Centcom "squatters" ask court to stop demolition

Families of retired and active military personnel occupying a socialized housing site in barangay Apas have asked the court that acting Cebu City Administrator be restrained from proceeding with the demolition order issued against them.

The Central Command, AFP Families of Active and Retired Military Personnel, Civilian Homeowners Association, Inc., formerly known as Mahayahay Homeowners Association Inc., last July 21 filed a motion for intervention on the case filed by the Cebu Provincial Government against the Central Command, on the premise that they have legal vested rights and interest being litigated.

The case focuses on the 47 lots or 806.94-square-meter property that the Province of Cebu donated to Centcom. It was alleged that only 14 lots are used for military purposes and the remaining 33 lots are unused. Of these 33 lots, 18 lots or 32.37 hectares are covered by the Presidential Proclamation No. 409 issued in June 2003, intended for the socialized housing project.

Through their legal counsel Andres Garalza, Jr., the CFARMCHAI in their answer-in-intervention has joined and adopted the legal issues raised by Centcom that at the time the Deed of Donation was made by the provincial government on October 12, 1959, it was part of the overall plan of the Area Command to allocate a certain portion of the donated property for the housing facilities of the organic military personnel's families.

The city government had been sending notices of eviction to 500 "illegal occupants" in the area, mostly belonging to CFARMCHAI.

The association, which has 252 families of retired and active military personnel as members, some of them are already grandchildren of retired army personnel who occupied the area for the last 30 years, claim that their settlement there had the consent and assistance from Centcom. - Cristina C. Birondo