Demolition of Shanties in San Juan Turned Ugly
Category: News Published on Wednesday, 11 January 2012 15:31 Written by Pinoy News Staff Writer Hits: 125
The demolition of shanties along P. Narciso street in Barangay Corazon De Jesus in San Juan City turned violent yesterday morning and ended with at least 23 people hurt.
Residents clashed with members of the demolition team, San Juan Police, Eastern Police District, National Capital Region Police Office and the Special Weapons and Tactics team, who threw rocks, bottles and even molotov cocktails.
“We observed maximum tolerance, but they (squatters) started attacking us. We are here to maintain peace and order during the demolition, but they provoked us,” Superintendent Thomas Arcallana said.
Grace Cortes, spokesperson for Mayor Guia Gomez , said the 123 families, whose shanties were the subjects of the demolition, were part of the 400 families scheduled for relocation since Jan. 25 last year.
The families will be relocated to Southville 8B in Barangay San Isidro, Rodriguez town. Out of 123 families, seventy-three have already signed their intention to be relocated to Rodriguez,“Cortes said. She said the demolition was supposed to be peaceful since the city government consulted the affected families.
Among the injured were policemen, members of the demolition team and at least three residents.
They suffered injuries in the head, belly, face and thighs and were rushed to the San Juan Medical Center.
Former President Joseph Estrada said that this could be the work of leftist groups who infiltrated and inflamed the anger of the residents. He said that there are professional renters for squatters that could cause this also.
“Each of the affected families was given P10,000 aside from transportation for their transfer to the relocation sites. All are free,” he added.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said that this violent confrontation could have been avoided if the residents were moved within the city or in their existing community but away from the city projects.