BACOLOD City – The National Housing Authority (NHA) ordered members of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap in Negros Island (Kadamay-Negros) to vacate the housing project site in Barangay Felisa.
Local officials of the NHA said all the 1,498 housing units in the 10-hectare compound were already granted to Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel.
Kadamay-Negros members were also ordered to clean the area before they leave.
The militants heeded NHA’s order, adding that they do not want a violent confrontation.
They started pulling out past 4 p.m. yesterday.
Before leaving, the militants held an indignation program at the main entrance of the housing project.
Aside from Kadamay-Negros, other militant groups under the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) also stormed to the housing site on Thursday morning.
They pressured the NHA to grant their members’ application to be beneficiaries of the housing units.
National Federation of Sugar Workers chairman and former Bayan-Negros secretary-general Christian Tuayon said they consider their “one-day encampment” at the compound as a “victory for the urban poor.”
With what they did, they were able to raise awareness on the homelessness problem in Bacolod, according to Tuayon.
“A step backward is not a defeat but a step towards victory,” he added./PN
