Kadamay 1, Homelessness 0
Kadamay 1, Homelessness 0
By Tonyo Cruz
On April 4, President Duterte announced that he was giving Kadamay what it wants, meaning providing to the urban poor the bare, rotting, empty houses they have occupied. He said he would build new ones for soldiers and cops.
Congratulations to Kadamay for heroically making the issue of shelter a national issue and for successfully engaging the President himself. Kudos too to the urban poor who now have a chance to owning their own home and claiming for themselves the mandate of the Constitution.
If we must criticize Kadamay, we must do so, not because they “broke the law,” as some of our “matapobre” friends have been doing. We must criticize Kadamay for starting the occupations only this 2017. We must have more occupations of bare, rotting, and empty housing projects and even building complexes nationwide — and force the government to confront the shelter issue.
(Duterte’s statement should also send a message to the police and prosecutors involved in the arrest, detention, and charging of 57 Kadamay members in connection with an occupation in Quezon City. The message is this: They should drop the charges and free the detained urban poor, including kids who missed their moving-up days and an 82-year-old lola they charged with grave threats.)
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