The battle at Sitio San Roque (Part I)

Richard James Mendoza

Late January 26, 2014, I received a text saying that another demolition has been implemented at Sitio San Roque in Quezon City. It was estimated that about 1200 people are going to implement the demolition, composed of 700 policemen and 500 members if the demolition team. The news came from a reliable source and because of this; the residents held a vigil that night as well as holding a meeting to draw up plans for the demolition. Though I received it on short notice, I decided to attend there anyway to be able to witness what happens during a demolition.

For those who may not know about Sitio San Roque, it is an urban poor community located beside Agham Road in Quezon City. As of last year, the area had around 7,000 families, which was quite low compared to 2010 when it had 10,000 families. One may doubt the official version of the government as to why it wants to demolish the community. Though they’ve said that it is simply for road widening purposes, one may become cynical about it as the area is one of those covered in the proposed Quezon City Central Business District (QC-CBD), a district that is similar in concept to the Makati Business District. The area has been subjected to multiple demolitions since 2010 but it has been resisted by the residents.

The announced call time was 6am, to preempt the demolition team and the police that might block the road. I arrived at around 6:18am, somewhat late but could pass as being on time. Approaching Agham Road, I noticed that almost the whole section of the Manila Seedling Bank was blocked by palisades constructed with a wooden frame and corrugated roofing. Looking at an unblocked portion of the said establishment, one could see security personnel guarding the place. Looking at the palisade, a line of text looks to be erased; it was a call to action, which said: “Ibalik ang MSB sa manggagawa! – KM FDFP (Return the MSB to the workers! – KM FDFP).” I also noticed two SWAT trucks that passed by Quezon Ave., perhaps conducting surveillance around the area.

Near the Office of the Ombudsman, I stayed around for a while as I looked for my team leader. While waiting, some of the residents can be seen holding a program, as well as preparing themselves for the impending demolition by holding “demolition drills”, a drill that intended to prepare the residents to face the demolition team as well as some tips during confrontations. Media presence was quite large at this time as they covered what was happening at that part of the area. A barricade made by the residents is placed at the side of the road, ready to be utilized anytime.  I felt that I may have stayed in that area for too long and so I decided to go to the North Triangle area.

The sense of urgency was rather palpable around the area, though one could see that many are rather relaxed, seemingly unaware of things that are about to happen. Approaching the North Triangle area, I noticed that there were fewer people than on the Agham area. The media were also nowhere to be found. But the level of activity was just about the same. There is also a barricade waiting to be positioned at any time. The area was supposed to be a place where people from other sectors could go to show their support but so far there were only a few of them, myself included.  As the start of the demolition neared, some of the leaders started to call out to people to get out of their household to prepare for the demolition.

At around: 8:40 a.m., the police blocked the path that came from North Ave. The residents responded by positioning their own barricade. Fourteen minutes later, a large number of SWAT personnel coming from the direction of Veteran’s Hospital came in marching towards Agham Road and held their formation. Meanwhile, an adolescent retreated towards our position. It was clear that he was affected by the teargas fired by the policemen positioned near the Office of the Ombudsman. Different reports have come in, from snipers hiding inside the community to policemen firing consecutive shots of teargas at the area. We also noted that the demolition started at 8:58 a.m.

At 9:16 a.m., policemen coming from the direction of Veteran’s Hospital started to march towards Agham Road and held their formation. A minute later, they started to march through the road. Someone whose name currently escapes me tried to negotiate with the marching officers but to no avail as their numbers began to increase as they marched on. Some of the leaders started to call people out of their homes to take action but nothing happened. They simply looked on like passersby who stumbled upon a demolition.

As we neared the Ombudsman area, the action had just ended and the protesters held a program while being surrounded by a battalion of policemen. The effects of the teargas still pervaded the atmosphere at that time. While the program was ongoing, the paralegal team started to conduct interviews about what happened when the demolition started. We learned that people were surprised about the sudden entry of the demolition team inside their homes. Some had their possessions pocketed by the demolition team (which by the way is illegal; it is considered as qualified theft), others were harassed by police, and many were affected by the teargas.

As noon approached the residents started to hold their own formation, positioning themselves and arranging the now-broken barricade that was said to be run over by a dump truck, thus adding tension to the already tense atmosphere that held the place the entire morning. It was clear that another battle was going to take place. What happened next are things I’ll probably never forget in my whole life.

(To be continued)

Pag-alay ng dasal

Ipadasal daw natin:
nabugbog-saradong artistahin.
Mag-alay raw ng dasal
para sa kanyang ikakagaling.
Ngunit ayaw ihandog ang sarili
para sa mas maraming
inaapi.

