It’s as if the greed and neglect piled upon more greed and neglect has turned into something thick and viscid, and like mud threatens to harden into something more permanent. I can only hope that that something is awakening, and not despair.
After surviving yet another raging flood that took away their home and belongings, Kasiglahan residents are at a loss as to how to start again.
Under existing policies and government priorities, there seems to be no safe place for displaced poor of Metro Manila. They have been deprived of the right to city, to adequate housing, and to decent life. Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) has again brought to the fore the government’s criminal neglect.
From Luzon to Mindanao, urban poor relocatees tell stories of hunger, worsening poverty and desperation.
Recalling life as a migrant worker, Magdalena shares her secret on how she was able to endure long years working abroad. Apart from the salary given her, she demanded her boss three simple things: “Treat me as a human being, provide me food and a give me a little freedom.” When asked if she receives…
Thousands of residents affected in flooded relocation sites in Montalban.
“In fact, we want the DAP to be abolished including the Informal Settlers Fund, which has served as a milking cow to corrupt officials in the National Housing Authority and other shelter agencies of the Aquino administration, and a source of business capital to low-cost housing firms.” – Montalban Relocatees Alliance
“I thought that our struggle would end when we accepted the offer to relocate. But now I realized that it is not yet over.”
They were removed from “danger zones” in the city to a relocation site where they face not only the lack in social services and livelihood opportunities but also floods, landslides, and potentially, an earthquake because the relocation site sits near a fault line.
“The houses look good. But we do not have livelihood there. We have electricity and water but we do not have money to pay our bills.” – Purita Dayao
Part Two: From danger zones to a death zone
A study conducted in 2004 revealed that two resettlement sites (Kasiglahan Village and Sub-Urban Housing Project) are located in an area that is highly vulnerable to floods and earthquakes