BACOLOD CITY — The Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade assailed urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay)-Negros for occupying the housing site for uniformed personnel in Barangay Felisa here on August 30-31.
Capt. Ruel Llanes, spokesperson of the 303rd Brigade based in Murcia, Negros Occidental, in a press statement on Saturday, called the group “mang-aagaw” or house grabbers.
At least a thousand informal settlers, including young children and babies, from various barangays in Bacolod arrived at Ciudad Felisa on Thursday morning and camped out overnight until they were ordered to leave by the National Housing Authority (NHA) on Friday afternoon.
The group was led by Berlita Ante, secretary-general of Kadamay-Negros, and leaders of allied militant organizations.
They cited Joint Resolution No. 2 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on May 9, authorizing the NHA to award the unoccupied housing units of uniformed personnel to qualified beneficiaries, as the reason for their action.
However, all the 1,498 housing units of Ciudad Felisa, an Armed Forces of the Philippines/Philippine National Police (AFP/PNP) housing project, have already been awarded to soldiers, police, firefighters and jail personnel.
The site has been completed in 2015, but still has no electricity and water supply.
Llanes said occupying a government housing site is a “normal scheme” of Kadamay. They would gather homeless families to demand for houses and once the housing units are awarded to them, they would sell it, he added.
He added thay organizers would extort money from informal settlers, and because of the deceit and abuse, about 300 members had already left Kadamay.
Llanes also scored the urban poor group for their apparent connivance with the New People’s Army after JB Regalado, spokesperson of the rebel group’s Leonardo Panaligan Command, issued a press statement praising Kadamay-Negros’ move of occupying the government housing site in Barangay Felisa. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
