Barangay Lorega-San Miguel: Hearing set on conversion of cemetery to housing site

The Cebu City Local Housing Board is set to conduct this Wednesday a public hearing over the proposal to convert the Lorega-San Miguel Cemetery into a socialized housing site for the city's urban poor.

The public hearing will be held in the Cebu City Session Hall at the 3rd floor of City Savings Financial Plaza, on Osmeña Boulevar

The hearing came about after the city council took cognizance of the United Cemetery Side Residence Association's request to the city's Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor to declare a portion of the cemetery as a site for socialized housing.

The cemetery, established in 1936, is now home to at least 300 families that built their houses right on top of existing graves or tombs.

After inspecting the site, DWUP referred the group's request to the Local Housing Board, headed by Francisco "Bimbo" Fernandez, which in turn set a public hearing to gather comments and views on the matter that might eventually lead to a resolution at the city council.

The Lorega-San Miguel barangay council, in its Resolution No. 058, requested the city government to construct a perimeter fence around a 2-hectare portion of the cemetery and stop further incursion of the living into the remaining areas otherwise nothing would be left for the dead.

Councilor Edgardo Labella asked the Office of the City Engineer to inspect the cemetery to determine whether it is suitable to fence the entire cemetery perimeter.

Labella said the barangay resolution is in line with Section 34.2 of Ordinance No. 634, or The Revised Sanitary Code of the City of Cebu, mandating the fencing of the entire surrounding of cemeteries to prevent the entry of animals and unauthorized persons.

Also, Section 34.6 of the Ordinance stated that no house, either for residential or commercial purpose, should be constructed around the cemetery within a distance of 25 meters from the boundary.

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, through a letter from archdiocesan legal counsel Joel Ouano, earlier expressed approval to the conversion project of the Lorega-San Miguel cemetery.

"Socialized housing intended for the poor people in our community is a laudable project. His Eminence has always been supportive of any action that redounds to the good of the people. If you believe that the said project benefits the greatest number of people, His Eminence has no objection," the letter reads.

So far, the DWUP had already conducted a survey plan, a draft subdivision plan, and secured a development permit for the cemetery. - Garry B. Lao