Demolition held off as settlers seek dialogue

Tension rose between the demolition team and the settlers who remained defiant of the mayor’s order. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)

MANDAUE City Hall’s demolition team met stiff resistance from settlers of 33 houses that occupied a city government-owned lot at B. Ceniza Street in Sitio Ihawan, Barangay Mantuyong yesterday.

The settlers sought a dialogue with Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing, saying they won’t leave their homes until they receive a copy of a court order for the demolition.

“We won’t allow them and we are ready to fight them unless there is a written agreement that we can return here as we had been living here for a very long time. No court order, no demolition,” said Flordeliz Romualdo, one of the settlers.

City Hall’s Crowd Dispersal Management team kept the peace amid the tension between the residents and the demolition team.

In his demolition order issued last March 17, Quisumbing said the continued occupancy of the settlers of a city-owned lot “is illegal and contrary to the law.”

Quisumbing’s chief of staff, lawyer Elaine Bathan, said the city need not acquire a court order since the area is part of the site development and re-blocking of 9.2 hectares of Phase V in Zone 7 of Barangay Mantuyong.

“They are also beneficiaries of the relocation, meaning they will be among those who will either be made to go back or be relocated,” Bathan said.

Bathan said the city is fasttracking the site development in the area so the fire victims can return there. She said the demolition team is only waiting for the go signal from the City Legal Office to proceed with the demolition.