City asks Tejero illegal settlers to move

CEBU, Philippines - The 57 families whose houses have encroached the Uldarico Alviola Street in Barangay Tejero are now bothered after the City Hall’s clearing team again threatened to demolish their structures that are constructed on the road.

The city’s demolition team that is now called the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (Probe) has already ordered the concerned families to voluntarily remove their structures not later than August 28.

In a letter, the Probe team said that the illegal structure should be removed so that the city can start the road restoration project that was suspended for the past several months.

Tejero Barangay Captain Jessielou Cadungog, in a letter dated August 17, had asked the City Hall clearing team to suspend the plan to clear the area until after the issue on relocating the affected families is settled.

Cadungog also wants to know whether the City Government already has a budget for the payment of the private lots that will be affected and he is also asking for a plan for the said road restoration project.

It was reported that some owners of the houses that are already encroaching on the road were able to secure land titles for their lots, although the city officials said it can be questioned because road lots cannot be sold.

Councilor Margarita Osmeña who chairs the City Council’s committee on budget and finance said the matter raised by Cadungog should be addressed first and the mayor should comply with what is provided for by the law.

The law provides that the local government units must first provide the affected families with relocation sites before a demolition will be implemented.

The issue to restore the original width of Alviola Street cropped up after fire trucks encountered difficulties to enter the road when a fire hit the three sitios of Tejero in 2011.

The Tejero Barangay officials earlier clarified that they are supporting the decision of the mayor to undertake a road restoration project in Uldarico Alviola Street to improve the accessibility of the interior portion of the affected area and ensure proper passageways in case of emergency situations, but the city government must comply with the law.

Rama wants to restore the 10-meter wide road to make it easy for the fire fighters to maneuver in case of fire.   - THE FREEMAN