Lorega folk goes to court as last resort

Settlers in a property owned by the Cebu City government is asking the court to stop the demolition of their houses in barangay Lorega.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Benjamin Militar, said Mayor Michael Rama doesn’t have the right to drive the settlers out of the property given to them by former Cebu City mayor Eulogio Borres.

“That lot was actually a relocation site. And people in that area have been there for about 40 years now,” Militar said.

The lawyer filed a petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) last Tuesday.
Regional Trial Court Judge Silvestre Maamo Jr. of Branch 17 set a hearing on Oct. 21.

But before the court could act on the petition, Militar said the city government already demolished 17 houses.

“But we’re not giving up. We’ll ask the court to allow the residents to stay,” he said.

Aside from Rama, also named respondent in the case was Raquel Arce, chief of the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (Probe) in Cebu City.

Militar is contemplating on filing administrative cases against Rama and Arce for abuse of authority.

“I will make Rama pay for what he’s doing. He seemingly doesn’t care for the poor. He doesn’t know how to respect the poor,” he said.

Collin Rosell, chief of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), explained that the city needs to demolish the 17 houses of the petitioners so an interior road can be constructed to provide access during emergencies.