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Pasig squatters stage noise barrange before MMDA office

       MANILA, Sept. 2 2002 (PNA) -- Around 50 squatters living on the
banks of the Pasig River whose homes the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) has threayened to demolish, staged a
noise barrage for one and a half hour in front of the MMDA main
office in Makati City Monday.

       The protestors, who are members of the Ugnayang Lakas ng mga
Nakatira sa Tabing Ilog Pasig (ULAP), said they are asking MMDA
Chairman Bayani Fernando to reconsider his plan to demolition their
houses to address the flood problem of the metropolis.

       Vener Alpapara, ULAP president said they think the MMDA
chairman is not pro-poor.

      "We are totally disgruntled by Fernando who does not recognize
the rights of the poor including the 10,000 families he sets to
evict," he said.

      Fernando noted, however, that even before President Arroyo
became president of the country, around 4,000 illegal Pasig River
squatter shanties have been demolished.

      He said he would not grant the negotiation asked by the
protestors because they will only exploit it to extend their stay in
the area instead of looking for another  place where they could stay
legally.

      "Negotiation would not help because it will not result to any
better solution," he said.

      Fernando said the protesters must go to the National Housing
Authority (NHA) regarding their housing problem because the
government has plans readied for them.

      "NHA has plans for them regarding their relocation," he said.

      "We have to continue implementing our plan because the whole
Metro Manila will benefit from it," he said.

      Meanwhile, MMDA vice chairman Cesar Lacuna said the protetors'
claims that they would be demolished because of the cancellation of
the P8.9 billion Pasig River loan intended for housing and river
rehabilitation is not true.

      "What they are saying is not true," he said.

      "Demolition of their houses will push through even if Asian
Development Bank did not cancel the loan," he said.

      Lacuna said demolition of the houses on the banks of the Pasig
River has been the government's plan even in the past.

      Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) Executive Director
Binjie Gutierrez, said, "clearing of the riverbanks and relocation is
the priority activity to be undertaken immediately." (PNA)
 JCN/JS/jsd


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