Let the Ombudsman save C. Mina Street

Look for a place in the middle of Cebu City where the barangay officials are totally blind to the lawless incursions of a few of their constituents into a public road and you will point your finger at Barangay Mabolo. The specific area that I am talking about is very easy to find. It is at the heart of the barangay itself. This street that is mostly appropriated by merchants is called C. Mina starting right at the corner of M. J. Cuenco Avenue, a veritable stone’s throw from the church and the elementary school. The fact that it fronts the barangay hall makes the situation unbelievably worse because it can be said that the officials are abetting this lawlessness.

What can we find at C. Mina Street? Let us mention the most visible ones. About half of the road near the corner of the former Martires Steet is occupied by food providers. Their tables and chairs are spread on the road. I am told that their menu tastes good and so they have their share of customers. There are motor vehicles that seem to be permanently parked on this road and which must also be owned by both the business proprietors and their patrons.

A little farther away, there is also another food stall. Recently it moved to this new place. To make sure that it provides a better location, the owner of this establishment has put up an awning whose steel posts are planted on the road itself! And these are posts made permanent by concrete footing.

Still farther, we can find a “disco music” provider who appears to double in producing very large sound boxes. When his equipment is not rented, he piles up his oversized speakers on the portion of the road and when he seems to serve orders for his kind of sound boxes, he does his carpentry work on the road itself.

The results of these activities are unmistakable. First, with the road width greatly reduced, traffic flow is very much affected. It is most excruciating for chauffeurs to snake thru it. Since only about half of the street is serviceable, drivers of motor vehicles coming from opposite sides had to exercise a great amount of patience. They had to wait for those with the right of way before they can move on.

Second. C. Mina Street is shrinking and sooner than later it will vanish from the map. This conclusion is not without precedent. There used to be a road parallel to M. J. Cuenco Avenue about two blocks away going inward towards the “barangay sports complex”. It was called C. Mina Extension and used to connect to the area where the new Persimon Towers are located. Government spent money to pour concrete to it. Gradually and steadily, the neighbors started to appropriate it for their own use and today it is wholly occupied by houses such that this street does not exist anymore.

There was a time when authorities of the city government tried to restore this C. Mina Street to the public. Illegal structures were removed. The business activities, which were being done on the road, were prohibited. Suddenly, traffic flow became smooth. But it being a road once again was not for long.

I am sure that the barangay officials are aware of this anomalous situation. Everyday they view this usurpation of the road. Each time to go to the barangay hall, they see that the public is slowly deprived of C. Mina Street. In fact, I am told that when Hon. Raul Cosido got elected in the 2010 barangay polls, the first issue he raised among his colleagues was this travesty. To him, it was the responsibility of the village officers to make sure that such public domain as this street should not be commercialized. But, being the lone opposition, he could not dent on the majority led by Barangay Captain Rey Ompoc.

The Office of the Ombudsman certainly can help the public get back the entirety of this street. An investigation into this anomaly is a good initial step. Let this office find out why and for what consideration, if any, these barangay officials allow this misappropriation of the road right before their eyes. It has to be done before C. Mina Street suffers the fate of C. Mina Extension.