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| ==[[Parañaque City News]]== | | ==[[Parañaque City News]]== |
| <!--- Note: KEEP ONLY THE CURRENT NEWS HERE ---> | | <!--- Note: KEEP ONLY THE CURRENT NEWS HERE ---> |
| '''Another Parañaque slum colony braces for demolition''' | | '''Parañaque Students Go Into SPES''' |
| *Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183257/another-paranaque-slum-colony-braces-for-demolition | | *Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/358268/para-aque-students-go-into-spes |
| *By: Nathaniel R. Melican | | *By: JEAN FERNANDO |
| *''Friday, April 27, 2012'' | | *''Saturday, April 28, 2012'' |
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| Armed with plastic bags filled with human waste, residents of Tucuma community in Barangay (village) Merville, Parañaque City, were already up at 6 a.m. Thursday, prepared to defend their houses from being torn down.
| | The Parañaque City government announced this weekend that a total of 350 students in the city were accepted and given the opportunity to be part of the city’s yearly Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES). |
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| The day came and went, however, without the demolition team making an appearance.
| | Mayor Florencio Bernabe said the SPES allows students with ages 17 to 25 years to have an “on- the-job train¬ing” in the city government offices to make their summer productive and enriching experience. |
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| The 1,000 families living in the compound have been bracing for a standoff with authorities since the start of the week after they received a court order for the demolition of their houses.
| | Bernabe said that apart from get¬ting a “hands-on” in the facets of gov¬ernment service, SPES beneficiaries also get remuneration. |
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| According to the order from the Parañaque Municipal Trial Court Branch 78, the demolition was supposed to push through Thursday.
| | He said that SPES stipend this year is P420/day and 60% of their al¬lowance will be provided by the city government while the 40% will come from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The mayor said that the program is coordinated by the Parañaque Livelihood Resource Management Office in cooper¬ation with the City Secretariat and the Office of Councilor Benjo Bernabe. |
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| The court, however, could not be reached for comment on why its order was not implemented.
| | “This program not only allows students to gain work experience; it also affords means for students to earn income which they may use for their enrolment in college or for the purchase of textbooks. More impor¬tantly, we believe that the program helps instill work values like diligence and dedication to work. Being a great help to students especially those from poor families,” Benjo says. |
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| On the other hand, Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran, Parañaque police chief, told the Inquirer in a phone interview that no one had coordinated with them about providing security to the demolition team, not even the court.
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| Guards stationed at the only entrance to Tucuma compound also did not know when the demolition of houses in the area would push through.
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| “No one talked to us about the supposed demolition. However, if the sheriff arrives with a proper demolition order, we will let them in,” said Mauro Papa, one of the guards employed by Molave Development Corp., the firm which owns the property.
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| The Tucuma lot is just one of four pieces of land owned by the company, which is run by the Tinitigan family of Parañaque.
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| Papa and the other security guards are stationed at the only entrance to the property—a small iron gate that leads to rows and rows of shanties.
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| Access to the compound is strictly controlled, with residents required to present a gate pass upon entry.
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| Inside the compound, Ramil Asturias, along with other residents, said that they have been watching out for the demolition team for days.
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| “Even if no one came to demolish our houses today, we [will remain] alert and vigilant in case they come in the next days,” he added.
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| “We have lived peacefully here for years but we will resist any attempt to forcibly evict us from our homes,” Asturias said.
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| He also reiterated their plea for Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. to intervene in the matter. According to the residents, the Tucuma lot is a government-owned property by virtue of an ordinance issued in 2000.
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| For his part, Bernabe admitted that an ordinance seeking the expropriation of the lot was approved in 2000 although it was opposed by the Tinitigan family and their firm.
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| “It (the ordinance) was challenged in court twice, and in both times, the family won. So the land is still with the family. It is still private property,” he said.
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| On Monday, a violent clash between residents of Silverio Compound, also in Parañaque City, and policemen securing a demolition team left a resident dead and 39 others injured.
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| ==Your Story about Parañaque City, Philippines== | | ==Your Story about Parañaque City, Philippines== |