But Defensor sought their cooperation in efforts to relocate them to pave the way for the long-delayed modern rapid railway system that would reduce travel time between Metro Manila and the Clark special economic zone to 30 minutes.
Defensor urged the 35,000 families to prepare to move out to resettlement sites put up for them by the second and third quarters of next year, utilizing some P4 billion which the government has allocated for the resettlement projects.
Defensor said the transfer of families along railroad tracks in Malabon and Caloocan City has lured more proponents "which are now vying to win the bidding for the construction of the North Railway project."
"But there will be no forcible demolition. We will help each other and agree on acceptable resettlement sites," Defensor told reporters at the Expo Pilipino here the other day.
Defensor said the clearing of the old tracks of the Philippine National Railways is part of the requirements imposed by foreign firms interested in undertaking the North Railway project.
He said companies from Spain, China and Japan are interested in the project, which was initially proposed during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos.
"The Chinese group is telling us that if we clear the railways, we will be provided a soft loan to cover the cost, but we will have to spend (for the clearing) first," Defensor said.
He said about 17,000 families in Bulacan would have to move out by the second quarter of next year. "By the third quarter, we will be entering Pampanga going toward Clark," he said.