IN PHOTOS: Evicted

LeAnne Jazul

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IN PHOTOS: Evicted

LeAnne Jazul

Sunvar tenants vacate the Mile Long property

MANILA, Philippines — On Monday, August 14, the Court of Appeals issued a resolution authorizing the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 141 to order the Prieto-owned Sunvar Realty Development Corporation to vacate the 2.9-hectare Mile Long property. 

Before 6 pm the following day, Solicitor General Jose Calida with the Makati court sheriff personally handed the Notice to Vacate to tenants of the property. The notice said they had 3 days to “surrender the possession of the property.”

In a statement on Wednesday, August 16, Sunvar said it will “comply and vacate Mile Long” as part of their commitment “to [abide] by the legal process.”

report on the Inquirer said Sunvar “has instructed its lawyers not to file any court pleading that may impede the execution of the earlier decision to vacate the property.”

On Friday, August 18, 273 tenants vacated their units in Premier Cinema, Mile Long Arcade, Makati Creekside Building, The Gallery Building, and Sunvar Plaza.

“Parang may sunog. Mga owners, mga babae, lahat ng tao may binubuhat palabas ng kani-kanyang mga unit. Mga gamit, mesa, at upuan nagkalat sa labas,” said Josie Bigayan–Paad, a tenant for 33 years, describing the sudden eviction.

MOVING OUT. Tenants pull out of their rented units at The Gallery Building

EVICTED. Furniture outside Mile Long

WAITING FOR THE HAULER. Workers wait for reinforcement to haul out sofa sets at the Makati Creekside Building.

CLOSED. Security guards padlock the entrance of the Sunvar Plaza on August 18, 2017, after the government enforced a vacate order

COLLATERAL DAMAGE. A tenant since 1984, Josie Bigayan-Paad says the eviction will greatly affect her weekly feeding program and job security of her employees

A DECADE EARLY. Tenants had paid for use of their units until 2027

BEGGING FOR DUTERTE'S INTERVENTION. Owners of the Creekside Hotel say they were misled by Sunvar

PLEA. Sunvar says"the most they can commit at this point is try to ask the government for some 'leeway' to the tenants
 

PADLOCKED. McDonalds Makati Cinema Square branch ceases operations ahead of the deadline.

STATE OF PANIC. A laundry shop at Sunvar Plaza tries to beat the Friday deadline

LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME. A cat of one of the tenants wait to be transported

NOWHERE TO GO. Evicted tenants have yet to find a place to transfer their businesses

PARKING SPACE. OSG Buses now occupy the empty parking lot of Mile Long Arcade

EMPTY. A once busy pantry in one of the units at Mile Long Arcade

MIXED-USE COMPLEX. The 2.9-hectare property is occupied by a variety of businesses, including restaurants and clinics

HOUSING FOR THE POOR. President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to put up housing projects for soldiers and poor families in the Mile Long property

UNDER PRESSURE. The disputed Mile Long property is owned by the Prieto family who also owns the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which President Rodrigo Duterte has criticized for its supposed negative coverage of his administration

Since President Rodrigo Duterte took over, he has been repeatedly admonishing in public Sunvar’s owners, the Prieto and Rufino families. He had been singling out the Prietos, in particular, the owners of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI). The newspaper has been the subject of Duterte’s scathing criticism for supposedly running unfair negative reports about him and his administration.

Ramon Ang, the chief of the country’s most diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, is in talks with PDI owners to acquire a majority stake in the daily newspaper.

Duterte had earlier said that he would turn Mile Long into a site for public housing. (READ: Duterte vows to build socialized housing on Mile Long property) – Rappler.com

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LeAnne Jazul

LeAnne has had 25 years of experience in the media industry. He joined Rappler for the 2013 elections and has stayed on. He is currently Rappler's photo editor.