Patnubay
A Monthly Newsletter of the Campaign for the Future of Filipino Children in the Philippines
Series No3. June 2008
Seven Years After the Payatas Garbage Slide
It all started on that fateful morning of July 10, 2000 when a mountain of garbage collapsed and buried hundreds of people and houses in Lupang Pangako, Payatas, Quezon City. Hundreds of people died and many families rendered homeless. Lupang Pangako, a resettlement area became a national symbol of poverty and scope of international inquiry since then..
A month after the tragedy, Kadamay, an alliance of urban poor people¡Çs organizations united the victims and helped in the formation of the July 10 Payatas Victims Organization (J10PVO) in August 2000 under the leadership of Delia Badion, elected president of the organization.
J10PVO wanted to seek justice for all the victims of the Payatas tragedy. This included the attainment of the immediate needs for relief and rehabilitation of the victims and their long struggle for the attainment of right to decent housing, livelihood and social services.
Specific demands of the J10PVO then included : (1) resumption and completion of recovery operations for more than 80 persons still under the mountain of garbage; (2) immediate release of recovered and identified bodies to their repective families; (3) free hospitalization and burial to all victims; (4) free housing within other areas of Payatas; (5) rehabilitation and social services to all the victims including medical services, psycho-social therapy, free education, etc., (6) sufficient livelihood to all the victims; (7) bring all officials and individuals criminally and administratively liable for the tragedy to the bar of justice; (8) indemnify all victims; (9) stop the demolition of the Payatas community; and (10) immediately close, remove the Payatas dumpsite and restore the Payatas community.
J10PVO Filed A Class Suit Against Local Officials
In August 1, 2000, J10PVO with the assistance of Kadamay, an alliance of urban poor people's organizations and Public Interest Law Center filed a class suit against local officials involved in the tragedy at the Quezon City Trial Court while relocation of the victims were undertaken in Kasiglahan Village in Rodriquez, Rizal.
For months, J10PVO in coordination with Kadamay continued to call the attention of the city and national government to heed the demands of the victims, help the poor residents of Lupang Pangako and the urban poor in general. These organizations went out of their way from staging rallies to camping out in front of Quezon City Hall to sending paper boats at the foot of the Pasig River near Malacanang Palace.
The demands on the paper boats by the children-victims as featured in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a national daily newspaper caught the attention of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
PGMA Signed an Agreement with Three People's Organizations
A year after the Payatas tragedy, the DSWD upon the instruction of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed an agreement with the leaders of three (3) people¡Çs organizations, namely; the July 10 Payatas Victims Organization (J-10 PVO), Samahang Tunay na Mamamayan ng Phase II Lupang Pangako (Samahang Tunay) and the Samahang Magkakapit-Bahay ng Payatas (SANKAP)
The agreement underscored the provision of educational assistance to the children-victims, livelihood assistance to their parents and housing assistance to direct and indirect victims.
Educational Assistance to the children-victims
Thru the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Educational Assistance Program (PGMA-EAP) the government has commited to help the children of Payatas. Jayson Banogon, Erwin Dolera and Jomar Pabalan, known as the SONA kids (they were President Arroyo¡Çs guests during the 2001 State-Of-the-Nation Address) and became the first PGMA scholars, along with three other children namely; Rachel Manadong, Christian Custodio and Riccadonna Sayson. They were also known as the "Bangkang Papel" children who floated letters turned into paper boats along Pasig River, appealing for help from the President.
The program provided support to the SONA kids and 400 students from Payatas every year. They are assured of support from the PGMA-EAP until their graduation from high school.
Of the 400 scholars, 303 children are being supported through the President¡Çs Social Fund, 56 children by the Children¡Çs Hour Philippines, Inc. (CHPI), while 41 children are DSWD¡Çs beneficiaries.
For the school year 2006-2007, 391 children who have remained in the program continue to receive an annual educational assistance of P10,000 each . The DSWD has released more than three million pesos for tuition fees and other miscellaneous expenses of the beneficiaries.
On the other hand, the three SONA boys, Erwin, Jason, and Jomer received an average of P18,400 educational assistance yearly
Source : DSWD
Inauguration of the Bayan Tubig Project at Lupang Pangako
On December 11, 2001 President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated the "Bayan Tubig" project at Lupang Pangako aiming to provide . affordable water to thousands of urban poor residents in the community.
The President led the ceremonial turning on of the faucet at the house of Abelardo Abarrientos, one of more than 1,230 households who will be benefiting inside the Lupang Pangako Bayan Tubig project
Among those who participated in the ceremony were Maynilad Chairman Oscar Lopez, French Ambassador to the Philippines Gilles Chouraqui, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Jr., Rep. Ismael "Chuck" Mathay III (2nd District, Quezon City), and Payatas Barangay Chairperson Emerita Pecson.
