In his recent SONA Duterte called for the nationwide removal of road and sidewalk obstructions. You know all those vendors and other riffraff which block foot and road traffic. No word about shanties not blocking the road but still dangerously close to it. He has given the country 60 days to get its act in order and then the DILG will start fining LGUs.
Enter the PNP.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076437 |
“This is in support to the call of the President to ease traffic not just in Metro Manila but in the whole country as he cited in his SONA that the country is losing billions of pesos a month due to traffic congestion. Especially here in San Juan, we know that the area is crowded, we have many PCPs that are in sidewalks. And because the people see that these are in sidewalks, they will imitate them and build structures. We don't want that,” Albayalde told reporters, who personally demolished the PCP 6 together with National Capital Region Police Office director, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar and San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora.
Why the heck does the PNP have precincts built on sidewalks in the first place? Couldn't they find some land on which to erect a proper building? One would think so seeing as some of these buildings have been there for over thirty years!
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1149164/ncrpo-to-demolish-35-more-police-precincts-that-obstruct-roads-sidewalks |
In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Eleazar said 24 of the police offices are on sidewalks, six are on center islands, while five are encroaching public roads.
There were initially 37 police offices within Metro Manila that were obstructing public roads, but two of them — a PCP in San Juan City and a Compac in Malabon City — were already demolished, the NCRPO said.
Eleazar said however the NCRPO cannot just remove the precincts without ensuring relocation sites.
“We do not want to sacrifice or compromise the peace and order in the locality,” he said.
While the order of President Rodrigo Duterte is to reclaim public roads being used for private purposes, Eleazar said the NCRPO decided to also demolish its precincts and compacs that are obstructing roads to serve as an example to the public.
(We still have to correct it. These offices have been there since the 80s and was not flagged. For whatever reason reason that it was there and since there was no strong political will in the past, [we still have to demolish it].)
Let's break this down. These precincts are not only on sidewalks but also on centre islands and encroaching on public roads and they have been there since the 80s which is 30 years. Duterte's order is to clear roads being obstructed for private purposes which does not include the PNP's road and sidewalk obstructions for some reason but the PNP has decided to demolish their buildings anyway to be an example to the public.
PNP Chief Albayalde says if people see those PNP structures they will imitate them. But there are obstructions all over the place which would mean for 30 years now people have only been imitating the PNP as they built structures which obstruct the roads! And why is the PNP complaining that they need to find relocation sites first when they have had 30 years to do so? 30 years is more than enough to time to find a new location.
As for the PNP saying that Duterte's order does not apply to them but only to private individuals that is not true at all. The barangay hall is a very public building where the barangay captain does business and disputes are settled and is the life center of the barangay. But they are not exempt from building codes which forbid buildings from obstructing sidewalks which is why several have been torn down in the past few years.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/943244/news-mmda-pasay-city-obstruction-sidewalk |
Lim said they decided to demolish the outpost themselves after barangay officials took no action despite the three notices sent to them.
According to Barangay Chair Dexter Mangorangca, they were just being cautious because they did not want to be asked by the Commission on Audit why the outpost was demolished a year after its construction.
He added that they spent around P200,000 to build the structure, which was meant to provide additional security in the area.
Those fools spent P200,000 to build a structure in an illegal place. If you look closely there is a PULIS sign attached to the barnagay hall. Comedy gold!
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| https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/05/19/roads-sidewalks-cleared-of-obstructions-in-barangay-206-in-tondo-manila/ |
Personnel from the Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group and Task Force Special Operations spearheaded by MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim inspected Dinalupihan Street in Tondo under the jurisdiction of Barangay 206, Zone 19, District II in Manila.
Illegally parked vehicles, mostly privately owned, were towed, and sidewalks were cleared of obstructions like canopies and ambulant stores.
The Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group and Task Force Special Operations is a part of the MMDA and they are tasked with clearing the sidewalks and roads. But their job is far from easy. In fact there are many who would like them to not do their job which is why the clutter piles up in Manila. From 2004:
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| https://www.philstar.com/metro/2004/07/24/258605/mmda-resume-sidewalk-clearing |
Last February, Fernando temporarily shelved the program after reportedly receiving criticisms and minimal support from city and municipal officials.
"But later, we received a direct request to conduct sidewalk clearing operations from Valenzuela, Caloocan and Muntinlupa. In other areas, some barangay officials sent requests through their mayors," Esquivel said.
He said newly elected Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian has asked the MMDA to assist them in removing obstructions along the sidewalk. The MMDA began clearing roads in Valenzuela three weeks ago.
Last month, the MMDA confiscated a Komatsu 12 bulldozer that was parked at the 7th Avenue and Baltazar street in Caloocan City. They learned it was owned by a barangay captain who happens to own a junk shop.
Esquivel said the impounding of the bulldozer should serve as a lesson to erring officials. They would bill him for the personnel and equipment utilized, including a crane and trailer bed that haul off the heavy utility vehicle.
Nobody cares. That is the problem. Nobody cares about those obstructions because many of them, vendors especially, pay huge kickbacks. Politicians want that money. As long as they are being paid nothing else matters. And sometimes when you tear down illegal structures you get covered in garbage and human waste.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/689492/cops-wrecking-crew-stinky-after-qc-slum-demolition |
ROCKS, bottles and plastic bags containing human waste rained down on a police-backed demolition team before it could secure and begin tearing down an informal settler community in Barangay (village) South Triangle, Quezon City, on Tuesday.
Despite the conduct of a “predemolition conference” between the residents and the local government to prevent any untoward incident, violence still marked the clearing operation in an estimated 2,000-square-meter private property at the corner of Mother Ignacia and Scout Bayoran Street, hurting a policeman and a demolition crew member.
According to Quezon City Public Affairs and Information Services Office (Paiso) officer in charge Regina Samson, the structures in the area were earlier declared illegal by the city building office and were also considered fire hazards by the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Samson said the city government had also been conducting dialogues with the settlers for the past two years regarding their eventual eviction from the property, which is owned by the firm Service Leasing.
As many as 300 families had occupied the area but around 200 already relocated and were given financial assistance by the city government, she said. Only 87 families remained as of Tuesday’s demolition.
The city government had identified this section of South Triangle for possible tourism-related developments, Samson added.
How many more illegal structures posing serious fire hazards are squatters occupying across the country? How many of them are still tolerated despite LGU's knowing their existence? But if you tore down their illegal and hazardous buildings where would the people go? This is what happens when property rights are not respected. Things build up to a totally preventable crisis.
Back to the PNP. What a disgraceful outfit. The buildings should never have been erected in the first place. It's quite the photo-op of Albaylde taking a sledge hammer to the side of that structure. How about do it properly and hire a bulldozer, a backhoe, and a dump truck? These men were NEVER going to tear down those structures if Duterte had not mentioned getting rid of such obstructions in his SONA. So it's pretty disingenuous for PNP Chief Albaydle to say they are being an example to everyone else. Especially when it has been 30 years!
I would bet the only reason Duterte said anything in his SONA about clearing roads and sidewalks is because of the actions of new Manila Mayor Isko Moreno who has been cleaning up Manila. But the MMDA has been doing that for years now. For decades. And still the roads and sidewalks remain cluttered.
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