PB to tackle conditional sale of lots in disputed Lot 937 in Apas
CEBU CITY, Philippines — About 70 residents of the disputed Lot 937 in Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Apas in Cebu City may be allowed to buy lots 11 and 12 for their relocation.
Lots 11 and 12 are owned by Cebu province.
The Provincial Board (PB) is expected to take on Monday, June 24, the resolution allowing outgoing Governor Hilario Davide III to sign a conditional contract of sale between the province and 70 out of the over 200 homeowners that occupy Lot 937.
Residents of Lot 937, which is made up of relatives and families of soldiers, face possible demolition after a private citizen claimed that he is the rightful owner of the lot that they are occupying.
Last June 17, the residents were supposed to face demolition as ordered by Branch 9 of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC).
The demolition schedule was slated until next Friday, June 28.
No demolition team was sent to the area for the entire week.
The Archangels Residents Mergence, Inc. (Armi), the homeowners group of the lot, and the Department of the National Defense has a pending petition at the Court of Appeals (CA) to overturn the Cebu City court’s earlier decision to grant a certain Mariano Godinez Jr. ownership of the lot.
READ: Solicitor General, Cebu City gov’t back Lot 937 residents’ claims
READ: Soldiers’ kin: Give us due process before you evict us
Anne Martel, president of Armi, said the resolution would stir up their legal moves to prevent the demolition of their homes in Lot 937.
In a phone interview on Sunday, June 24, Martel said granting conditional sale to the 70 residents is also illegal since they were no longer legitimate members of Armi when they manifested acceptance of Lots 11 and 12 as their relocation sites.
Martel said their former members’ act of availing of the relocation site is only a move to fulfill the requirements of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) for the agency to approve of the demolition.
The Armi members earlier said they refuse to be demolished from the area that they have occupied since the 1960s because they believe they were not given due process and that their case is a manifestation of “land-grabbing.”
Martel said they will seek legal remedies against their former members who “unrightfully accepted the relocation.” /celr
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