Way of the Cross for the Poor reveals plight of homeless families
Manila (AsiaNews) Hundreds of urban poor dwellers from all parts of the metropolis gathered at the entrance of the Bataan Shipyard Corporation Compound (BASECO) last Wednesday to commemorate the yearly rally called "Kalbaryo ng Maralitang Tagalunsod" (Calvary of the Urban Poor). They moved from point to point, praying at the 14 Stations of the Cross, positioned in front of evacuation centers and small homes, culminating the meditations at the still-in-construction houses supervised by the Church-based organization, Couples for Christ.
The first urban poor Calvary rally in 1987 was held at several poor urban communities and finished on top of "Smokey Mountain", the city's man-made dumpsite that became the symbol of the deterioration and poverty of the country during the Marcos regime.
This year, the demonstration was held at the city -owned BASECO compound, where 4,000 families lost their homes in a fire last January 11th. The immediate response of the city government was to give the victims temporary shelter inside old warehouse structures. However, basic necessities of water, electricity, medicine, etc. have not been provided to the evacuees. The government positioned two portable toilets at the edge of the community of over 5,000 people.
"With overcrowding and unsanitary conditions inside the centers, several children have contracted chicken pox, measles, diarrhea, dengue fever, skin diseases, and respiratory ailments", Maggie Baybay of the Urban Poor Associates reported to AsiaNews. Hundreds of water pails are positioned in the compound, waiting for trucks which ration water to the families. But the trucks do not come regularly, an inhabitant says, and when they do, people are charged two pesos per 20 liters of water.
Volunteers from the Couples for Christ group come daily to help cement walls or to arrange gardens in front of the home-construction sites. "It was the city mayor who asked us to help in the housing project," Jun Valbuena, a member of the group related. Some of the displaced families themselves are helping in the construction of the houses, in the hope that they would acquire one of the 2,500 planned 24 square-meter homes.
Monica Sixta is a 65-year of mother of six. "We came to Manila from the south in 1965 and lived in Tondo (an urban poor center). We moved several times from one area to another. And here in BASECO, we are cursed with fires," she said. "Sooner or later, you are hardened by the situation."
An estimated 40 percent of the Metro Manila's 8 million population belong to the urban poor. This figure is estimated to increase in the nest years. "Because of lack of work in the countryside, we have no choice but to come to the big cities," Mrs. Sixta said.
In the 1980's, "Smokey Mountain " was the visual symbol of poverty in the Philippines. Today, it is in BASECO. (S.E.)
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