping the operations of the local government, Icay said. Among those given away were electronic items such as sound system sets, audio visual equipment, computers as well as chairs and file cabinets. Even transactions involving the donation and selling of City Hall-owned lots proved to be controversial, said the lawyer. Icay said the Office of the Mayor is about to complete an audit of the transactions and contracts passed during the time of Tiga. He added that numerous anomalies have cropped up from the ongoing audit.
Source: (http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/278417/taguig-mayor-vows-get-back-lost-properties-city-govt)
In the findings, Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer Nellie Boguen-Golez ruled that there was no legal basis on the complaint filed by a certain Sandie Obragon Bilog following the demolition of his house and other illegal settlements at LNMB in Sitio Masagana, Western Bicutan, Taguig. It bears to emphasize that except for the allegation that the demolition was illegal there was no specific acts attributed to each of the respondents or evidence to show that violation of Section 3e of Republic Act (RA) 3019, Illegal Demolition, Malicious Mischief, Grave Threats and Qualified Theft were committed by them, Golez said. The Ombudsman stressed that Bilog cannot claim ownership over the land where his house was built because it is a National Shrine Reservation, now known as the Cemetery of Heroes. Being Part of the National Shrine Reservation, now commonly known as the Libingan ng mga Bayani, it is exempted from the operation of Republic Act 7279 or the Lina Law (which provides relocations to squatters), the resolution read. The Ombudsman said the complainant failed to provide legal documents that would establish ownership or rights over the land where his residence was built, despite submitting a photocopy of the Affidavit of Deed of Assignment with Waiver. It pointed out that even the regular court did not grant the preliminary injunction prayed for by Bilog as he failed to demonstrate that they have a clear and positive right to the preliminary injunction especially as the property in question is still actually covered by Proclamation No. 208 (The Marcos Proclamation which excluded certain portion of land in Taguig and reserved that same for national shrine purposes). It was ruled that therein plaintiff clearly failed to show any right on the lot in question, added the Ombudsman.
Source: (http://www.mb.com.ph/node/251246/o)