(Unang nai-post ito bilang status update sa aking FB account.)
Umaga ng Enero 26, 2014
Lungsod Quezon

Ending our misery

Richard James Mendoza

Last Tuesday, the oral arguments were held at the Supreme Court regarding the case against Meralco filed by groups like the Bayan Muna partylist and electricity advocacy group Nasecore. Since I was attending protest actions that were being held outside the high court, I wasn’t able to get updates from the hearing until the next day. And so what I saw in the news articles that covered the oral arguments was something that both confused and angered me at the same time. It only took me a look at the Facebook status of the labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno to confirm my uneasiness about the possibility of the SC handing down a decision that is partial to Meralco.

Quoting from Inquirer’s news item “Meralco accused of jacking up rates”, KMU’s Facebook account called Chief Justice Sereno a ‘puppet of Aquino’ and said that her comment to the petitioners about their petition to invalidate Sections 6 and 29 of the Epira Law as “using a sledge hammer when a surgeon scalpel could have sufficed” as an indication of what the decision of the high court could be like after everything else have been settled.

In another news item, “Makabayan bloc accuses Meralco of price manipulation”, the Justices “…have questioned petitioners why they went straight to the Supreme Court instead of the Energy Regulatory Commission.” But that’s exactly the reason why the petitioners went straight to the SC instead of the ERC (and rightfully so). Based from what I’ve witnessed in some public hearings and public consultations in the ERC, it just seems that the agency has virtually become a rubber stamp for Meralco’s extortive profit-making.

I guess it’s safe to say that the whole-day protest actions held last Tuesday were successful. Though we all hope that the SC would side with the people when they shall pass down the verdict, one can’t help but feel a little bit apprehensive about it since there is always a possibility that there is already a decision in favor of Meralco and that the oral arguments are a mere formality; or in other words: “lutong macau”, just like in the ERC.

In a recent turn of events, Meralco said that they didn’t really mean to raise the rates because they ‘accidentally’ bought the shares of TMO at P62 per share at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). Rep. Colmenares of Bayan Muna rightfully called them out that they shouldn’t have the consumers pay for their mistakes. This kind of reminded me of a rather sarcastic but truthful definition of austerity: “Austerity is where the poor pays for the mistakes of the rich.”

I think that this Meralco fiasco is turning out to be the Enron scandal of the early 2000’s. But the difference is that Enron eventually closed down and its top executives were held accountable. Here in our country, nothing has happened yet to the oligarchs that own and control Meralco as well as the ones who manage the ERC, the supposed energy regulatory body in the country. We can only hope that at the very least, these oligarchs get jailed for their unrepentant greed.

Meanwhile, DOTC Secretary Emilio Abaya announced that they are not going to implement yet the proposed fare hike of the MRT-LRT railways, saying that they have considered the issue of the TRO on Meralco’s rate hike. They said that they didn’t want to be insensitive to the public by imposing the increased fares alongside Meralco’s rate increase. Based from their statement, does it mean that they’re going to implement the fare hike when Meralco wins its case in the SC? And isn’t it also insensitivity on their part if they decide to implement the fare hike? This is a statement made in bad faith, for they are hiding their true intentions under the cloak of sympathizing with the burdened public.

These shenanigans have been going on for too long under the US-Aquino regime. Heartless, callous; these adjectives fit this present administration to the tee. Ever since Noynoy Aquino was appointed by the machinery of the imperialist US and the local elite, he has been hell-bent on pleasing his local and foreign masters at the expense of the public. Until now, he continues to hide under his security blanket of his fantastic “Tuwid na Daan” mantra that was obviously created by his handlers. These past three years have not shown a “Tuwid na Daan” but a “Huwad na Daan”; a fraudulent straight path that only goes straight into an abyssal misery and no alibis from the likes of the Yellows will ever perfume this decomposing regime.

The bureaucrat-capitalists alongside the large bourgeoisie-compradors have maintained their clout in society only because they have conspired with one another in maintaining the status quo, all the while putting up the illusory Potemkin village of “freedom” and “democracy” by means of the mainstream media to control the backward populace. Only through organized action can we challenge the organized greed and fascism of the status quo and end our misery, for the ones in power are not that willing to give up their power so easily.

