Sitio San Roque: A Story of Creative Protest
What makes a city beautiful?
Sitio San Roque is a public property owned by the National Housing Authority (NHA) and is located in Barangay Bagong Pag-Asa, North Triangle, Quezon City. It extends from the stretch of EDSA between Quezon and North Avenue to Agham Road. In 2008, a public bidding was done for the development of the Quezon City Central Business District in North Triangle and the contract was awarded to Ayala Land Inc. This urban poor community has a staggering number of about 100,000 people at risk of being eradicated in the area since the land of 256 hectares will be converted to a “Mix-Use Community” for residential and commercial use.
Three options are given by the NHA to the residents: 1) Compensation from Ayala not greater than P100,000 to move-out, 2) Relocation to far flung places with roughly P400,000 amortization, and lastly 3) ‘request’ to move their dwelling place out of the project site and nothing more.
After hearing the given options for the residents, various opinions echoed the whole area that somehow divides the community on which party they are going to partake. Most of them are willing to fight for their homes, while others resort to surrender and avoid any more nuisance of struggle.
For over a decade, the residents of San Roque have been fighting for their right to stay in Sitio San Roque and have been negotiating with the officials to have an on-site development and/or a proper relocation site.
Nanay Marivic, mother of a 3-year-old and a member of Kadamay who has lived in Sitio San Roque for almost 10 years, is leaning towards the second option but only if the houses offered by the NHA are more intact and has access to electricity and water.
“Kapag pinaalis kami dito ay wala kaming magagawa, babalik na lang kami sa probinsya… Kapag bibigyan kami ng pera babalik kami sa probinsya pero kapag relocation edi bahay pero mas maganda kung bahay talaga.”
She mentioned that the relocation houses in Montalban, and Bulacan are far-off the city resulting to difficulty of finding resources need for everyday life. Moreover, her fellow members of Sitio San Roque who were relocated in the said areas went back home after experiencing such predicaments.
“Marami nga ang na-relocate doon ang bumalik din kasi mahirap doon. Mahirap ang buhay kasi walang kuryente, walang tubig…”
Despite those people who fight for their rights of affordable housing and to live in Sitio San Roque there are still some who would do nothing if ever that the demolition will push through in their area. They would prefer to move out the community calmly thinking that whatever actions they commit, it will never reach the hearts of the powerful and will just produce chaos.
Nanay Jocielyn together with her son and her mother, live in the community for more than a decade and have witnessed various accounts of human rights violation in the area and the protests conducted by various groups to retrieve what they ought to be for them. Unfortunately, this gave her a reason not to get involve in the ruckus and they would immediately abscond the area if they must.
“Hindi naman kami nadamay sa mga demolition kasi wala pa naman pero sa sunog oo… Okay lang din naman magka demolition kasi hindi naman sa amin ‘to. Wala naming force demolition, kung ayaw mo magpagiba di ka naman nila pipilitin. Yung dati meron kaya nagkanda gulo-gulo yung mga pulis tsaka mga tao dito.”
Even though she asserted that it’s fine to conduct demolition since after all it’s not them who own the land, she still thinks that force demolition is harsh and prevents them from their rights to have their own decision.
“Hindi makatarungan yun kasi pwersahan yun kaya nagkagulo yung tao tsaka yung pulis.”
When asked about where they will go if they leave the area she simply replied.
“Aalis pero wala pang malilipatan. Pero kung lilipat na syempre magkakaroon din yan. Tapos ok sana kung malinis na ang lahat bago ilipat yung tao doon yung mayroon ng tubig at kuryente……Pero kung ganoon na parang istraktura lang tapos nasa yungib pa parang ang hirap...”
Most, if not all, people will argue that they have been given the chance to live a more comfortable life and free from chaos and yet they refused. Defining “comfortable life” is subjective and it is indeed true that for the residents of Sitio San Roque it is quite different since for them it means to easily acquire all the basic needs that will help them to survive their everyday life.
The cry of the urban poor residents of Sitio San Roque is not about having a fancy way of living, but rather, having access to adequate livelihood and a decent home.
As the tagline, that was made by the Ayala Corporation, says “Everything you need is within your reach” as to flaunt about the rising condominiums in the area which primarily targeted the middle and upper classes. This tagline also holds true for the poor residents of Sitio San Roque, who are low-wage workers, since their jobs, schools, and sources of income are near them which also suggest that they will spend less for transportation.
Protest Art
There have been artistic projects done since past generations to address the inhumane and barbaric means of eviction done by NHA-Ayala. SIKAD, a multidisciplinary art organization, held series of workshops called Sining San Roque for volunteers and residents to reclaim the demolished spaces and resist the construction of Solaire Casino in the area of J1 and J2 through art.
As a manifestation of our support to the continuous fight of the poor, our team painted a mural during the workshop, depicting the current of our society under neoliberalism. The triangle sings, “Hangga’t may tatsulok at sila and nasa tuktok, hindi matatapos itong gulo!” written in pink and red. In addition to that, our team decided to use the logo of the Ayala Corporation as the letter ‘a’ in the word “sila.”
Epilogue to J1 and J2
As the residents of J1 and J2 agreed to take the compensation of Solaire in the cost of their homes, most of the artistic outputs didn’t had the chance to survive.
One of the uncanny debris pieces that foreshadows the cold solstice of the death of a home this nativity: Pilgrims after settlers. The surrounding high-rise buildings pose as navigational stars to look for their next homes although not within it.
Oplan Pinta Oplan Dikit outputs, eclipsed by a roof-barrier that will be used to delineate the boundaries of Solaire Casino for construction. Both pieces foreground calls for collective action (“Barikadang Bayan”), and social service (“Serbisyo sa Tao, ‘Wag Gawing Negosyo”). But Quezon City Central Business District replies with “accumulation by dispossession”.
Debris of mural and installation amalgamated with concrete pebbles. This tells us how the reclaimed area still depends on the collective resistance of the locals more than voluntarist art-production.
The temporary shelters granted to Kadamay members who asserted their rights according to UDHA law.
Last December 9, 2019, the Save San Roque alliance was able to submit the proposed Community Development Plan (CDP)to Mayor Joy Belmonte personally. The residents hope for the elimination of the threats, eviction, and harassment and wishes to be included in the development that the government is implementing.
CDP aims to remind the government about the socialised housing project under the Housing Act of 1992. The organization’s goal in making this CDP is to have an exclusive city development program for the urban poor which includes affordable housing for the urban poor and minimum wage earners and access to public education, health care, and the like. Kadamay also included that the demolitions must not be done until the residents and local government made a discussion on the said matter.
Albeit the short lifespan it took for the lives of the artworks, the long standing problem lies in the artistic violence being done by the trend of global cities through the aesthetics of gentrification. As development continues to be framed in such an aesthetic that eclipses and marginalizes the very people who literally build such cities, an alternative form of art is ever needed to unmask the inequality being heightened by the current model of development; backed up through continuous solidarity with the people on the ground.
#SaveSanRoque #DevelopmentForAll #YesToInclusion
Words, Photos, and “Tatsulok” Mural: Joshua Ezekiel Sales, Sarah Faith Rulloda, Stephanie Hepiga, Jordan Ray Rojas, John Quir Gaviola, Trisha Marie Herras
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