As a preparation for Sunday’s Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines Asia Pacific Championship, the Mandaue City government started on Friday the clearing of eyesores from along the competition route.
First to go were about 30 makeshift structures that fire victims from Barangays Guizo and Mantuyong built on a park located outside of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) perimeter fence and on nearby sidewalks.
The affected families were asked to relocate into the CICC grounds.
Laywer James Allan Sayson of the City Legal Office said Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing ordered the clearing as a preparation for Sunday’s sporting event.
He said that the presence of fire victims on the park may taint the city’s image to visiting tourists who might end up thinking that these families have been neglected by the government.
Sayson said it was also unsafe for the 30 families to continue to stay outside of the CICC compound, the fire victims designated temporary shelter area. He said blue guards that secure the compound are only able to secure the families that are staying within its walls.