MMDA demolishes 60 shanties in Pasay, Makati

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) demolished 60 shanties at the boundaries of Pasay and Makati yesterday as part of its campaign to rid Metro Manila of informal settlers.

The MMDA said informal settlers cause floods in Metro Manila because they throw their waste indiscriminately.

MMDA sidewalk clearing operations group director Roberto Esquivel said the 60 shanties demolished were from barangays Palanan and San Isidro in Makati and Barangay 51 in Pasay.

About 250 MMDA personnel used cranes in demolishing the shanties, which started around 9 am yesterday.

Esquivel said the shanties’ owners did not resist the demolition.

One of the residents said they requested the MMDA to allow them to extend their stay in the area until March to enable their children to finish their schooling at the nearby San Isidro Elementary School.

Some of the residents also asked the MMDA to provide them with relocation sites.

The local government of Pasay and Makati intervened and requested the MMDA to extend the deadline for one more week for the shanties’ owners to vacate the place, prompting Esquivel to stop the demolition at noontime, leaving 150 to 200 shanties still standing.

Pasay Vice Mayor Antonino Calixto promised to extend assistance to the affected residents.

The MMDA suggested some areas in Laguna, Rizal and Batangas as possible relocation sites.

The MMDA also demolished some 500 illegal structures last week in the northern part of Metro Manila following complaints that they are the major cause of delay in the flood control projects conducted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela.

The DPWH has also intensified its campaign against illegal obstructions along waterways in Metro Manila.

DPWH Assistant Secretary Rafael Yabut said they will  pursue the drive to remove all the blockages along waterways, especially in flood-prone areas, simultaneous with their campaign against illegal billboards.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza, meanwhile, pushed for children to be formally educated on garbage recycling because improper waste disposal is one of the major causes of flooding in the metropolis. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Helen Flores, Edu Punay and Rolando Marcos