Rail dwellers protest demolition of shanties

Hundreds of placard-bearing urban poor families living along the railroad tracks in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon and Valenzuela yesterday slammed the government’s planned demolition of their shanties to give way to the North Luzon Rapid Railway System (Northrail) Project.

In a protest march staged from the Tutuban PNR Building in Divisoria up to the Malanday, Valenzuela City Railroad Junction, the League of Urban Poor for Action (LUPA), said urban poor communities to be affected by the project have been told they will have to go because they are allegedly violating the five-meter danger zone along the railroad tracks and have become a traffic hazard. Apart from this, they have been early on tagged as eyesores.

But LUPA accused the national leadership and officials of the Philippines National Railways (PNR) of trying to cover up the real reason behind the eviction of the rail dwellers.

"They are just using these reasons to justify the demolition of our homes. The truth is they are railroading the poor in pursuit of the PNR’s eventual privatization," LUPA president Jess del Prado said.

Prado cited House Bill 5051 (National Railways Act) now pending in the Lower House as a basis for his statement. The bill proposes the privatization of the PNR and the national government’s plan to modernize the Philippine railway system. The Northrail project is also one of the administraton’s flagship projects.

Prado said in an interview that the government has no guarantee for viable relocation sites where they can enjoy the basic services like electricity, water and garbage disposal and means of livelihood.

"Mariin naming tinututulan ang pagpapalayas ng pamahalaan sa mga pamilya sa riles dahil wala namang kasiguruhan kung saan nila kami itatapon," Prado said.

LUPA estimates that the number of families to be affected by the project’s Phase I (Manila-Clark Phase) within a 30-meter radius along the rail tracks will be around 57,000 families.

The project proponents said modernization will entail the construction of a double-track system (widening of existing railroads to 15 meters on both sides) and enlarging existing stations (from the original 30-meter to a 70-meter radius).

Some 5,000 railroad dwellers in Caloocan City and Malabon City have vowed to oppose the relocation. They declared they will not leave their homes "along da riles" because their respective local government units are allegedly conspiring with the proponents of the PNR’s privatization.