Barangay Luz demolition set today City hall to provide food, transpo to affected families

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Government will provide food and other services to the families facing demolition in barangay Luz today.

Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor Chief and lawyer Collin Rosell said the Department of Social Welfare and Services will be in the demolition site today while the Engineering and Public Works department will be providing vehicles that will haul and transport the belongings of the affected residents to their destination.

A holding area is still to be identified since the barangay refused to identify one, Rosell said.

The holding area, Rosell said, is necessary so the residents will have a place to stay while sorting out where they will be going.

The 32 slots in the city government’s relocation sites will be available for them.

The relocation sites, a list of which was earlier submitted to the court, are spread in different areas in the city.

Rosell said they have done their share in trying to help the residents stay in their houses, but can no longer stop the court that decided the demolition to be implemented today.

He said the judge agreed to the idea of expropriating the lot for the residents, but it is the city council that refused to expropriate the lots for the residents.

Rosell said the members of the committee on housing, who claimed to be urban poor advocates, are acting against their own claimed principles. Councilor Alvin Dizon heads the said council committee.

One member of the council, Councilor Nida Cabrera, is president of one of the homeowners associations that wanted the families out of the socialized housing site.

Aside from transportation or hauling and food assistance, Rosell said they will be providing portable toilets.

“Mura ra sad ni sila’g nasunugan. All concerned departments that can provide assistance were already notified,” Rosell said.

Of the 32 families affected, 29 have remained in the area. The rest have already left when a fire hit the area last May.

Bebe Balleriano, Secretary of Barangay Luz Urban Poor Fraternal Organization (BLUPFO) said they felt harassed when the sheriff and some police officers arrived in the area last Friday when the demolition is scheduled today yet.

The sheriff and the police also visited the area yesterday for a “dry-run”.

He said the elderly were terrified of the presence of the police that forced about eight homeowners to voluntarily demolish their houses immediately.

Balleriano said about eight houses of nine in sitio Mabuhay were voluntarily dismantled. The other affected houses are in sitios Lubi and Nangka.

Balleriano said that the homeowners association that evicted the families must pay them P10,000 as ordered by the court.

She said even if the families do not voluntarily demolish, the homeowners association still needs to compensate them.  (FREEMAN)