Demolition not the answer to squatting problem — bishop

Amid reports of violent demolitions in Quezon City, a Catholic bishop said demolition is not the answer to the squatting problem. At least four people were reportedly injured Wednesday as violence marred anew the demolition of houses in a neighborhood in New Manila, Quezon City. A week before, 10 persons were reportedly hurt as the residents and demolition team members clashed. “We are only making life miserable for them. Obviously, demolition is not the answer," said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) National Secretariat for Social Action Justice and Peace (NASSA). In an article on the CBCP news site, Pabillo said most informal settlers are “forced" to settle in urban areas like Manila because of the lack of livelihood opportunities in the provinces. Pabillo questioned the government's “drastic" solutions to the squatting problem wherein they merely demolish houses of squatters and relocate them to areas far from their work or source of income. He added that sending informal settlers back to their provinces is also not a viable idea. As there are less livelihood opportunities in the provinces, poor people will always go back to the city, he said. The prelate added that most of the informal settlers do not have provinces to go back to because they have already left their homes to seek greener pastures. Pabillo also reminded the government that not all informal settlers came from the province. Many have been born and have grown up in the city, he said. Aside from poverty, Pabillo also noted that peace and order problems are part of the reasons why the rural poor are forced to try their luck in Manila. –VVP, GMANews.TV