Households relocating as road gets widened

CEBU, Philippines - About 32 families who are living within the three-meter easement zone of the Mantuyong Creek near A.C. Cortes Street in Barangay Ibabao, Mandaue City have voluntarily demolished their homes and started transferring to the relocation site in Barangay Paknaan.

Officials said these families have voluntarily torn their houses down starting last Monday after the Sixth Engineering District Office of the Department of Public Works and Highways-7 has also kicked off their road widening project along the said street.

According to Tonypeth Juanico, head of the Housing and Urban Development Office of Mandaue City, there are 100 families who have actually built illegal structures along the creek which will be affected by the road widening but only the 32 were the first to relocate as the work is done phase by phase.

He said culverts are now needed to be installed in the area where these affected families live.

With regard to the other families who will also be affected, Juanico said his office will still have to establish who among them can avail of the financial assistance of  P18,000 from the city government.

This is because the financial assistance can only be availed of by those informal settlers who built their illegal structures at the said danger zone before March 28, 1992 as stipulated in the Urban Development Act of 1992.

Informal settlers who were able to live in that area before and after1992 could be traced because the administration of former mayor Alfredo Ouano conducted a socialized housing registration during the time the urban development act was implemented and updated.

Juanico also added that they will also rely from the information given to them by the barangay captains, as to the status of informal settlers.

Those found living in the areas which are subject to demolition will only receive P8,000 to P10,000 financial assistance depending on the discretion of the city government.

Clemence Quiros, area coordinator of the Philippine Commission on Urban Poor, also urged barangay officials to help in the clearing operations now that the city has started doing this move against informal settlers.

Quiros hopes officials will ensure that once an area is cleared, informal settlers will no longer be allowed construct illegal structures thereon.

"Dili na unta nila i-tolerate ang illegal structures kay mura ta'g ferries wheel ani, magsige og tuyok-tuyok, magbalikbalik ang problema," Quiros said.

On the other side, Juanico also announced that mitigating measures like riprapping and creating access road are currently being done at the Paknaan relocation site after the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau has recommended to elevate the land areas by one meter and to construct a riprap near the Butuanon River whose water level rises during heavy downpours.

Juanico added that the relocation site will accommodate 1,200 families, but as of the moment, only over  300 families have relocated as some of  them are still waiting for the completion of the access road.

However, he said that these families have already enjoyed having potable water and power coming from the Visayan Electric Company.

"The relocation site (will be) more than a subdivision once completely finished," Juanico said.

He clarified that those beneficiaries who cannot afford to avail of the socialized housing being introduced by the city government can still relocate and construct their own houses in the relocation site. (FREEMAN)