Lot owner agrees to give portion for retaining wall

The owner of the private lot in Sitio Garaje, Barangay Busay where a landslide occurred earlier this month agreed to donate a portion of their property to Cebu City Hall.

“Due to the urgency and need for an immediate repair and in order to build a retaining wall, we need the owner’s consent. The city can’t act without a deed of donation. Thankfully, they have expressed their willingness to donate,” Councilor Jerry Guardo said in a press conference yesterday.

Guardo, who inspected the area last week, met with city engineers and the property owners in Sitio Garaje yesterday morning.

Clarissa Otadoy, owner of a hillside property whose portion eroded during the landslide and pinned down several parked jeepneys, said they wanted to help prevent similar incidents in the area.

But she said they want to retain a part of the property, near the highway, as an area where they can park their passenger jeepneys.
Their family owns and operates the Salingsing line of passenger jeepneys that service the city’s downtown area all the way to Plaza Housing and Barangay Busay.

“We also saw the risk in the community that’s why we are cooperating with the government. We will just ask to have a setback which we can use as a parking area,” she told reporters yesterday in Cebuano.

City officials and engineers and the owner are set to conduct an ocular inspection and survey within the week in order to identify the exact area which will be donated to the city.

Guardo, who heads the City Council committee on infrastructure, said they will ask the City Legal Office to prepare the paperwork to facilitate the donation of the property to the city.

It will then be discussed in the council which will authorize Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to sign the deed of donation on behalf of the city.

The Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) will prepare the program of works and estimates (POWE) for the needed engineering intervention.

It will then be bid out to an interested contractor before actual construction can start.

DEPW structural engineer Noel Igot recommended last week that a reinforced concrete retaining wall needs to be constructed in the affected portion in Sitio Garaje.

Guardo said Mayor Osmeña reiterated previously that the city is willing to spend for the needed engineering measures in the area if the property is donated to the city.