Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella inspects the area in Upper Bacayan where the wall of a housing development project collapsed. | Photo grabbed from the Facebook page of Edgar Collina
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Office of Building Official (OBO) has summoned the owner of the housing development project in Sitio Sugarlandia, Barangay Bacayan, Cebu City and the five families who were displaced when the project’s concrete fence collapsed last Saturday, October 12, 2019.
OBO chief Architect Florante Catalan said the meeting, which will be held tomorrow, Monday, October 14, at his office, will take up among others the steps that the project owner had taken to address the allegation of the affected residents that the fence had started to warp some time before it collapsed.
Catalan said the project owner, Jess Carlo Minoza, would also have to explain to OBO what caused the fence to collapse.
On Saturday, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has directed OBO to issue a cease and desist order against Minoza, effectively putting on hold the housing development project.
Read more: Labella tells OBO to issue CDO vs owner of collapsed housing project wall in Brgy Bacayan
Catalan said that when they initially met with Minoza, the latter claimed that they already took measures to fix the warping fence by adding rebars and concreting the wall.
“According to him they placed rocks first then piled hollow blocks for the retaining wall,” Catalan told CDN Digital.
However, the fence still collapsed, endangering five houses on the other side of the fence. This prompted Labella to order the immediate evacuation of the affected residents.
Read more: 5 families displaced by collapsed concrete fence in Bacayan worry over livelihood
The five families are currently staying at an apartment owned by Minoza, who he voluntarily offered the unit to the victims as their temporary shelter while OBO is assessing when it will be safe for them to return to their homes. /elb