Squatting not a barangay burden

Plain View

By ATTY. ROMEO V. PEFIANCO

February 23, 2011, 10:28pm

MANILA, Philippines – DILG this week shifted to 44,000 barangays the responsibility of stopping the spread of squatter communities nationwide.

What we know is that squatting on private/public land cannot be stopped even by the national government in cities like Manila, QC, Pasay, Caloocan, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, all other local governments in NCR, and in all cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Spread of squatting

Squatting is a social and economic menace that has evolved in the last 50 to 60 years, especially in capital cities. River banks, shallow creeks (esteros), and small waterways have been claimed by squatters for some filthy reasons: 1) disposing of human waste and garbage is made easy, 2) their shanties are located near their place of work, 3) squatters run an underground “business or trade” that requires small capital, and 4) they can easily organize a form of “front” for election purposes.

Battlecry

Last December, the demolition of squatter leantos and shanties was stopped by President Noynoy before Christmas on humanitarian grounds.

What caught the TV viewers’ attention was their battlecry while defending themselves with steel bars and stones. They shouted, “Napakinabangan ninyo kami ng matagal” (We were useful to you for a long time). Yes, their deep grievance carried the ring of truth, especially their usefulness before and during election in May every three years.

Control in haciendas

In small provinces, about 20 of them, where poverty level has not gone down in the last few decades, the barangay officials themselves build their homes on land they don’t own.

Even in big and rich provinces where sugarcane is the principal crop, land ownership in a big town is shared by a few families which they call haciendas.

There are barangays in old and big towns that are fully located within the haciendas. The barangay government functions only with the consent of landowners.

Squatters’ beehive

In November, 1949, a maverick politician was elected congressman in the second district of Manila that includes Quiapo. He was a Negrense (from Talisay and Bacolod) named Arsenio Hilario Lacson. The nation’s capital became a beehive for squatters coming from various provinces and towns in Luzon and the south.

Their votes not needed

In November, 1951, Rep. Lacson decided to run for mayor and one of his major campaign pledges was to relocate or return all Manila squatters to their hometowns. But the candidate made it clear that their votes were not needed. NP Lacson won election by a landslide against a veteran politico and incumbent LP Mayor Manuel de la Fuente.

Demolition

Lacson’s campaign versus squatting, especially in Intramuros in the vicinity of MB, was completely successful after six years. Shacks, shanties, lean-tos made of old plywood, burned GI sheets, and pieces of wood left by anay were demolished on riverbanks, esteros, roadsides, and sidewalks.

Holdout

The last enclave to be vacated were the ruins of an old building destroyed in Liberation ’45 on Juan Luna, Binondo. It was aptly named Casbah (after the crowded quarters in Algiers). The squatters fought the city’s demolition teams to a halt and Lacson was forced to use half a dozen firetrucks to “finish” the relocation of Casbah’s tenants – dips, muggers, petty robbers, and other purveyors of vices big and small.

Re-claiming NCR

After Lacson, the nation’s capital was speedily reclaimed by squatters that slowly invaded all cities of Metro Manila. And no politician of stature ever wasted time to control squatting.

In the NCR, the squatter population is either guessed or estimated between 3.5 M and 4.5 M and QC is reported to be the nation’s squatting capital and leads all cities detached from Rizal province – Navotas, Malabon, Caloocan, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Makati, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Taguig, and Pasig.

Squatters anywhere

There’s no estimate of the squatter population nationwide. In provinces, cities, and towns, squatters build their “homes” on farms, highway shoulders, roadsides, public land, etc.

Controlling squatters, now promoted to “informal settlers,” is a tall order given to barangay officials. (Comments are welcome at roming@pefianco.com).