For his part, Lopez said the Bayan Tubig project is Maynilad's socialized water delivery system intended for blighted communities in its concession area launched in February of 1999.
Source: QC
Controlled Waste Disposal Facility
In January 2004, the Payatas dumpsite was converted into a controlled waste disposal facility to ensure the proper disposal of waste up to 2007. This was done in compliance with Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Unveling of the Memorial Marker for Trashslide Victims
In July 10, 2004 Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte and DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman unveiled the memorial marker for the 229 trashslide victims in Purok 5, Lupang Pangako after a 7:30 mass for the fourth year anniversary of the tragedy
The unveiling of the marker was witnessed by the President with some 200 residents and barangay and city officials including Quezon City Rep. Annie Susano, Barangay Payatas chairperson Rose Dadulo, and Delia Badion, the representative of the July 10 Payatas Victims Organization.
GMA Switched on One-megawatt Gas to Power Generating Facility in Payatas
On July 10, 2004 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo switched on the one-megawatt Payatas Gas to Power Generation Project in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City that can supply electricity to some 2,000 households in the area over the next 10 years.
The ceremonial switch-on of the power project was part of the fourth year commemoration activities of the tragic thrash slide that killed 229 scavengers residing at the foot of the garbage mountain on July 10, 2000.
The President was assisted by Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, Environment Secretary Elisea Gozun and Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) president Thelmo Cunanan. They later toured the power facility in the Quezon city dumpsite.
The power project that uses methane gas from trash is a joint undertaking spearheaded by the national government, through the PNOC, and the Quezon City government.
Source: QC
QC Signed MOA with Pangea
In February 2007, the city government signed a memorandum of agreement with Pangea Green Energy, an Italian- based company, and its Philippine counterpart, for the development and implementation of the country¡Çs first Controlled Disposal Facility Biogas Emission Reduction Project.
The garbage in Payatas have been contained in an enclosed area and the pipes beneath the area will deliver methane gas, produced by the decomposition of the garbage, to the plant which in turn will convert it into electricity.
Source: QC
A Super Health Center Inaugurated in Lupang Pangako
In October 2007, a Super Health Center constructed near the foot of the Smokey Mountain in Phase 1 Lupang Pangako, Payatas B was finally inaugurated after less than a year of contruction.
Quezon City Mayor , Honorable Feliciano Belmonte and the Barangay Chair Rosario Dadulo headed the inauguration of the health center with a host of city and barangay officials. This health center, equipped with laboratory facilities and delivery room would not only accommodate patients-residents in Lupang Pangako but also residents living in areas nearby.
1st Biogas Plant in SEA Launched in Payatas
In April 2008, the first Biogas Emission Reduction Project in Southeast Asia was launched at the Quezon City Controlled Disposal Facility in Barangay Payatas.
Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., together with Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, inaugurated the biogas plant as teamed up with Pangea Green Energy, and Italian based company and its Philippine counterpart which will serve as the city's contribution in its efforts to reduce global warming.
The plant was registered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the country's first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) activity. As a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Philippines is expected to benefit from the CDM system which allows industrialized countries to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries.
In this case, the CDM project in Quezon City was done in partnership with Italy to meet its commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As host to the facility, the Quezon City government is expected to benefit from the sale of ¡Ècarbon credits¡É or greenhouse gas emission reductions which will be used to fund the city¡Çs socio-economic and livelihood programs in the Payatas community.
Barely four months after opening its biogas plant in the Payatas dump, the Quezon City government said it has already earned P7 million in advance payment from an Italian renewable energy firm accredited to operate the facility.
Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. that Pangea Green Energy made the initial payment of 100,000 euros (about P7 million) ahead of the company¡Çs plan to drill 14 additional wells within the 22-hectare waste disposal facility in Payatas.
The city government authorized Pangea to extract, collect and process methane gas from the dump, a large part of which has been closed already, and convert it into electricity.
Belmonte said the facility is expected to provide 42,000 megawatts of alternative energy during the project¡Çs 10-year life.
Apart from monetary considerations, Belmonte said that the lighting of electric posts at the dump, particularly on the road leading to the facility has considerably lessened the crime incidents in the area.
Could these programs heed the calls of the victims for justice after seven years?
Keynotes¡Ä
August 20 , 2008 - Classes were suspended in Metro Manila due to typhoon Karen.
August 21, 1983 - Ninoy Aquino was fatally shot as he was escorted off the airplane in Manila International Airport (MIA) . In Aquino¡Çs honor, the Manila International Airport where he was assassinated was renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and his image was printed in the 500-peso bill. The Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act (RA) 9256 declaring August 21, the anniversary of his death, as Ninoy Aquino Day, an annual public holiday in the Philippines.
As part of Republic Act 9492, the Monday nearest August 21 was declared a nationwide special holiday by the Senate and House of Representatives