News Update Squatters evicted from cemetery

MANILA - TWO women have been sentenced to six years each in jail for squatting in a Manila cemetery that is reserved for national heroes but has become over-run with people needing homes, the military said.

The army said the court rulings, issued in May but announced on Thursday as part of a publicity campaign, were a big victory in its long-running struggle to remove thousands of squatters living in illegal shanty dwellings in the cemetery.

About 8,000 people have illegally built homes on a 40-hectare section of the National Heroes' Cemetery over the past 18 years, said Colonel Marcial Constante, head of security for the 142-hectare graveyard.

'The land reserved for the National Shrine must be respected as a fitting resting place for national heroes and fallen soldiers,' Col Constante told AFP.

'When you stand on the edge of the slum, you can see the white crosses and tombstones in the distance.' Constante said a lower court in nearby Taguig City had ordered the jailing of Erlinda Belaya and Nimfa David for six years in May for illegally occupying the cemetery.

Belaya is out on probation while David has appealed her jail sentence and remains free pending the court's judgment, Col Constante said. The Philippine Army has demolished Belaya's shanty and is awaiting a court ruling on 42 other cases filed against other people occupying the cemetery, according to Col Constante. -- AFP