Sheriff fears for his life

CEBU, Philippines - The sheriff who enforces the court’s demolition order on the more than 40 houses which belong to the property of lawyer Raul Sesbreño has admitted that he fears for his life.

Sheriff Contancio Alimurung Jr. of the Regional Trial Court branch 18 said although he receives “warnings” he does not consider them death threats.

He said he remembers hearing from a person telling him “ayaw pag-kumpiyansa” shortly after Sesbreño’s wife and two others were ambushed on the second day of the demolition of some houses in barangays Lawaan I and II last February 1.

“Mahadlok man, pero wa man tay mahimo kay kinahanglan man nato buhaton atong trabaho,” Alimurung said.

The demolition at Sesbreño’s seven-hectare property was temporarily halted after the ambush, and only resumed last Monday.

For the entire week, however, no resistance from the residents was recorded, except for reports of stone-throwing which the seven-man demolition team and Alimurung experienced on the first hour of the demolition.

The contested property, which originally belongs to the vast Borromeo Estate, has been subject to a number of litigations already.

Residents here still claim they are heirs of Borromeo, while Sesbreño maintains he owns the property as the Borromeo heirs had long given it to him as payment for being their lawyer.

And since Sesbreño has tried to evict the residents from the property, a number of incidents have been recorded in the area.

In March last year, tension was high in the private property when Sesbreño attempted to evict the families there.