Violation notice served vs hotel, restaurant: Demolition soon

CEBU, Philippines —  Notices of easement violations were served yesterday by former environment secretary Roy Cimatu to the owners of a known restaurant and a hotel along General Maxilom Avenue in Cebu City.

Lighthouse Restaurant and White Knight Hotel (formerly Mango Park Hotel) are given 10 days to voluntarily demolish a portion of their structures that have encroached within the three-meter easement of Lahug-Kamputhaw River.

Cimatu, who now heads the Cebu City Task Force Gubat sa Baha, personally served the order of Mayor Michael Rama after the two establishments allegedly refused to receive their respective notice when first served last Thursday.

These two establishments had long been tagged as violators of the three-meter easement and were allegedly ordered to correct their violations several times already.

Cimatu and Joey Baclayon, river commander assigned to Lahug-Kamputhaw River, yesterday marked the areas needed to be demolished.

Cimatu said a big portion of the hotel's parking lot and a part of their front office will have to be destroyed. The front part of Lighthouse Restaurant will also have to be demolished because these are blocking the waterways underneath.

"Okay naman yung dalawang establishments...They were cooperative and willing naman sila...We already have an understanding na yung mga requirements eco-comply nila," said Cimatu.

Cimatu said the two establishments have 10 days from yesterday to voluntarily demolish the structures marked by them.

According to Cimatu, the management of Lighthouse Restaurant expressed willingness to voluntarily demolish their illegal structure but asked for more time to do it. Instantly, the request was denied by Cimatu.

Cimatu explained that he cannot grant such request for extension since it is beyond his authority.

"No extension...order of the Mayor, hindi na magbabago yun…the Task Force cannot do it too," Cimatu said.

Cimatu said that the demolition has to be done as soon as possible to avoid untoward incident like what happened two years ago when a minor was trapped in flood under the illegal structure.

The illegal structures in the area were also blamed for the massive flooding back in 2020 which netizens dubbed as "Mango Float".

"We don't want another incident like that to happen,” Cimatu said.

After General Maxilom Avenue, the Task Force Gubat sa Baha will shift to establishments along Estero de Parian next week.

Cimatu said their top priorities right now are the establishments that obstruct the flow of water causing too much flooding in the city.

The city government is also looking into the recovery of the three meter easement and bringing back to life the major rivers that had been reported as dead by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).  - FPL (FREEMAN)