Police and Monocrete Construction Company (MCC) personnel brutally attacked and demolished the barricade set up by residents of Panday Creekside in Barangay Palingon, Taguig City on April 13. An estimated 1,000-member demolition team and nearly 300 personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and SWAT units stormed the community to tear down the houses.

The police confrontation with the residents lasted an hour before they were able to enter the community and began the demolition. The demolition team used 15 backhoes to tear down the houses.

The police used tear gas, threw bottles, and deployed snipers against the residents. They arrested at least seven residents, including two young medic volunteers from Anakbayan Taguig who joined the barricade. They were each charged with three cases.

MCC personnel also cut off the residents’ water lines on the demolition’s first night. They also began fencing off the area being seized by the corporation.

On the night of April 14, residents reported that they were already being blocked from entering the area to retrieve and salvage their belongings. Many families remain on the street, where they are temporarily living as they have nowhere else to go.

Residents decry the illegal nature of the demolition carried out by MCC and its personnel in Panday Creekside. They said there was no legal basis for tearing down nearly 200 houses of sharers, tenants, and other residents in the community. They said the document that the MCC presented, the Writ of Execution No. 8390-A, specified only ten houses for demolition.

The dispute in Panday Creekside first surfaced in 2011 when a man identifying himself as Jaime Lontoc claimed the land. Two years later, MCC also appeared and claimed the land. MCC attempted to demolish the community in 2015, but residents were able to stop the operations.

Harassment and pressure against residents currently continue to make them accept compensation worth ₱30,000-₱41,000 in exchange for self-demolition, or for destroying their own homes.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-National Capital Region expressed support for the residents’ struggle. The group said that even amid the national crisis of rising oil prices and basic goods, violent expulsion of urban poor communities continues unabated. “Unite and fight for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of National Capital Region!” it said.

Anakbayan Taguig continues to stand with the residents of Panday Creekside. “A house is a right, not a privilege. The stand of Panday Creek is the stand of every urban poor community that seeks dignity and justice,” it said.

On the night of April 13, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Sarah Elago called on lawmakers to support a moratorium on the demolition of communities, especially amid the economic crisis. Elago made the call at the joint committee hearing on the declaration of a National Energy Emergency.