City to demolish structures attached to Fort San Pedro

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Government wants to demolish the structures built and attached to Fort San Pedro, particularly the ones facing the sea, because they are slowly destroying the portion of the wall.

The structures are built by the private owner of that area in front of the fort facing the coast. These structures, comprising of a warehouse, a chapel and two houses, are leased to other people.

Atty. Dominic Diño, Assistant City Administrator for economic enterprise said that the problem is that the structures are attached to the wall and are slowly destroying that portion.

“The mayor already has an authority from the City Council to negotiate with the owner. We will acquire the property so we can demolish the structures. Nakadaot gyud siya sa historical value sa fort, (It has destroyed the fort’s historical value.)” Diño said.

Acquiring the lot, about 150 square meters or two meters from the wall, will allow the city to fully preserve the historical edifice.

The property has an initial appraised value of P13,000 per square meter. It will cost the city about P2 million.

Diño said that the owner is amenable to the price and is actually willing to start demolishing the structures even prior to the payment.

Diño said that if they do not address the problem with urgency, it is not only the owner but also the City Government who will be liable under Presidential Decree No. 1505 prohibiting the unauthorized modification, alteration, repair and destruction of original features of all national shrines, monuments, landmarks and other important historic edifices.

He said that violation of P.D. 1505 is punishable by imprisonment.

He said that they cannot immediately demolish until they get permission from the National Historical Institute because such needs proper handling.

“We need to seek assistance from the NHI because it needs special handling. If we demolish right away, we might cause grave damage to the fort considering that the structures are attached to it,” Diño said.

“We can then full preserve the Fort San Pedro. We have to because the structure was entrusted to us by the Philippine Tourism Commission. It’s just but proper that we do our share,” he added.

Diño said that they have received feedbacks from tourists about how unpleasant the structures look when they visit the fort. – Jessica Ann R Pareja/MIT (THE FREEMAN)