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)
