37 families told to move to avoid another Cherry Hills tragedy

At least 37 families in Cityland Townhomes in Pasig City were ordered to vacate their houses and spend the Christmas season somewhere else because of a crack discovered in the hills near their subdivision.

But the 37 well-to-do families keep on ignoring Mayor Soledad Eusebio, who wants to prevent another Cherry Hills Antipolo tragedy where at least 58 lives were lost two years ago.

The local government fears that a slight movement of the Marikina fault might have caused the crack in the pleateau-like land in St. Martin street in Barangay Oranbo.

Eusebio is appealing to the residents to leave their homes to give way to an inspection or a rehabilitation of the cracks found in the subdivision.

The mayor explained that the subdivision was built by CityLand Development Authority when the completion permits for such projects was still issued by the Housing Land Use and Regulatory Board (HLURB).

It was only in 1980 when completion permit issuance was turned over to the local government, Reynaldo Dionisio, the city administrator pointed out.

Despite the issuance of a completion permit by the HLURB, the developer wanted only to turn-over to the local government the roads of the subdivision, excluding the vacant lots.

"That’s the reason why until now the management of the subdivision has yet to be transferred to the local government because of lots of problems," said Dionisio. He added that the HLURB could have issued the completion permit in haste.

But because those affected are Pasig City residents, Eusebio wrote the Commission on Audit (COA) asking for a budget for the inspection and rehabilitation of cracks found in the subdivision.

She explained that the subdivision being private property, the city government cannot just release money for the purpose because under the law, approval from the COA is needed.