Urban poor groups seek ban on demolition of squatter colonies

MANILA, Philippines - Urban poor organizations filed yesterday a petition with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to stop the demolition of their houses during the election period, saying this would lead to their disenfranchisement in the May 10 polls.

The Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity and Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise Foundation said they might not be able to vote when theirs houses are tore down and they are transferred to relocation sites.

UPA said 804,562 urban poor voters would be disenfranchised because of the demolition and relocation being conducted by the government.

The three groups maintained that by displacing the voters, their basic right to vote would be violated.

Estrella Terencio, president of Urban Poor Southville Association Inc., said she was a railway dweller in Makati City who was relocated in 2006 to give way to the Northrail-Southrail Linkage project of the Philippine National Railways.

“When we were forcibly relocated to Cabuyao, Laguna more or less we had 4,000 voters prepared for the 2007 election. But only 400 were able to vote because most of us were not yet settled in the relocation site and did not have the required six-month residency,” she said.

Terencio added demolition ban should be imposed by the Comelec to ensure that their members could vote.     – Sheila Crisostomo