Little Masantol on Natoma Street
Since 1992, Orlando De Vera, the Bustos family, and the Bonifacio family have lived in the apartments at 657-659 Natoma Street. Mr. De Vera says they “all came from the village of Masantol near Angeles City in the Philippines” and recreated their village within the walls of their adopted home. From then until now, the three families have lived in harmony; as their parents grew older, their children grew up, and a grandchild arrived. The long-time residents range from 91 to 4 years old. And their landlord has been trying to evict them for the past year. “We are full of stress,” says Mrs. Manuelita Lacanlale.
In 2005, Mr. De Vera met Mrs. Lacanlale, recently arrived from Masantol. They became a couple at the relocated “village” on Natoma Street. Then the young couple Ann Marie and Franklin Alain Ma Coll came to share the rent in 2010. For the past eight years, the De Veras and the Ma Colls have shared their lives in the tiny, immaculate, beautifully decorated two-bedroom apartment. They cook together in the small kitchen. “Oh, we're good together. It's just like family,” says Ann on a Sunday afternoon, as she and Manuelita prepare a yummy meal for their SOMCAN guests. “We have no problems,” laughs Manuelita. The two women are so close, they often speak in unison. “Yeah,” echoes Ann, “We have no problems.”
They are talking about how attached they are to their home of many years, to each other, to the other tenants, and to their neighborhood.
Ann: “We just love this place. It's like a home.”
Manuelita: “It is a home.”
Anne: “Plus, it’s close to where we work. We're used to here, it's very convenient. Everywhere you go, it's close by.”
Manuelita: “And the transportation.”
Ann: “The transportation is easy.”
Manuelita: “Yeah, I just walk two or three blocks to the grocery store and to St. Patrick's Church.”
Ann and Manuelita together: “We don’t have a car.”
Reviewing their “stressful” year, Ann says, “Since we received the first eviction notice, it’s been very difficult because we’ve been looking for a place since then, but it's really hard.” Yet, as they have fought to keep their beloved home, they have also experienced moments of joy. They have been able to rely on the strength of community solidarity to stave off eviction for a whole year. How did they do this?
Ann: “At first, we didn’t know how to deal with it, so we needed someone to help us. Everyone was worried because we'd been living here for so many years. This new manager wanted us to leave, so it was really hard for everyone.”
The new manager, says Ann, was “very rude. One time, we wanted to put something in the storage room, and we couldn't open it because they locked the door. [Then the manager] wanted us to take all our things away from the patio.” Manuelita adds: “But that’s our patio.” It was while trying to ban the tenants from the patio, they say, that the manager made a racist comment, that if there weren’t so many people living on the first floor, the building wouldn’t be like a third-world country. Not coincidentally, she was turning the fourth apartment into a short-term rental – unregistered and illegal.
By this time, the tenants had contacted Raymond Castillo, the SOMCAN Tenant Organizer. So now, the know their rights. They know, as Ray said, “by law the patio is a common area.” Ray immediately united the neighbors around a collective strategy from which they took strength, hope, and, best of all, concrete action.
Ann: “It's a good thing we met them.”
Manuealita: “Yeah it's a good thing we met.”
Ann: “Because we didn’t know how to do it.”
Manuelita: “We didn’t know who was going to help us. We have plans for fighting it now.”
Through Ray, the tenants found out they could obtain a year-long extension from the eviction. That gave them a year to fight. Through SOMCAN, they connected with lawyer Jason Truong, from the Asian-Pacific Islander Legal Outreach. He has been representing them to their landlord ever since.
At the end of April 2018, with just one month before the year-long extension would end, Orlando, Manuelita, Ann and their fellow tenants met with Ray at the SOMCAN office. Their goal: to nail down a multi-pronged strategy. With Ray emphasizing the need to stay united, the tenants came up with an action plan. The De Veras were not alone and they were not powerless.
Best of all, the tenants planned a public campaign to pressure the landlord. They discussed with Ray:
How to contact the media.
How to train to become public speakers.
How to attract support from community allies, other neighbors, politicians, and churches.
Diane Bonifacio Yumang and Christina Bustos became especially animated when they all started planning to make banners. They tossed out ideas: WE ARE BEING EVICTED; KEEP FAMILIES IN SF.
Diane: "I like that."
They planned to organize a picket line in front of the building.
Ann: "We could ask our friends to come and help us."
Manuelita: "I could ask my family."
Christina: "What about a candle-light vigil!" The others laughed.
Pablo Bustos: "Can we have the rally this week?" More laughter.
Ray explained that they had to plan the rally very carefully. So after arranging for a banner-making party at the SOMCAN office, with music, food, and the lively members of YOHANA youth group in attendance, the tenants left the meeting with lifted spirits and re-affirmed strength.
