UPDATE (Philippines): Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor requested Davao city government to take action for 127 families forcibly evicted in the city 

[RE: UA-152-2004:  PHILIPPINES: 127 families lost their homes due to illegal demolition in Davao City on 15 November 2004]

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the continuous inaction of the City government of Davao to comply to its ‘certification (proof) of availability of resettlement and relocation’ for the 127 families who were forcibly evicted in Dacudao Compound, Agdao, Davao City on 19 October 2004, despite the request of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP).

In her letter to the AHRC dated 1 March 2005, PCUP Commissioner Luzviminda B. Salcedo, Field Operations Division for Mindanao, cited the City Government’s failure to comply with the certification, saying, “The Commission required the City Government of Davao to issue certification (proof) of availability of resettlement and relocation for them (evicted families), which the City had submitted. However, sad to say, the certification merely became a scrap of paper.”

In the letter, she also said that the PCUP appealed to the City Government to afford the affected families the resettlement and relocation. The PCUP issued the ‘Demolition and Eviction Clearance’ to the City Government. However, as confirmed, the Davao City Government has taken no serious action to rehabilitate and resettle these evicted families.

According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the Philippines is a state party, evictions of this nature are illegal and the government is under international obligation to uphold the right to adequate housing and provide adequate compensation and rehabilitation to evictees. Therefore, the Davao City Government is also obliged to provide ‘relocation and settlement’ to the affected families who are in a desperate situation after loosing their homes.

The AHRC urges you to immediately send a letter to the Davao City Government and pressure them to comply with the condition of the ‘Certification of availability of resettlement and relocation’ in this case. Please send letters to concerned government agencies to coerce the City Government to comply the Certification. It must be determined if the City Government could be held liable for its defiance. If found responsible, they must be dealt with accordingly.

BRIEF REMINDER OF THE CASE:

The contested property is about 12,863 sq. meters or 1.2863 hectares, declared as open space for public market by Dakudao and Sons, in its approved subdivision plan on 9 September 1957, which consist of Block 3, lot 1, in the approved subdivision plan of Dakudao & Sons, by which the express provision of law was supposedly automatically donated to the City Government of Davao.

On 19 October 2004, 127 families (254 individuals, excluding children) from the Gov. P. Bangoy Sitio Dacudao Homeowners Association and 30 families renting, were affected by the illegal demolition that took place in the land of Dacudao Compound, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines. The demolition was conducted by 800 men hired by the Dacudao & Sons, along with some 200 government officials, who arrived with dump trucks and bulldozers. Having nowhere else to go, these people built shanties along the road just in front of the demolition site.  However, on November 4, the shanties were also demolished by the City Engineers Office of Davao City, who said the shanties were road obstacles/hazards.  (See further: UA-152-2004 and UP-73-2004)

PLEASE SEND A LETTER TO:

Hon. Rodrigo Duterte
City Mayor
City Government of Davao
City Hall Building, San Pedro Street
8000 Davao City
PHILIPPINES
Fax no: +63 082 224-5885

SEND A COPY TO:

1. Hon. Luzminda B. Salcedo
Commissioner
Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor
Field Operations Division for Mindanao
D-12, Pelayo Bldg., J. Luna Street
8000 Davao City,
PHILIPPINES
Telefax: +63 82 226 2492
Email: pcup@skyinet.net

2. Vice-Pres. Noli de Castro
Chairman
Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
Office of the President
6th Floor Atrium Building, Makati Avenue
Makati City  1200
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 811 4118
Email: mis@hudcc.gov.ph

3. Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
President
Republic of the

, San Miguel
Manila NCR  1005
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 929 3968

4. Atty. Alberto B. Sipaco, Jr.
Regional Director
Commission on Human Rights (CHR XI)
Trinity Bldg. II,

, Ecoland
Davao City 8000
PHILIPPINES

5. Mr. Miloon Kothari
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing
Att: Ms. Cecilia Moller
Room 4-066/010
C/o OHCHR, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 9265
Fax: +41 22 917 9010
E-mail:cmoller@ohchr.org

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER