NORTH Triangle. Home to close to 7,000 urban poor families in Quezon City. Many have lived there for decades — in Barangay San Roque in particular. Most work as laborers, vendors, drivers, below-minimum wage workers in Metro Manila.
Since 2004, this sizable stretch of land has been targeted for “development.” Just north of Sitio San Roque is the Ayala-owned Trinoma Mall, fronting an already established SM North Edsa Mall.
In 2009, the Quezon City government under Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., together with the National Housing Authority (NHA), entered into a “joint-venture development” with Ayala Land Corp. for this parcel of land. It was to be dubbed “Quezon City Central Business District.”
San Roque residents resisted the plan. The NHA offered to relocate them to Montalban, Rizal. But with their jobs and livelihood in the metropolis, most of the residents asked to remain in San Roque. They organized themselves in defense of their right to San Roque.
Early morning on Sept. 23, 2010, demolition teams hired by the NHA arrived in San Roque. They began destroying houses near EDSA. The residents came in force, battling with the demolition teams and police. The people, including women and children, blocked traffic on EDSA. They held their ground for more than two hours, even when the demolition team charged at them, throwing rocks and attacking them with crowbars.
In the afternoon, a local judge granted a petition for a temporary restraining order on the demolition. Meanwhile, the barricades caught the attention of national media. President Benigno Aquino III, then on a state visit to the U.S., ordered that NHA further study relocation plans before demolishing San Roque.
Today, another confrontation looms. Photojournalist Kenneth Guda, who witnessed the Sept. 23 clash, visited North Triangle to document the current plight of the residents there.
Guda learned that many of those who chose to relocate from San Roque complain about high electricity and water rates, and shabby housing materials in Montalban, Rizal. While there are some who returned to San Roque despite the risk of demolition. The residents there are prepared to defend what they claim is their land.
(This project was produced by VERA Files with support from the Canadian Embassy.)
