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demolished the shanties of informal settlers built surrounding
the Rajah Sulayman Lumba Ranao grand mosque in Roxas
Boulevard. Senior Superintendent Raul Petrasanta, chief of police
of PCPO, who lead the team as ground commander, was reportedly
carrying writ of execution to implement the demolition of the
shanties. But the writ, issued on 11 August 2009 by the RTC,
Branch 274, in Paranaque City, could not have been legally valid
because it had already expired. They also did not comply with
the rules on demolitions, for example, giving occupants subject
to the impending demolition a notice to vacate.
Therefore, because the informal settlers were not aware of the
scheduled demotion, they formed a human barricade, mostly
of women, to prevent the demolition team from entering the
property subject to demolition. As a result of the confusion and
uncertainties as to what was going on, the scene quickly became
chaotic. The children, women and elderly were running from
one place to the other to seek safety. Some of them crawled to a
grassy portion for cover while others scuffled with the demolition
team. The policemen, armed with M16 rifles and pistols, broke
the human barricade by force by shoving and pushing with the
metal truncheons they were holding. After breaking through
the policemen and the demolition proceeded in dismantling the
occupant’s shanties. The demolition team also arrested a 13-yearold
boy (name withheld) for carrying a slingshot the demolition
team later claimed was used against them.
when the occupants defending their dwelling began throwing
rocks at the policemen, they began shooting at them killing three
persons, including a boy, and wounding several others. According
to Abdelmanan Tanandato, community leader of the Association
of Demolished Residents of Roxas Boulevard (Samahan ng
nagkakaisang nademolis sa Roxas Boulevard), the dead bodies
of the three victims’ sustained gunshot wounds from M16 rifles
and 9mm pistols, the type of firearms the policemen were using
at the time.
The policemen denied deliberately shooting justifying that the
shots fired were only meant as warning shots. But in the video
taken by a local news television, gmA news, the direction in which
the bullets landed suggests that they were not warning shots. The
bullets fired struck and were visible in the walls of the mosque.
Story 15: Overt surveillance on a labour group’s office
Name of the organization under threat: Cebu CTUHR
Date of incident: September to October 2009
Place of incident: Lapu-lapu City
AHRC-UAC-141-2009
Suspicious looking men with military ‘buzz cuts’ had been
taking pictures and videos of people visiting the office since late
September 2009. The office is in Lapu-Lapu City, on Visayas
article 2 � June-Sept 2012 Vol. 11, No. 2-3
“
The writ issued
by the court did not
comply with the
rules on demolitions,
for example, giving
occupants subject
of the impending
demolition a notice
to vacate.
”
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