CEBU, Philippines - A team from the Squatters Prevention Encroachment and Elimination Division of the Cebu City Hall demolished dozens of stalls and shanties that encroach on the streets in at least 10 sitios of barangay Suba yesterday morning.
The demolition stemmed from several complaints that the barangay received over structures encroaching the streets, which gives motorists a hard time to pass.
Suba Barangay Captain Jojo Sable said during a fire that hit the barangay years ago, fire trucks had a hard time passing in the streets that delayed firemen from immediately getting to the fire scene.
The SPEED team started the demolition around 9 a.m. and Sable said most of those structures that were demolished are small eateries.
According to Sable, they have already conducted the demolition before but the illegal settlers have returned. “Mubalik raman gihapon sila og butang inig human sa pila ka adlaw.”
Sable said that these small eateries made the streets congested, which gives motorists a hard time to pass.
After the demolition, Sable said they would be continuously monitoring those areas to prevent the construction of structures.
During the demolition, the team encountered no resistance from the stall owners. Sable said the owners are already aware that their stalls are set for demolition.
Meanwhile, Sable said another thing that they would be looking into is the problem of “trisikads” that are causing congestion in the streets.
He said that there are around 200 trisikads in the barangay belonging to an association.
He said he would be meeting the “trisikad” drivers to talk on where they should park to wait for passengers in order to prevent street congestion. — AJ de la Torre/LPM (THE FREEMAN)