On March 22, at 8 in the morning, soldiers visited Lanie Tenedero at her home.
Lanie just woke up. One of the soldiers, known to her as Eric, asked her to go with them to the house of Lanie’s elder sister, Mimi, in another community. He asked her to help them convince Mimi to accept the monetary compensation for demolishing her own house and leaving her community, in effect giving up her claim in a land dispute.
Lanie refused and told the soldiers they would just tire themselves out, as they were not even sure if Mimi was at home. They have a car, so it would not be a problem, the soldier said. Surprising Mimi would even be better, the soldier added. But Lanie insisted that her sister was not at home.
The soldier then showed Lanie photos of Mimi at rallies and photos of other activists from Malabon.
The soldier also showed her a photo of a woman, dead and bloodied. The woman in the photo looked like a fallen New People’s Army (NPA) fighter.
That can happen to your sister if she WILL NOT SPEAK with us, the soldier told Lanie.
The soldier continued, “We will just talk to her. We are not like the other soldiers who came here and harassed residents. Look, we do not bring long firearms. We are just here to talk.”
“Pwede naman siyang magbalik-loob,” Eric also told Lanie.
Those who do are then tagged by the military as a ‘rebel returnee’ or ‘surrenderee’ (though the correct term is surrenderer).
The soldiers deployed in Metro Manila have used the same term and offered it to unarmed civilian activists here.
“Balik-loob, like surrender?” a confused Lanie asked.
The soldier answered, “No. ‘Balik-loob’ meant returning your trust and support to the government. The ‘balik-loob’ for surrenderees is different.”
Again, Lanie was confused. Why would fighting for her home make her sister a subject or target of the government’s ‘balik-loob’ program that the soldiers are zealously peddling?
“She is not doing anything wrong,” Lanie told Eric.
The soldier agreed and repeated that they just wanted to talk to Mimi.
A few days after the incident, the sisters filed a blotter with the barangay council, the basic government unit in the country.
It was not like the soldiers rarely crossed paths with Mimi. Every time a member of Mimi’s community gives in to the offer to relocate and has to demolish their own house as part of the deal, the soldiers will be there to monitor. To assist, they would say.
On April 17, Manila Today reporters experienced firsthand the military presence in Mimi’s community during the interview with her. She said that the soldier, who introduced himself as Eric Montemayor, visited her often.
A resident was demolishing her house, and Eric came by. Mimi confronted Eric about the threat he made to her sister.
Mimi said that Eric had not returned to visit her since that day. Manila Today promptly reported on the incident.
But she has lived in the village of Catmon all her life, she said.
“I know the story of Catmon very well. This part was a river that was dumped with garbage. Cornelio Martinez offered us to move here in exchange for our place in Sitio Sais, where we were first evicted,” shared Mimi.
According to Mimi, Cornelio Martinez Francisco, or CMF (also the community’s name), donated the land as a relocation site for those evicted from Sitio Sais (6). Of the 56 families facing eviction from Sitio Sais, only 36 relocated. The others were dissatisfied with the offer because CMF used to be a swampy area and garbage dumping site. It was smelly and infested with flies.
In 2017, CMF residents were shocked when they received the news that Joselito Lopez of All Asia Structures, Inc. had bought the land already given to them as relocation.
This was when the residents’ housing ordeal began.
In 2017, the community’s electricity connection was cut off. Solar panels became an alternative means to generate electricity for those who could afford them. There was also an attempt to cut off the homes’ water connection, but the residents held a protest, and they were able to keep their water lines. There were also attempts to demolish homes in the community without a court order.
“We are the ones who developed this place, so we don’t want to leave. Through our efforts, we were able to make our lives better here. We made this place livable. Then someone comes along to claim it and take it away from us,”said Mimi.
However, the land claimant has changed tactics from forced eviction to offering money in exchange for residents’ voluntary demolition of their homes.
“One by one, the residents here have given up. They were offered P156,000. The 120,000 is from the claimant of the land. The P36,000 is from the city mayor, and you need to claim the mayor’s contribution at Malabon City Hall,” said Mimi.
To Mimi, the soldiers have assisted in forcing the residents to relocate.
Mimi is a member of Kadamay Malabon and Sandigan ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Upper Catmon, or SNMUC.
“I did not know anything about demolitions before. When it was already happening in my community, I wanted to learn more,” said Mimi.
She said she learned from Kadamay what her rights were. However, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) targeted the group.
“The soldiers made our leaders ‘surrender.’ These leaders aligned themselves with the people who were evicting us from our homes to save their skin. The only thing Kadamay wants is for us poor city dwellers to have a permanent place to live,” said Mimi.
She is an avowed member of Kadamay despite how the group was red-tagged and demonized in their village. She thought the military was targeting her for their “balik-loob” program because of her affiliation with the group.
“We are only fighting for our rights. Why would they treat or tag us as terrorists? ”said Mimi.
Mimi and other residents filed complaints about the soldiers’ activities in their community with the Commission on Human Rights in July 2022. The residents complained that the soldiers red-tagged, profiled, and surveilled them. The soldiers offered them social services such as holding medical missions and reconnecting electricity in the community, distributing goods, or giving them livelihoods in exchange for their signatures saying they were NPA’surrenderees.’
This was also the year the regional counterpart of the NTF-ELCAC, the Joint Task Force-ELCAC National Capital Region (JTF-NCR), was formed.
Since then, the soldiers have been actively pushing the residents to give up their housing claims in the community.
“Right now, many houses are being demolished because the people here were drawn by their offer. This is despite the fact that the money offered is not enough for people to destroy their homes. We have been fighting over this place for a long time. But because our adversary has money and he is using the NTF-ELCAC and the police or the military, he is winning. Maybe out of fear, the residents here were compelled to accept the offer,” said Mimi.
While facing a mountain of challenges ahead of her, Mimi is resolute in her demands. For her, fighting for her home means her family’s survival.
“I am still fighting because my right to housing is important to me. Money might be more important or have better use for my neighbors who gave up the fight. I don’t have a regular livelihood. I’m a single parent, and I have a child with me who is trying to make a living. Even if I get P156,000 but I have to rent a house, what happens when that money runs out? Unlike here, I have a home. I have my rights. So why shouldn’t I just fight for them? ”said Mimi.
– with reports from Roy Barbosa
This story was produced as a part of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development’s Media and Visual Fellowship on Militarism, Peace and Women’s Human Rights.
