CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama denied claims that the city government is not doing anything to help affected residents of the ongoing court-ordered demolition at the controversial Lot 937 in Sitio San Miguel, Apas, Cebu City.
This was after officers of the Archangels Residence Mergence Inc. (ARMI), during a news forum on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, claimed that the Cebu City government abandoned them since the demolition of houses and structures in the area started last November 3, 2022.
ARMI officer Necefora Pao, on Tuesday, cried for help as she got emotional when she explained that no assistance reached them while the demolition in the area is ongoing.
As of Tuesday, she said, 60 houses have already been demolished.
“Karon makita ninyo, wa g’yod mi. Karon gi-confirm na na ang DWUP wala g’yod kuno’y plano namo. Unya daghan kaayo sila’g palakaw nga istorya, grabe kaayo sa tanan,” she said.
“Daghan intawn kaayo nga way kapuy-an. Naa pa ron sa basketball court. Makita man na ninyo…Asa ang gobyerno para namo?” she added.
DWUP stands for the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor.
Meanwhile, Rama, in a press conference on Wednesday, November 9, assured that the city will definitely help them.
“There is only one thing I would like to tell with respect to Apas, your mayor will never be away. We will be a part, and the city government will be a part of the solution, but according to the Law,” he said.
“I will not be telling you what are the things that I will be doing, I’m having some things being done, but I will never be running around even if I am being persecuted about this issue,” he added.
To emphasize the message of the mayor on the issue, the executive secretary to the mayor Atty. Collin Rosell said the city’s DWUP committed that there are vacant lots at the city’s existing housing sites, which can be allocated for the affected residents of the Lot 937 demolition.
Rosell said the 400 vacant lots in these housing sites in the city would be definitely enough to accommodate roughly 168 affected households in Apas, which would decide to take the relocation offer of the city government.
“Sa lain pang bahin, nakita g’yod nato ug nadungog nga previously, duna na nay memorandum of agreement gi-enter ang mga na affected nga pamilya unya naa sad gihapon silay gitanyag ug gipirmahan mismo sa kanhi gobernador (Hilario) Davide (III) nga mag apod apod ug tagsa tagsa ka lote para nila. Naa na, signed na,” he said.
He added that meetings and negotiations with the Cebu Provincial Government regarding the matter are ongoing.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in an earlier interview, said that the previous provincial government administration entered into an agreement with the Cebu City government in which the former would allocate around 8,000 square meters for the occupants from Lot 937.
She added that an inventory of the number of households qualified to relocate to the Capitol’s property had been conducted already.
Rosell also reiterated that the city would be providing financial assistance between P10,000 and P20,000.
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