Centcom lot or BSP lot? Aid vowed to families facing eviction

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama assured 38 families in Middle Nivel, Barangay Apas, Cebu City, that he will personally follow-up with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in Manila after the Central Command won the recovery of lot case against them in court.

Rama gave this assurance to the occupants of Lot 1191 during their meeting the other day at his office together with Centcom commander Lt. Gen. Ralph Villanueva.

At least 38 families in Middle Nivel are facing eviction after the court ordered them to vacate the property which is a portion of Centcom of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The writ of execution was dated January 25, 2011.

Rama asked the homeowners to submit documents that would prove the Lot 1191, now Lot 2, is owned by the BSP and not by the Centcom. The lot situated behind the Marco Polo Plaza is over 4,000 square meters.

The mayor also asked Villanueva to submit pertinent documents that would prove the AFP owns the lot.

"I think yon sinabi nila is hearsay kasi hindi pa naman nang claim ang central bank nor they own the lot," Villanueva said.

Rama said he will fly to Manila this week to personally check if BSP really owns Lot 1191. The mayor also wants a geodetic engineer to survey the contested lot now occupied by the 38 families.

It was Gen. Jose Lapus, the former commanding general of the Visayas Command who filed a recovery of possession of Lot 1191 in 1996 stating that the AFP acquired it through an expropriation proceeding last October 19, 1938. –Ramil V. Ayuman/BRP (THE FREEMAN)