SOME 1,664 families living in 12 tenement buildings in Tondo that are set to be declared condemned by the Manila City government on Thursday expressed fears of eviction even before the “Big One” or a massive earthquake could displace them.
The residents of Katuparan Village in Vitas, Tondo sought the National Housing Authority’s intervention to conduct tests to find out if the buildings could withstand the “Big One.”
“The tenement residents fear eviction way ahead of the Big One,” according to Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus.
The NHA assured the residents the testing would commence in October, she said.
Accompanied by De Jesus, the tenement residents of Katuparan Village pressed the NHA to fast track its promise to carry out the long delayed tests to declare their row houses still fit for quake proofing before the feared quake render their 12 buildings unsafe.
“The residents fear plans by the City of Manila to condemn the medium rise structures for which they are paying regular amortizations to the NHA,” De Jesus said.
De Jesus said the Katuparan tenements have 1,664 units in 12 buildings that were erected in 1990. The residents started to move in and pay for monthly amortizations in 1991.
The tenement buildings are located along Road 10, Pier 18 in Vitas, Tondo.
“Kinakatigan ko ang kahilingan ng Katuparan residents sa NHA na madaliin na ang pangakong testing para pinal na madeklarang walang bisa ang deklarasyong condemned na mula sa City Building Inspector,” De Jesus said.
Leaders of the Gabriela chapter in Tondo said the NHA must also repair the buildings as part of its mandate to provide socialized housing for the poor and help strengthen their position against the City of Manila’s plans to evict them.
“How NHA resolves the demands of the longtime residents of Tondo to keep them in the city is a test case of Aquino’s touted inclusive growth programs that supposedly channels the resources of the State accumulated after a few years of nominal GDP surpluses that economists say did not filter down for the benefit of the forgotten poor,” De Jesus said.
Newly installed NHA General Manager Sinforoso Pagunsan acknowledged the plight of the Katuparan residents and assured the worried residents that the planned technical inspections will be started in October once the Department of Public Works and Highways makes available the needed machinery to begin the testing procedures.
