Condominium endorsed for easement settlers

CEBU, Philippines - Members of the Cebu City Reduction of Danger Zones (REDZ) project have proposed a medium-sized condominium to house families living within the three-meter easement of the Mahiga Creek.

This was suggested after the City Legal Office and the City Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) served notices to vacate to 98 informal settlers living along the M.J. Cuenco Ave. to San Jose de la Montaña stretch of the Mahiga Creek last Friday.

The residents were given 15 days from receipt of the notices to voluntarily remove the illegal structures they built and vacate the area.

“There’s no injunction issued by any court this time so they cannot stop us from continuing with the clearing operation,” Cebu City Attorney Jerome Castillo said.

He said they would talk to the families and would conduct a series of meetings to discuss the assistance the City Government would give.

To recall, the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas dismissed last Jan. 30, 2013 administrative and civil cases filed against Mayor Michael Rama, Alvin Santillan, Noel Artes and Harold Alcontin by former residents along Mahiga Creek.

The Regional Trial Court also dismissed the petition for injunction filed last August 24, 2012 supposedly to stop the demolitions.

Yesterday, REDZ Chairman and former city councilor Joey Daluz said they agreed to submit a proposal to Rama and the City Council for the conversion of the two-hectare Block 27 at the North Reclamation Area into a tenement area where a medium-sized condominium would rise.

“Ang Block 27 kay (would) mo-accommodate og 10 high-rise buildings… para di (so it would not) ma-displace ang atong mga (the) relocatees and this is a good project for the City of Cebu,” Daluz said.

In a separate interview, however, Rama said Block 27 cannot be a tenement area for the displaced families living in the three-meter easement of the Mahiga Creek because he has a better plan for it.

“Dili maayo kay sayang ang lugar (The plan is not good because the lot would just be wasted). Kay kanang lugar if you would offer it to SM Cebu and the price is right that would bring a beautiful real estate,” the mayor said.

Also, Daluz said he already requested the City Legal Office to prepare a pro-forma notice to be sent to families living under 10 bridges from the mouth of Guadalupe river to Kinalumsan river.

He said the City Government is doing this to safeguard the lives of those people.

Daluz added they drafted a rule for a 20-meter “non-buildable” river banks in all five rivers of Mahiga, Lahug, Guadalupe, Bulacao and Kinalumsan that they would submit to the City Council, City Legal Office, and the Office of the Building Official.

Among REDZ’s projects is a 1.3-hectare detention pond to store water before it reaches the Mahiga Creek.  (FREEMAN)