COPE Foundation is a member of the TRICORPS group of NGOs with a focus on anti-eviction initiatives. CO Multiversity and Urban Poor Associates are the two other members of the TRICORPS group.

The video below captured the violent eviction in Navotas on March 9, 2010. If not for the strength and determination of the urban poor to assert their rights despite the water cannon and the police shields landing heavily on the protesters' feet, the issue of humane relocation for the poor would have been lost on that painful day in March. But things didn't end without the poor having their dignity back.

Now, those who stood steadily at the barricade line are back to their place which has been declared as a staging area until a humane relocation site has finally been developed. While it  is true that things are not very good at the "staging area" in R-10 Navotas, the poor just try to make do with their present set-up, with mobilizations here and there for better water and toilet facilities while  they are there.

Without community organizing, the poor wouldn't have enough tools to  move forward to their dream of decent housing and sense of human dignity. Here's the link to the video:

The scene below captured, by the media, speaks a million words.

The campers staged a camp at NHA as a last resort to make government make good its promise to abide by the Urban Development and Housing Act (R.A. 7279).

The issue of R10 in Navotas is about implementation of a road widening project without considering the welfare of people to be displaced by the project. The struggle of the people of Navotas has been a long lonely story.  The R10-Navotas People's Organization is assisted by COPE Foundation, a partner of CO Multiversity in the Tricorp group of NGOs advocating for Urban Poor land and housing rights and basic social services entitlements.

The People's Immediate Call:

1) Immediate relocation to a site that complies with the requirements of RA 7279

2) Hold DPWH and NHA accountable for what happened to the Urban Poor

Below is a solidarity letter to the R-10 Navotas residents who have been violently evicted recently.

March 19, 2010

Her Excellency
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila NCR 1005

Dear Madam President:

I am writing to you today to express great concern on behalf of Leaders and Organizers of Community Organizations in Asia (LOCOA) in regard to the violent forced evictions that have been executed in Novotas due to the R10 road-widening project. We have been informed that on 18-20 January, and then resuming again earlier this month on 4 March, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Novotas City government carried out the illegal demolition of 393 households. Moreover, while attempting to protect their families and community from this illegal act, many of the residents, including several elderly women, suffered injuries as a result of being targeted by water cannon, beaten by the police, and arrested.

Because no provision was made for the resettlement of the affected families, many of them have now become homeless, with no alternative other than to erect basic lean-tos alongside the R10 for shelter. However, refusing to be intimidated by the use of violence against them, some of the families have been demonstrating in front of DPWH in Port Area, Manila, to demand their legal right to adequate relocation. Indeed, it is precisely due to the absence of measures to provide adequate relocation for the affected families that the entire demolition was illegal, violating both Philippine national law (Republic Act 7279) and international human rights law (i.a., International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and CESCR General Comment 7).

Besides being deeply disturbed by the violence used against community residents and the clear violations of the law involved in demolishing their homes, LOCOA is particularly saddened because we understand that during a meeting with their leaders on 1 August 2008 in Malacanang, you yourself actually consented to their request for relocation to Montalban (Rodriguez) Municipality and promised to provide them with funds for housing and lot development. Now, instead of being able to realize the promise of a better future, an illegal forced eviction has cast these 393 families into homelessness and even greater depths of deprivation.

In order to halt the perpetuation of further injustice, LOCOA urges you to listen to the voices of the affected families and comply posthaste with their demands. Concretely, we call on you to take the following steps:

1) Put an end to all further illegal evictions and demolitions.

2) Instruct the DPWH and other relevant agencies, including the National Housing Authority and the Urban Development Coordinating Council, to relocate the R10 families to Montalban in accordance with their expressed desire, as well as the commitment you made to them on 1 August 2008.

3) Have the Commission on Human Rights take the lead in investigating the circumstances and individuals involved in the violent demolition, and ensure that all guilty parties are punished.

Yours sincerely,

Jeff Wong

Coordinator, Anti-Eviction Committee

cc: Hon. Victor A. Domingo
Acting Secretary, and
Hon. Manuel M. Bonoan
Senior Under Secretary
Department of Public Works and Highways

Hon. Tobias Reynaldo M. Tiangco
Mayor of Navotas City

Hon. Leila M. De Lima
Chairperson
Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines

Ms. Raquel Rolnik
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing