(Eagle News) — Those who will insist in forcibly occupying National Housing Authority units will be charged.
This is according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who made the pronouncement a day after around 500 members of the Montalban Homeless Association, a local chapter of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap, trooped to a housing project in Rodriguez, Rizal but were driven away by local policemen.
The project was intended for the military and other uniformed personnel.
“A warning has been given by the President..They will have to deal with the full extent of the law” if that happens again, Roque said.
He said the President has “given directives to the police that Kadamay should not be allowed” to occupy the units.
Restraint
In a statement, Senator JV Ejercito, chair of the Senate housing committee, urged Kadamay leaders to “restrain their members.”
He said “unlawful acts like this, instead of helping, will only add confusion.”
“I understand the magnitude of the housing problem; the fact that many of our kababayans still do not have a house they can call their own. But as we are in the process of addressing this problem—including the creation of a Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is envisioned to address problems such as this…sa harap ng mga problemang kinakaharap natin, hindi solusyon ang paglabag sa batas at pagyurak sa karapatan ng iba,” he added.
According to Roque, Duterte also ordered the NHA to explain why there are “idle” housing units, and asked them when they intended to give the housing units to the beneficiaries.
This is not the first time members of the urban poor group barged in an NHA project.
Members of Kadamay occupied government housing projects in Pandi town, Bulacan province and Rodriguez last year.
This prompted the President to appeal to soldiers and policemen, who were supposed to be beneficiaries of the units, to give way to the protesters.
He promised to build nicer and bigger houses for the uniformed personnel instead. With a report from Meanne Corvera
