Tuburan mayor, lot owner clash over access to resort

A conflict erupted over access to a hot spring and resort in Tuburan town in  northwest Cebu, which has  put a land owner at odds with Mayor Aljun Diamante.

Allan Servidor, 40, yesterday complained to the police that the mayor  threatened to kill him and arrested his truck driver.

Servidor yesterday went to the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CCPO) to seek help from Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, the director.

Servidor narrated that last Wednesday morning, the Tuburan mayor,  his bodyguards and some policemen destroyed the fence enclosing his 3.5-hectare property  where the spring is located.

Servidor said he decided to fence the area after he was not issued a permit to rent out cottages near the Molobolo Spring, which is  frequented by local and foreign tourists.

“I closed the area since it would  be a violation on my  part if I continue to operate. Now he’s upset because  tourists no longer have access to the spring,” Servidor said in Cebuano.

Servidor said the mayor and his men returned to his property yesterday morning and arrested his truck driver Glen Olasiman, and seized his six-wheeler cargo truck.

“My driver was arrested  for obstruction. How can it be an obstruction when I own the property?” he said.

Servidor  recalled an incident last April 7 where the mayor took a photo of him and his bodyguards drawing guns.

Servidor said he was told by the mayor to do what he wants and that he would  also do what he wants.

“Makig patay ko ninyo (I will fight to the death),” Servidor quoted the mayor as  saying.

Servidor challenged the mayor to show a court order to prove that destroying a  fence on his own  property was illegal.

Gillamac said he would  form a team to investigate the matter.

In a phone interview, Mayor Diamante denied  threatening to kill the land owner.

“Sila maoy nanghulga, wa ko nanghulga nila uy. Pataka ra na sila.  (I did not threaten them. They were the ones who made threats. They are making up stories,” he said.

The  mayor said that  Servidor illegally fenced off the  right of way to a resort.

“That was the way leading to the resort. We have a special ordinance that  requires that even a pathway should not be fenced,” he said.

The mayor said Olasiman was arrested for violating Provincial Ordinance 93-15 which penalizes any person who obstructs or hampers the accessibility  of any highway, provincial road, barangay road or any established right of way.

Violators face a fine of P5,000 or imprisonment of up to one year or both at the discretion of the court.