UP ignores appeals, evicts 35 families

The University of the Philippines yesterday morning pushed through with the eviction of 35 families living in a nearby community despite the appeal of the Quezon City government to put off the planned demolition.

A composite team of the UP Police and Central Police District (CPD), including members of the SWAT Team, enforced the demolition that began at around 8 a.m. yesterday.

An estimated 100 policemen, most of whom had ‘missing’ name tags, were at the demolition site. When asked about the ‘missing’ name tags, one UP policeman replied, "talagang walang nameplate kasi nagtatrabaho kami."

Five Quezon City councilors appealed to UP Vice Chancellor Gil Gotiangco last week to hold off the demolition in order to find a suitable relocation site for affected inhabitants of Barangay San Vicente, and to achieve and forge an agreement to resolve the issue harmoniously.

In an interview with Gotiangco over the weekend, he said he had no more time to reply to the appeal of the local officials and that there was no more merit for reconsideration in the first place.

Gotiangco left for South Korea last week and arrived Friday. He said he read the letters of appeal of the councilors around Friday noon.

"When I got here I had to report to my superiors and in the afternoon I had to attend to meetings. Wala ng panahon sa mga pagtugon, wala ng panahon na sumulat," he said.

In a last-minute move, Gotiangco replied to the letters of appeal early yesterday morning, rejecting the request of the Quezon City government.

According to Gotiangco, the issue has been going on since September 2001 and belied reports that there was no consultation with the affected residents.

He further said that neither a Presidential Memorandum previously issued, nor declarations, and not even the Lina Law could be used against the claims of the UP "because this is an educational institution."

Gotiangco said that the UP plans to establish a park in the demolished area.

Records show that Barangay San Vicente was declared an Area for Priority Development (APF) on May 14, 1980 or 44 years after Congress passed the UP Charter.

"The subsequent APD Law could have superseded salient provision of the UP Charter and thus, prevent the eviction of the affected families," Councilor Inton noted.

Under the APD Law, Inton explained, no structure could be demolished since the area is targeted for on site development by the government.

"If and when UP will object to the said appeal, the affected residents will have no other option but to file the necessary court action," Inton asserted.– Katherine Adraneda