City Hall to widen T. Padilla interior roads

CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu City government is set to widen the interior roads of Barangay T. Padilla to strictly implement the 10-meter road easement following a big fire last month that left over 700 families homeless.

The Cebu City Council has already approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Michael Rama to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the heirs of Don Teresio Villa for a private-public partnership to address the concerns of the constituents in the barangay.

The 12 heirs of Don Tereso Villa have agreed to restore the 10-meter wide road in the place where the fire broke last month. The widening however is expected to dis-place some of the residents. The lack of access road was among the problems faced by the firemen in penetrating the area to put off the conflagration.

The delayed firefighting operation has resulted to the destruction of 430 houses leaving 786 families and 3,346 individuals homeless.

"A memorandum of agreement is necessary to embody this public and private partnership effort for the benefit and welfare of our constituents," reads a resolution sponsored by Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa, chairman of the committee on social services.

Under the MOA, the city government will construct the necessary drainage systems and undertake to maintain the roads to be always accessible to the public. The af-fected families will also be allowed to rebuild their homes without the city government expropriating the lot. (FREEMAN)