The urban poor and the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) held a picket in Quezon City on September 24 to mark the 15th anniversary of the heroic people’s barricade against the demolition of Sitio San Roque, Barangay Bagong Pag-asa in 2010. The barricade symbolizes their stand for decent, affordable, and mass housing.

The San Roque community bravely faced bulldozers, National Housing Authority (NHA) personnel, and the Quezon City local government in 2010 to defend their homes. Their unity thwarted the violence of the police who dismantled the barricade, sprayed water cannons, and threatened to shoot. Seven residents were injured while two were arrested.

They actively resisted by hurling stones at the police and NHA personnel to defend their homes. The comprador bourgeoisie Ayala family and Enrique Razon were seizing the community’s land for their business ventures.

“For the San Roque people, the barricade is the urban poor’s weapon, a form of struggle against the system that forcibly strips them of their rights,” Kadamay said. According to the group, the same threat against the urban poor persists today.

The group stated that this is evident in blatant government corruption, violent demolitions in the name of fake “development,” and killings and repression against those who defend rights. “While the greedy Ayalas and their allied politicians continue to amass wealth, the poor are driven deeper into poverty through low wages, high prices of goods, recurring floods, and evictions from their homes,” Kadamay said.

According to the group, all of this is the product of a rotten system run by bureaucrat capitalism, where the enrichment of a few in power comes at the cost of the people’s sweat, blood, and homes.

“Our history of struggle shows that simply changing leaders or administrations is not enough. True freedom and justice can only be achieved through changing the rotten system, building a society that truly serves the people and not the few in power,” Kadamay concluded.