North Triangle urban poor: Evict Merci, not us

More than a hundred informal settlers living near and around the office building of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in Quezon City on Wednesday staged a protest rally to call for her ouster. In an interview with GMA News Online, Ruben Gabian of the People’s Movement for Good Governance (PMGG) criticized Gutierrez for "desperately clinging on" to her post, despite the impeachment complaints filed against her for alleged inaction on high-profile cases filed before her office. "Hindi kami ang informal settlers kundi siya [Gutierrez]. Siya dapat ang i-relocate na," said Gabian. (We are not the informal settlers here but Gutierrez. She should be relocated somewhere else.) Gabian was among the hundreds of residents who were affected by recent demolition operations against urban poor communities in the North Triangle area, which the Quezon City government plans to convert into a business district to rival that of Makati City. The PMGG is a broad anti-corruption movement organized by the Diocese of Novaliches of the Catholic Church. Apart from North Triangle dwellers, other protesters who joined Wednesday's rally came from urban poor communities near the Office of the Ombudsman along Agham Street and along Commonwealth Avenue. Gabian said Gutierrez should resign and save herself the trouble of facing an impeachment court at the Senate, which is set to try the Ombudsman in May based on six impeachable offenses she allegedly committed. Boodle fight For his part, Emil Jacinto, a North Triangle resident, claimed Gutierrez no longer enjoys the support of the urban poor communities near her office, contrary to what the Ombudsman earlier "tried to project." On March 8, she along with Ombudsman employees and supposed residents living in the vicinity of her office building shared a "boodle fight"-style lunch. She thus skipped a House committee hearing, in an apparent display of defiance, on the very day the impeachment complaints against her passed the committee level. (See: House panel OKs impeach raps vs. Merci for plenary vote) “Corruption impacts the most to poor people like us. It is one of the major causes of poverty. That's why we want Merci out. We are ashamed to have this ombudsman as our neighbor who is currently the main symbol of corruption and injustice in this country," Jacinto said. "Bakit naman kami susuporta sa mga taong tumulong sa lalong paghihirap namin? Panahon na para tanggalin ang corrupt, para mabawasan din ang kahirapan," he added. (Why would we support people who aggravate our poverty? It’s time to kick out the corrupt, to at least alleviate poverty.) Socialized housing zones The protesting residents in Quezon City have been insisting on staying at the North Triangle and have opposed suggestions to relocate them to municipalities outside Metro Manila. Gabian claimed that the Department of Interior and Local Government has already signified its support for the settlers, and would be asking the Quezon City government to convert 20 percent of the area of North Triangle into a socialized housing zone. "Hindi naman kami laban sa demolition sa amin. Gusto lang namin na may maayos na matitirahan," Gabian said. (We are not against the demolition program. We just want decent homes.) He lamented how the millions of pesos involved in the high-profile cases being handled by the Ombudsman and that were said to have been stolen from government coffers could have been used to provide housing programs for underprivileged Filipinos. Gutierrez has repeatedly said in the past she would not be resigning from her post, and was prepared to face her impeachment trial with the Senate sitting as impeachment court. Assistant Ombudsman Jose de Jesus, who also stands as spokesman for the Ombudsman, could not be immediately reached for comment on the residents' protest action. —JV, GMA News