Residents of Mahiga Creek along the Mandaue City side voluntarily demolish their houses as Mandaue City government starts the clearing of illegal structures in the area. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
The demolition of illegal structures at the Mandaue City side of the Mahiga Creek was started four days ago by the local government, but the city’s legal office gave in to the residents’ request for extension.
“This shows that the city is taking seriously the welfare of these communities,” said Mandaue City Legal Officer Giovanni Tianero on their decision to halt the demolition to allow informal settlers to voluntarily take down their houses and recycle the materials when they transfer to a relocation site in barangay Paknaan.
Tianero said they sent notices for residents to vacate the three-meter easement zone. The first notice was sent in May of 2011 while another was issued last April. The occupants were given 30 days to leave their houses.
The city did not force the demolition in 2011 because the local government had not complied yet with laws on the relocation of informal settlers issued by the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP).
Some of the residents, however, have transferred already to the Paknaan relocation site.
One of them was Deyas Cabrera, who requested the Housing and Urban Development Office (HUDO) to give them their assigned lot at the relocation site before moving out of their homes to avoid confusion.
“There were boundary markers but these are now gone because the area is still being filled with limestone,” Cabrera said in Cebuano.
Tony Pet Juanico, head of HUDO, said they are restoring the lost markers.
“We appeal to the beneficiaries to help in the development of the area” he said.
Some 162 families in sitio Mahayag are being targeted for immediate transfer. The city wants to move within the year 1,200 beneficiaries to the 6.5-hectare relocation site.
Mr. Leopoldo Chavez, president of the Mahayag Homeowners’ Association, said they had wanted to stay in their homes along the creek until August but the City Legal Office did not allow it. / With Intern Anie M. Paujana
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