Apas residents to lobby anew for transfer of cell site towers

Residents of barangay Apas, Cebu City will ask the City Council anew to transfer two cell site towers in sitio Calvary Hills to another area.

Apas barangay chairman Ramil Ayuman said they will convince the City Council to revoke the special permit it issued to Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular.

“Based on the legal opinion issued by the City Legal Office, the council can revoke the special permit since they issued it and it’s not covered by an ordinance,” Ayuman said.

The special permits were issued by the city government because the towers were built in a residential area.

Ayuman said there was no consultation with barangay officials nor with the residents before the towers were built.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao will be drafting a resolution for the revocation of the permit and the transfer of the cell sites.

“The legal opinion will be our basis for pushing for the transfer of the cell sites. There was a request from the barangay because there was no proper consultation and the people want it transferred,” the councilor said.

Since there’s no council session this week, Wenceslao said he’ll include the proposed resolution in the council’s agenda on May 27.

For now, Ayuman said he will lobby for support from the other city councilors to support the passage of the resolution.

Residents of sitio Calvary Hills claimed that the radiation emitted by the cell site towers causes cancer.

During a public hearing last year, the Department of Health (DOH) said radio frequency radiation from cell sites has not been proven to cause cancer.

Ayuman said there have been 20 cases of deaths caused by cancer within the cell site tower area. The death toll continues to rise, he added.

“Just this year alone, another five people within 600 meters from the cell sites have died because of cancer,” he said.