City vs. Illegal settlers The tug of war continues

CEBU, Philippines - Considered a major attraction in the Queen City of the South, Carbon Market is the oldest and lar- gest market in Cebu City. Behind the striking façade of the tourist spot, however, is a major problem that continues to nag the city government – illegal settling.

Most of these squatters were found to have occupied contested lots like the sitio Warwick-Barracks, a relatively large portion of the Carbon Market. The area caught fire last January 11, 2013 during which 50 families were displaced.

The  families were said to have occupied the area illegally, consi-dering it was a market, but a trader argued they can be considered owners of the lot because they have occupied there for decades. 

“Wala g’yud mi maghunahuna na mapahawa pa ‘mi diri. Diri na mi natawo, diri na mi nagkapa-milya, nagkanegosyo,” the 46-year-old trader told The FREEMAN.

The trader who asked to be identified only as “Dick” said his parents are natives of Malabuyoc town. Fifty years ago, they decided to find their fate in Cebu City owing to difficult circumstances in the town. 

In the city, the couple met a supplier of cooking pots (kaldero), that they gradually sold daily in sitio Warwick-Barrakcs, which used to house American soldiers in the early 1900s.

To support the business, the couple also sold empty bottles. Even with their meager earnings, they managed to support their six children.

Dick said he and his siblings continued the family business after their parents passed away.

Because he is unmarried, Dick said he gives part of his daily earnings to his elder brothers and sisters even up to now. When times are hard and there are no customers, he is lucky to earn P100 from selling the pots.

“Okay ra man sad. At least naa mi makaon sa inadlaw-adlaw gikan sa among ginagmay’ng kita. Mao ra na’y among problemahon sa matag-adlaw,” Dick said.

But in January 11, a fire hit sitio Warwick-Barracks and razed their stores, which also served as their homes.

The city government has allowed them to stay at the entrance of the viaduct at the South Road Properties (SRP) temporarily.

From 50 families, there are now over 100 families living in tents in the area.

The city government wants the residents relocated to a safer place in Block 27 at the North Reclamation Area while it reblocks the Carbon Market, but the residents would not heed. They want to return to sitio Warwick-Barracks sooner and not be given broken promises.

OFF CARBON

Apart from the Carbon area, the problem of informal settlers goes as far as the uptown area and coastal barangays with some 41,000 families squatting in the different parts of Cebu City illegally, said the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP).

Lawyer Collin Rossell, head of DWUP, said the figure excludes the 25,000 families that they have reportedly catered to in the past after doing a city-wide barangay-based registration.

“With 41,000, and families at that, imagine if you will just come to compute it by allotting them 30 square meters, pila kahay resulta ana,” Rossell said, referring to the free land patents that they aim to give to the landless residents.

Mayor Michael Rama’s alter-ego, City administrator Lucelle Mercado, admits that the problem of squatters in the city is big and gets bigger every year, even describing the rate as “shocking”. Still, she says the city has things under control.

“We help because trabaho na sa gobyerno. Ma-accommodate ug i-accomodate gyud nato sila,” she said.

So far, some 35 informal settlers in sitio San Roque, Barangay Tejero have voluntarily destroyed their houses to pave the way for the “road restoration project” of the city government.

The families each received disturbance fee from the government ranging from P10,000 to P20,000 and contrary to Ermita residents, agreed to be relocated in Barangay Lahug.

Mercado encouraged other informal settlers to also do the same, saying that the government is preparing for them better places to live in, but many aren’t sold to the proposal.

In the case of sitio Warwick- Barracks residents in Barangay Ermita, the affected families do not want to move to Block 27 at the NRA because the area is far from their place of business. They are expected to be moved within the week.

Raquel Arce, chief of the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification and Enhancement (PROBE) team, said they will provide rides to the families for free so they can move back and forth to Warwick-Barracks. The families, however, refuse to believe.

RELOCATION

Mercado says the Land Management Council is now reassessing other city-owned lots if these can be also utilized for relocation sites.

Furthermore, LMC, in accordance with Republic Act No. 10023, otherwise known as Free Patent Act, targets to give away 1,000 free land patents to qualified families in the city this year. Rama himself initiated the creation of “task force land for the landless” to undertake the program.

The task force started working last month and has distributed at least 59 free land titles to bonafide residents in Barangays Duljo Fatima and Tinago.

“We accept that we really have to help them sa ilahang place na ilang kapuy-an. It’s always the mayor’s dream that everybody has security when they go to sleep at night, na di na sila kuyawan asa sila tog the following day. That’s the general direction,” Mercado said.

The city has also embarked on projects like the high-rise condominium at the Citi Center Complex in Barangay Kamagayan and in Barangay Carreta specifically for informal settlers.

“If imo ning ibutang tanang single detachment, di jud ta maarang kay gamay ra flatland sa Cebu City, kay mountainous baya gyud ta. Mao nang ang answer nimo is high rise developments,” explained Mercado.

Mercado says the city remains hopeful that the other illegal settlers would eventually heed the city government’s call, but emphasized no one will be forced to do so.

“Di sad ta mamugos. But ayaw g’yud balibari ang offer kay magmahay unya ka. Kay you have to remember that you are not the only one in need. Daghan pareha nimo,” she said.

These, however, are hollow words for Dick who insists that the city is but protecting its own interests.

“Ila untang apilon ang tawo sa ilang plano. Nasunugan pa mi, palayason pa g’yud. Pait kaayo. Naa’y naghilak sa tago aning ilang gibuhat. Di man gud sila ang hingtungdan,” he laments.

He said that while Rama has met with them twice purportedly to discuss their plight, the mayor allegedly always hushed them each time they tried to ask if they can still go back to sitio Warwick-Barracks.

“Sakto ba gud diay na? Dia among panginabuhian diri. Mao bitaw nagdugay mi diri, kay diri na mi nakasugakod sa among panginabuhi sa matag adlaw. Nabuhi mi diri,” Dick says.

Dick says even their barangay captain, Felicisimo Rupinta, does not share their sentiments because he reportedly supports the city’s plan for high rise buildings.

They felt helpless, Dick says, thus, they were left with no other option but to forward their case to President Benigno Aquino and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Mag-people power mi kung magmagahi ang gobyerno. Ipa-impeach namo si Rama,” Dick and his fellow traders and neighbors said./JMO (FREEMAN)