To end this, let me quote from “Papuri sa Pag-aaral” (In Praise of Study):

“Pag-aralan ang kalagayan/Ng ating lipunan/Iwaksi maling kaisipan/Nang mapalaya ang bayan” (Study the conditions of our society/dispel wrong ideas/for the sake of the masses’ freedom”

Activism blues

Richard James Mendoza

(Dedicated to all my comrades-in-arms)

I’m a proud member of Anakbayan, a comprehensive mass organization of the youth. So yes mother, I’m an activist just like my sister. Those times when I got home late? About more than half of those instances, I was either attending a meeting or having educational discussions with my comrades. I’m that noisy and jobless bum that does nothing but rant on the internet and loiter on the streets. I’m that super duper evil guy who deceives my fellow youth with what can be said in the vernacular as “matatamis at mapanlinlang na mga salita,” the same method that’s also being utilized by those money-making pyramid scams, but I digress. So what led me into this path? I honestly don’t know. And then came one particular day.

Sometime before the day of the elections last year, I attended a forum about the state of the upcoming elections as well as a short discussion of the PCOS machines, which was the main reason I attended the forum in the first place since it kinda related to my interest in IT stuff back then. Though I knew about the relationship between US imperialism and the 2013 elections, it still shocked me back then when one of the speakers related it to the three problems that pester the country, which is imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, with the latter being a new term to me back then. After the forum, some of them invited me to a rally which took place at the Comelec office in Intramuros, to which I admittedly hesitated to accept.

It was in that rally that I saw various progressive groups and alliance express their grievances against an institution which has often favored the ruling class by its railroading of the PCOS machines as well as harassing progressive groups such Piston by filing disqualification cases against them based on flimsy and subjective grounds. It was there that I saw people take collective action to assert their rights so that they can be heard. It was also there that I was offered to join Anakbayan, in which I evaded at first since I had a lot of reservations about joining progressive organizations (yes, I did have those) and that I didn’t want to experience what my sister went through inside the household in her first few years that she became a full time activist. However, the option of joining Anakbayan never left my mind.

A few months later, I finally attended an orientation and eventually became a member. This was around a week before Noynoy Aquino’s SONA. When I was handed the membership form, I hesitated (as usual) and as I accomplished the form, It thought to myself with something like “I probably should say to him that I’m not joining Anakbayan” but it soon changed into “I don’t know what world I’m entering into, but I’m going in anyway. Let’s see what happens.” I announced this to my sister and to Ka Mentong and the response was positive, which helped ease my mind about it.

Several months have passed since I became a member that I’ve begun to appreciate the value and importance of collective action. Sometimes, I would remember a time when I attended an ERC hearing sometime around September 2011. Before the hearing, we were telling the other “kabansa’s” that the hearing would start at 9AM. However, we came to the venue only to stumble upon an empty room! A few days before, we double-checked the schedule by visiting ERC’s website as well as calling the ERC just to make sure. But when we checked the time on the website, it suddenly became 2:30PM!

But as we found out, the bulletin board outside the hearing room listed the hearing at 9AM! Of course we simply couldn’t let this pass us up. We decided to obtain a copy of the schedule and had it marked as a “certified true copy.” Meanwhile, we decided to “campout” the hearing room and thought of what course of action we should take. At the advice of some lawyers, we decided to attend the hearing lest we might get defaulted. The Meralco lawyers finally arrived at 2:30PM. Interesting, isn’t it? Regardless, we motioned for the hearing to be moved to another date because of all the shenanigans that just transpired. Our motion was granted

But why did I join Anakbayan anyway? Why did I become an activist? Did I really have to join this organization just so I can say that I’m fighting for our rights; “para panindigan ko talaga ito,” as my mother said? Not really. I didn’t choose to walk this path; I was simply led into it by “some Will infinitely stronger than my own,” to paraphrase Paul Laurence Dunbar. In those times where I visited the studio talking about various things as well as attending those hearings at ERC, there was always a thought that some things were missing. We may have had an audience, but we weren’t really reaching out to others, except perhaps to some other “force” (the radio program had been an occasional victim of signal jamming). Somehow, I felt that these things were simply not enough.

Back then, I often said and thought that educating and informing the people would be enough for them to take action. That is partly correct, but I learned that one should also organize the people into a group and then mobilize them into action. So why did I join again? I want… no, I have to serve the people. There are many others who are suffering from the chicanery and oppression of this God-forsaken land because of our inaction, hesitation, and sheer indifference.  I joined because I realized that the revolution that we have been longing for so long can only be achieved if we can collectivize ourselves into an organized force for this the only answer to the organized exploitation of the ruling classes. There is no room for apathy in this f’ed-up world.