Council oks P900T for relocation lot purchase

The city council yesterday approved the disbursement of at least P900,000 for the purchase of a lot in sitio Lower Udlom, barangay Sinsin to be used as relocation site for the families from sitio Nangka who were displaced due to threats of landslide last month.

Since the time they were forcibly evacuated from sitio Nangka, these families have been staying at the sports complex of barangay Sudlon 1, a neighboring mountain barangay.

The council then agreed to take P949,900 from the city’s calamity fund to buy an 18,998-square-meter lot from the heirs of Isaias Cansancio in sitio Lower Udlom, also in barangay Sinsin. The amount covers a payment of P50 for each square meter of the Cansancio property.

The council approved the disbursement through a resolution authored by Councilor Gerardo Carillo, also the action officer of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council.

In his resolution, Carillo said the Local Government Code provides that five percent of the estimated revenue from the city’s regular sources of funds shall be set aside as annual lump sum appropriation for relief, rehabilitation, and other works and services in the event of a calamity that would occur within the budget year.

Aside from the relocation site, Carillo earlier said the city would also extend financial aid to the affected families, as the barangay has requested the city to provide each family P5,000 during relocation to help them put up their houses.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña also said earlier that, once the relocation lot is purchased, he intended to “put the residents together like a village” where they will have water, electricity, playground, and chapel, among other facilities.— Joeberth M. Ocao/RAE