Communities and residents at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman in Quezon City condemned the July 2 launch of a “model housing unit” by the Southern Diliman Gardens Rental Housing Project, a commercial venture linked to the UP Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Wellness Park project. According to the Samahan ng Mamamayang Nagkakaisa sa Diliman (SAMANA Diliman), UP communities oppose the housing project as this will only burden them further while contractors and the UP administration reap billions in profits.

The UP SDG Wellness Park is a project of the UP administration packaged as a space for learning, eco-friendliness, and assistance to students and the community. Part of the project includes constructing a golf driving range, “eco-friendly” facilities, commercial housing, and other infrastructures. The project threatens to evict communities in Pook Aguinaldo, Area 17, Malantic, the Krus na Ligas farmland, CP Garcia, Pook Arboretum, and many others. It is estimated that more than 70,000 families will be affected in total.

The specific housing project under construction is being pushed by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs, the Quezon City Housing Community Development and Resettlement Department, the Barangay UP Campus local government, and Megawide Construction.

“No one from the UP Diliman communities agreed to that so-called rental housing. Your smiles are so wide, flush with the billions in budget allocated for this supposed rental housing project, where even bigger kickbacks will be taken and pocketed,” SAMANA Diliman said.

The group also criticized the sly, secretive ribbon-cutting ceremony held for the housing project. The agencies and UP did not announce the activity, and no residents were invited. Meanwhile, police and blue guards served as security for the event, the group said.

“The officials, staff, and their guests just hid behind the fence while scarfing down catered food that was likely also funded by the public purse,” the group said. SAMANA Diliman emphasized, “It is glaringly obvious who will truly benefit from this project.”

Days before the activity, SAMANA Diliman and progressive organizations composed of residents, farmers, student youth, staff, and faculty at UP Diliman stormed a UP forum regarding the localization of the SDGs at the Asian Institute of Tourism on June 25. The protest disrupted the opening remarks of UP President Angelo Jimenez.

They are calling for the scrapping of the UP SDG Wellness Park, which threatens to evict long-time residents and destroy the remaining tillable land and farms in UP Diliman and adjacent barangays. SAMANA Diliman released a six-point demand that they insist the UP administration must heed.

They demand that genuine consultations be held with the majority of affected residents regarding the project, and that all implementation measures be immediately halted. This is while negotiations continue and no final agreement has been reached between the residents and the UP administration.

They want armed guards removed and their outposts dismantled within community jurisdictions. They also demand an end to the harassment perpetrated by armed and unarmed guards, the PNP, and the DILG—partners of the UP Administration in the project—who have been destroying crops, demolishing houses, and surveilling citizens opposed to the project.

They call for the recognition of the DAR’s Notice of Coverage on the lands of farmers affected by the project. The government must provide services and support to these farmers to develop their lands.

Likewise, they urge an amendment to a UP Charter provision that prohibits and restricts residents from improving their homes and limits their residency to only three years on UP Diliman land, calling that they be allowed to develop their own houses.

Above all, they insist that residents be given the right to remain in their current homes. “Advance the right to humane housing and just development for all!” was the unified call of the groups.