background proclamation 704

Lupang Arenda and Manggahan Floodway: 100,000 families feeling betrayed by Executive Order No. 854 signed by President Arroyo in 2009

One hundred thousand families fear for their homes now after having been assured land tenure security by then President Fidel Ramos through Presidential Proclamation No. 704 signed on November 28, 1995. Eighty (80) hectares of one hundred seventy-one ( 171) hectares of Lupang Arenda land located at Barangay Sta. Ana, Taytay, Rizal, stretching from Taytay to the Pasig riverside was the area set aside for socialized housing by the aforementioned presidential proclamation.

Life got better for the Lupang Arenda residents for having been assured decent shelter not only for themselves but more importantly too for the future generation. Decent shelter for the poor means access to livelihood opportunities and Lupang Arenda, having been declared for socialized housing, was just the answer to the residents’ aspirations. An active community began to grow. At present, Lupang Arenda has 7 puroks. The community has 1 high school, 2 elementary schools, 6 day care centers, 6 private pre-elementary schools, 23 churches ( 4 Catholic churches, 17 Born Again churches and 2 Mosques)) 2 health centers, 4 basketball courts ( 1 covered court and 3 open courts), a drainage system, a water system serviced by Manila Water Company, and an electricity service from MERALCO.

For the Arenda residents, what could be more favorable a government project than the road dike costing Php 2 billion pesos in which protecting Lupang Arenda from being flooded then and now became part of its functions for it has been constructed along the boundaries of Lupang Arenda.

Then Typhoon Ondoy came on September 26, 2009. Lupang Arenda was not as heavily flooded as the rest of Laguna and Rizal. The floodwaters brought by Typhoon Ondoy subsided immediately after the typhoon and life became normal again for the Lupang Arenda residents. Purok 8 of Lupang Arenda which was viewed by the government as the obstruction to the quick flow of the water heading to Laguna de Bay has been relocated to Montalban. The bulk of the population of Lupang Arenda now does not cause any obstructions to the smooth flow of the river along Lupang Arenda that it is not correct to view Lupang Arenda as the cause of the flooding of its neighboring towns and cities. The real cause of the flooding was the unfinished portion of the dike near the Pumping Station where the lake water passed through. The flooding was further aggravated by the negligence on the part of the agency-in-charge of closing the four manually operated gate valves at the height of Typhoon Ondoy. With the completion of the Manila Flood Control Project, the whole area covered by Proclamation 704

will no longer be susceptible to flooding.

On December 4, 2009, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Executive Order 854 revoking Proclamation No. 704, s. 1995 and Proclamation No. 1160, s. 2006 and Establishing a Task Force to Formulate and Implement a Comprehensive Rehabilitation Plan for the Napindan Channel, Lupang Arenda and Manggahan Floodway. The Lupang Arenda residents feel betrayed after having been assured by Proclamation 704 of a secure habitat and with a memorandum of agreement between the NHA and the Municipality of Taytay as a way of going through the implementation process of Proclamation 704.

It is unjust to treat 100,000 poor families who put their trust in government’s protective function to threaten them with eviction without reviewing the policy-related processes and taking seriously their (Arenda residents) rightful claims and options.

President Noynoy Aquino, during his campaign for the Presidency, signed a covenant with the

Urban Poor Alliance, of which the Arenda Urban Poor Federation Inc. (AUPFI) is a member. Among the items in the covenant which intends to address directly the issues of Lupang Arenda and Manggahan Floodway is: “We will review Executive Order 854 and conduct consultations with Lupang Arenda and Manggahan Floodway and we will be with the affected families in looking for an appropriate solution to the Arenda and Manggahan Floodway issue”.

At the moment, the members of the Arenda Urban Poor Federation Inc. are consoled by the fact that DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo has acted swiftly on the request of the Arenda residents to look into the issue. Sec. Robredo will visit Lupang Arenda and Manggahan Floodway before the year ends to see for himself what the people are saying about the uncertainties and dangers they (the people) will be facing because of the revocation of Proclamations 704 and 1160. The Lupang Arenda affected families believe in the sincerity of Sec. Robredo in ensuring that due process is not lost on the Arenda people’s quest for land tenure security and access to livelihood.

During the forum on Housing conducted by the DILG at the Heritage Hotel on October 18, 2010,

Mr. Vicente M. Barlos, President of the Arenda Urban Poor Federation Inc. raised a point during the Open Forum about the review of E.O. 854 as an item in the Covenant between then Presidntial Candidate Noynoy Aquino and the Urban Poor Alliance.

HUDCC USEC Dr. Eldigario D. Gonzales who was a member of the panel of resource persons at the forum responded to the point raised by Mr. Vicente Barlos by saying that the Covenant referred to was just a campaign statement and has yet to be translated into a policy statement. The response, instead of pouring cold water on the burning faith of the people in the covenant, stirred the emotions of the urban poor leaders present at the forum who didn’t believe that the covenant signed by President Noynoy Aquino when he was just running for the presidency was just a campaign promise meant to be broken.

The residents of Lupang Arenda are bonafide Filipino citizens carrying with them all the entitlements and responsibilities of citizenship. The Lupang Arenda story is a story of 100,000 poor families who are not about to take betrayal of their rights sitting down.