These are images of poverty and struggle of people living along the railroad tracks.
In commemoration of Urban Poor week, the group Kadamay held a Lakbay Riles last December 4 from Sta. Mesa to Pandacan.
They enjoined residents to unite against the demolition of their houses.
The government has been bent on clearing the raildroad tracks of "squatters" to pave the way for the modernization of the Philippine National Railways.
Yet it offers no suitable relocation plan for these urban dwellers, who were mostly driven out of the countryside by poverty.
Relocation sites offered by the government are usually in provinces where there are no sources of income and where residents are being forced to pay mortgage for housing that lacks water and electricity.
Some 100,000 urban poor dwellers will lose their homes as a result of the PNR Modernization Program.
These are images of poverty and struggle of people living along the railroad tracks.
In commemoration of Urban Poor week, the group Kadamay held a Lakbay Riles last December 4 from Sta. Mesa to Pandacan. 
They enjoined residents to unite against the demolition of their houses.
The government has been bent on clearing the raildroad tracks of "squatters" to pave the way for the modernization of the Philippine National Railways. 
Yet it offers no suitable relocation plan for these urban dwellers, who were mostly driven out of the countryside by poverty. 
Relocation sites offered by the government are usually in provinces where there are no sources of income and where residents are being forced to pay mortgage for housing that lacks water and electricity.
Some 100,000 urban poor dwellers will lose their homes as a result of the PNR Modernization Program.
See related story at http://mamamahayag.wordpress.com
3 comments:
It is great to see money finally being injected into the PNR, it is long overdue and the country deserves a great railway system. Heres hoping the people who lived along the railway live a better life where they are moved to.
It will certainly remove the flavour of the old PNR.
Regards
Brad
Philippine Railways SIG
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PhilippineRailways
It has been so long since I was there. In those days the skates were just unpainted bamboo. I hope to get to return to PI and ride a skate before the line gets modernised.
Perhaps the track has reached such a state that it would be time to relay it in standard gauge and electrify it. It could then be MRT line zero.
Seriously though, a frequent clean service would encourage commerce along the route. This will most likely lead to employment and educational opportunities for those who live within walking distance of the stops.
If Manila is to have a modern, fast and clean public rail transportion system then the squatters must be relocated. This must and from what I've seen is being done with as much consultation and as sympathetically as possible.
It is a government problem as people should not have been allowed to settle on the railway reservation in the first place even though that was many years (and governments ago)!
I think this government is to be congratulated on tackling what is a very delicate human issue for the greater good of Manila and its citizens.
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