Another reason squatters abound!

If we speak of problems common to many large cities in our country, squatting ranks high. In terms of violence to the otherwise hallowed rules of property ownership and the abject indifference of our leaders to address it correctly, this problem probably tops the list. The name has changed from plain squatting to illegal settling and then who knows what depending upon the imagination of politicians but this, really, is not a new social cross to bear. It is as old as half a century ago, perhaps, older. I do remember that as early as the 60s, then Law Dean Jeremias Montemayor wrote about it in moving and graphic details. In his book Ours To Share, Dean Montemayor, enumerated the reasons why people from the laid-back provinces come to the cities where most of them find no places to call their own that they eventually occupy vacant spaces wherever they see them.

The same reasons continue to hound our society today and more. Our scourge of informal settling, (this is the name lately used for its humane sound) is ever getting complex. There were few hundreds when the dean published his work compared to the hundreds of thousands at present. Not just the landed estates of the old rich are affected. Even small patches of land owned by ordinary citizens are taken over either forcibly or with tolerance from authorities. Let me cite an example.

Decades ago, a family man (let us just call him Felix) applied for a right to purchase a government land. Possessing all legal qualifications, an award was sent him. He was excited to develop the property and started doing so until he was notified that the city planned a road through it. Because of the development plan, Felix was not allowed to complete the process. He eventually crossed the great barrier unable to see a dream come true.

Many years passed without the city ever constructing the street. Eventually, it announced foregoing with the road project. Naturally, the heirs of Felix decided to consummate the acquisition and build their home thereon. In the interregnum, meaning that space of time between the plan of the city to make a road thru the land and its eventual decision to abandon the project, squatters, in hordes and from everywhere and nowhere, came. The space covered by the government award to Felix was open for them to intrude without leave from anyone. How do you call anyone who occupies a land space without minding legal niceties but a usurper. Yes, they were usurpers.

When the heirs of Felix completed the documentation, the squatters howled. Belatedly, they protested the award that the government made decades ago. Their reason? They have occupied the land in the meantime! A protracted litigation ensued and the original award was validated and the right of the heirs of Felix upheld.

But, the squatters would not budge an inch. One day, when a writ of execution was handed, they went to the Honorable Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña. The city chief executive quickly spread his protective wings and asked for more time for the squatters to vacate the land. Because it was the mayor’s act, the heirs of Felix, all rabid followers of the mayor’s, relented.

 Today, the extension time Mayor Osmena asked for in a written commitment has long passed. But, our mayor is expected to unearth more high-sounding and politically acceptable reasons so as not to remove his protection over these usurpers. His office will not be harsh to these squatters especially that the 2010 elections are just around the corner.

Indeed, communities like these abound because they are, realistically, sources of votes. Elections come and go. During the political seasons, well-entrenched leaders promise these squatters continued stay, even if they know that such a promise is not only anchored illegally, but is a commitment to perpetuate a social violence. So, when the political favors are collected and returned, the social problem gets unmistakably magnified.

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