UN body calls RP government attention to forced evictions

A United Nations body has called the government’s attention to forced evictions that had violated the rights of many urban families.

The UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights is concerned about the estimated 16.5 million (roughly 30 percent) of the urban population that continue to live in slums on riverbanks, railroad tracks and other high-risk areas.

It recommended that government “ensure that persons forcibly evicted from their properties be provided with adequate compensation and/or offered relocation” in accordance with law and international human rights standards.

“(The government must) guarantee that relocation sites are provided with basic services... and adequate facilities... at the time the resettlement takes place,” the UN panel said.

Dan Nicholson, Asia and Pacific Programme Coordinator of international human rights organization Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, said the government must adopt a whole new approach to relocations to involve “real consultations” involving communities to ensure that sites have power and water and close to livelihoods, schools and healthcare facilities.

“This means reinstating the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor or another body with real, legally binding powers to enforce laws such as Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) of 1992, otherwise known as Republic Act 7279.”

Local governments that violate the law should be prosecuted as provided under RA 7279, he added.

Nicholson said Philippine laws and international standards continue to be violated as forced evictions continue to take place nationwide.

“It’s time for the government to take clear action to remedy the wrongs of the past twelve years,” he said.

Nicholson said the government’s allocation for housing, particularly the Community Mortgage Program, is inadequate.

“We call on the government to increase spending on housing from 0.5 percent of the budget to 2 percent, including a real increase for the CMP,” he said. – Katherine Adraneda