DAVAO CITY (June 14) — Angered by the attempt to occupy government housing project in Rizal, President Rodrigo Duterte warned members of the organized militant Urban Poor group-Kadamay, to get out of the houses or be killed
Duterte issued the stern warning, after the group swooped the housing units constructed by the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Wednesday dawn.
In a speech during the oath taking of Santa Rosa, Laguna, Village officials, Thursday afternoon, Duterte said “Sabi ko sa pulis kunin ninyo uli. Kung gusto ninyo ng away sabihin ko sa pulis, bigyan mo ng away, kung magkamatayan, ‘wag kayo mauna pero kung kailangan pumatay kayo para i-implement ang legal na regulasyon, gawin ninyo,”
Last Wednesday, about 500 members Kadamay trooped to barangay San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal and attempted to occupy housing units, but police drove them away.
The group arrived via a public utility jeepney Wednesday dawn, and upon arrival, Kadamay members immediately occupied the vacant houses of the project’s Phase 1-A, but the police managed to drive them away.
Earlier on, the same group attempted to occupy the houses located in Phase 1-B of the same housing project site but they failed.
An angry Duterte said he does not care if members of the urban poor group would be killed, “Mamatayan? Lima, anim, pito, wala kong pakialam,” he said.
Addressing himself to Kadamay, Duterte said “Kayong mga Kadamay, umalis kayo diyan. That is my order,” Duterte said,
He gave an ultimatum to Kadamay members to vacate housing projects until 12 noon on Friday, June 15.
“Pagka lumaban kayo at namatay kayo, problema ninyo iyan,” he said.
“Umalis kayo by 12 noon tomorrow. Pag hindi, sabihin ko ang police, with a riot, back-upan ng SAF. Makamali kayo mag-gamit ng armas, kung mamatay kayo, ‘yun ang dapat para sa lahat,” he added.
Duterte said he will know if the group complies with his deadline.
Kadamay claimed Duterte failed to fulfill his promise of providing shelter to the Filipino people, a reason why they are occupying vacant housing units.
Meanwhile, Marcelino P. Escalada Jr., NHA General Manager said, the NHA is more than willing to accommodate the members of Kadamay , provided that, they will comply with the requirements “But they refuse, we offer them housing units at a very minimal cost but they do not want it, they wanted to remain unidentified.”
Among the requirements set by the NHA is to provide a certificate of no landholding; no previous housing awarded by the agency; willingness to sign a contract that they will pay P200 monthly payment for 30 years and, aboveall, he/she must be Filipino citizen.
But Kadamay members, according to Escalada, do not want to sign a contract, they want to avail a house for free, “Without a signed contract the NHA cannot issue them entry pass, meaning they cannot enter any housing unit.”-Editha Z. Caduaya/NewsLine.ph
