Protesters block EDSA briefly, cause major jam

MANILA, Philippines – Traffic along EDSA in Quezon City got briefly snarled Friday morning after informal settlers from Sitio San Roque blocked the entire northbound lane to celebrate the anniversary of the failed demolition of their houses last year.

Residents of Sitio San Roque in Barangay North Triangle and members of militant groups blocked the 5 lanes of the northbound portion of the avenue for 5 minutes to commemorate the “Battle of EDSA”.

Last September 23, 2010, violence erupted after demolition forces attempted to demolish houses in the area for the planned Quezon City Central Business District (QCCBD) spearheaded by the Ayala Corporation.

The demolition was stopped after a local trial court judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of the settlers.

In a statement, September 23 Movement leader Estrelieta Bagasbas said “the act is to show that they are willing to barricade EDSA once again if the government persists in demolishing their homes.”

The residents then headed towards the main office of the National Housing Authority (NHA) to throw mud at the gate of the agency.

“San Roque mud is all they can get. They can never take away our land as long as we can speak and hold a protest,” said Bagasbas. - with a report from Johnson Manabat, dzMM