Hundreds of employees of the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) in Muntinlupa City expressed fear of eviction with the construction of the Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Road Link that will traverse inside the New Bilibid Prison reservation.

The employees, majority have been serving the Bucor from 20 to 40 years, aired their protest over the haste by which the national government is trying to evict them.

Emerenciana Divina, president of the Samahang Pinagbuklod ng Daang Hari-SLEX Link Road Project Association and an employee of the Bucor, claimed the employees will be evicted from their homes without relocation, which is in violation of the law.

She said that instead, the Alabang-Sto. Tomas Development Inc. (ASDI), the developer of the road project, is only offering them a rental allowance of P5,000 per month that will be extended to the affected families for one year.

“The rental allowance is not relocation,” Divina told the Manila Bulletin.

The road link project, to occupy 24 hectares of land inside the NBP, will connect Muntinlupa and the controversial Daang Hari road in Cavite.

The ASDI notified the residents that it will distribute the rental allowance assistance November 9-11 but the employees are determined not to receive it.

The road link is part of the development of the 416-hectare land of the NBP into a mixed-use area, which has been identified by Senator Aquilino Pimentel as one of the alleged “midnight deals” under the Arroyo administration.

Divina said a relocation site should first be constructed and finished before the Bucor employees are evicted, which, she added, is what the law states. She added that the relocation site should have complete facilities.

The problem is, she said, the promised relocation site in the 41-hectare government housing site also inside the NBP has yet to be developed.

She said after the one-year rental allowance has been used, the employees have nowhere to go.

The employees also said the National Housing Authority has failed to explain fully why other Bucor employees and families are not qualified to avail of the relocation.

The employees have asked the city council to investigate the planned eviction.

A public hearing is scheduled on Wednesday where representatives from the government and the employees will attend, Divina said.