5T illegal settlers to lose homes

CEBU, Philippines – More than 5,000 urban poor families in Cebu City are set to lose their homes in a demolition, an official of the City Hall's Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) said.

These families are illegally occupying either a private or government property, those who have built their houses along rivers and creeks thus, obstructing the flow of water, and those within the three-meter easement zone mandated by the law.

Engineer Danilo Gabiana, head of DWUP, said that these more than 5,000 families are not part of the total number of urban poor families illegally settling in different parts of the city.

They are only those whose cases have already been decided by the court in favor of the real lot owners or those who are asked to vacate due to the urgency in the situation, he clarified.

Gabiana said that of the 58,712 urban poor families in the city, about 25 to 30 percent are illegal settlers.

The over 5,000 families with pending demolition include the 168 families occupying Lot 937 owned by Mariano Godinez in Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Apas; the 265 families occupying the lot owned by University of the Philippines Cebu College in Sitio San Jose, Barangay Lahug and the over 1,300 families in Sabellano St., Barangay Quiot Pardo whose houses are settled on the lot owned by the Japer Development Corp., among others.

Some 247 families were also told by the city government to remove their houses built along rivers and creeks because they obstruct the flow of water and because their existence is in danger due to possible flashflood or overflow, which is feared to happen this rainy season.

Some 3,000 families whose houses are built within the three-meter easement zone of rivers and creeks are also being eyed for demolition because the city plans to convert these areas into parks or walkways which is part of the thrust of Mayor Michael Rama.

The easement zone is mandated under Presidential Decree No. 1067 or the Water Code of the Philippines, which says that the banks of rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes throughout its entire length and within a zone of three meters in urban areas are subject to the easement of public use in the interest of recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage.

Gabiana said that implementing the three-meter easement in the rivers and creeks is also necessary for the dredging project because one of the factors that cause delay in the implementation of the project is the lack of space where dredging equipment can pass to desilt rivers and waterways.

The city government through its various housing programs has already helped 40,327 urban poor families who were given the chance to have their own homes.

But despite the effort to eliminate illegal settlers, their number keeps on increasing because a lot of migrants from the province move to the city in the hope of finding a better life. (THE FREEMAN)