Rich squatters blocking NAIA 3 road project

Close to 50 illegally-built commercial establishments on a prime 1,500-square-meter area inside Villamor Air Base are blocking the implementation of a vital road widening project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) critical to the soft opening of NAIA Terminal 3 Project in December as instructed by President Arroyo.

This was disclosed by DPWH officials who said the widening project "has already been seriously delayed due to the presence of powerful groups backing the squatters." This was confirmed by sources from the office of Pasay City mayor Wenceslao Trinidad.

The DPWH has earlier planned to widen the Manlunas Road for greater road safety and convenience in order to provide efficient access to the NAIA Terminal 3 in time for its scheduled soft opening in December.

There will be a major increase in traffic in the area once the soft opening takes place, the DPWH said. If the area is not cleared of the squatting commercial establishments, Manlunas Road will be a disastrous choke point, they added.

Sources from the Pasay City mayor’s office also said they have reports that only half of the total number of illegal occupants received permits to build their business establishments.

The agreement, they said, was that the owners will voluntary remove the structures once the government needs the space. Others, however, "merely sprouted overnight in the area without any permit." Reports also bared that the structures are owned by both by civilians and military personnel. They also disclosed plans by the business operators of the illegal establishments to resist their eviction to give way to the project.

"We will proceed with the road widening project as soon as the area could be cleared of the squatting commercial establishments," the DPWH said.

Among the squatting establishments blocking the road-widening project are restaurants and commercial shops.

The Office of the Pasay City Mayor said it would look into the complaint that the squatters are delaying the DPWH project.

This is a prime piece of land that belongs to the government and which the DPWH intends to use for the convenience of the general public, the mayor’s office said. It must, therefore, be freed up so it can be used for the legal purpose for which it has been earmarked.