29 houses to be demolished Oct. 8

 CEBU, Philippines - It’s final.

The demolition of the 29 houses in three sitios in Barangay Luz is scheduled on October 8, 2012. However, Judge Ramon Daomilas of Regional Trial Court Branch 11 said the demolition will be made gradually.

Daomilas said the writ of demolition will be executed as humanely as possible and asked the homeowners and affected families not to resort to violence.

He said Sheriff Joseph Olmedo will be verifying and will double check next week the areas which include Sitios Lubi, Nangka and Mabuhay.

Daomilas also gave the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), represented by lawyer Collin Rosell, until October 5, 2012, to verify the relocation sites.

Yesterday, Rosell manifested before the courts that they have to verify first if there were assumees of the said relocation sites for the affected families. The relocation sites are located in various barangays in Cebu City.

Rosell asked the court to give the City Government another month to prepare everything before the demolition because the affected families have students and he said they have to iron things out.

But Daomilas said the issue has already been threshed out by the court after different agencies including the Department of Education attended the meeting facilitated by the sheriff. The DepEd reportedly assured the court that they will facilitate the transfer of the students to another school.

Rosell likewise manifested that the City Government will become busy next month because of the filing of candidacy on October 1 to 5, prompting Daomilas to set the demolition on October 8, 2012.

Assistance

The three homeowners associations told the court that they will be giving P10,000 cash assistance to the affected families once they started demolishing their houses.

Generosa Corbita, 69, of Sitio Lubi, expressed before the court her intention to buy the lot they are occupying saying she wanted to stay in the place where they were because it was their home. She added it was the place where she delivered her children.

However, Daomilas told Corbita that the court cannot do anything as the decision has long been final and executory. The decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

The affected families filed a civil case for injunction and preliminary mandatory injunction against their homeowners association seeking the partial annulment of the contracts and certificates of title.

The defendants of the case were Sitio Nangka Homeowners Association Inc., Sitio Mabuhay Homeowners Association Inc., Sitio Lubi Homeowners Association and the Province of Cebu.

The three sitios were once part of the lots covered by Provincial Ordinance 93-1 but were turned over to Cebu City through a deed of assignment issued during the time of former governor Emilio Osmeña.

The affected families refused to be part of the association and the Community Mortgage Program availed by their organization as they wanted to pay directly to the city government instead of paying to the association. (FREEMAN)