Council calls for stay in demolition at cemetery

Houses built inside and in front of the Doña Pepang cemetery in barangay Carreta are scheduled for demolition after a court ruling supported City Hall’s plan to convert the area into a heritage memorial park.
(CDN Photo/Junjie Mendoza)

The Cebu City Council has asked for the suspension of the mayor’s plan to demolish  shanties of  40 families living near the Doña Pepang Cemetery.

The removal should wait until the city provides a relocation site of them, they said.

The request was taken up in yesterday’s regular session. The  council approved a resolution by Councilor Alvin Dizon requesting the mayor’s office and the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification and Enhancement  (Probe) team to hold off action.

The families were given 10 days to voluntarily demolish their houses but the Cebu City government has not yet offered any relocation for the affected families. The city’s plan to develop the cemetery should also consider the rights and welfare of the affected urban poor families,” Dizon said.

READ: Court rejects Osmeña petition to stop cemetery closure

Dizon, who chairs the council’s housing committee, said the  Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) should discuss  with the families their request for reblocking instead of  demolition.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the city will push through  plans to develop the Catholic cemetery into a heritage park while maintaining the Osmeña mausoleum and other important gravesites  after the Regional Trial Court dismissed the petition for  injunction  filed by former mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Housing

Last June 15, a 10-day notice to vacate was sent to  families living in front of the cemetery.

The order will lapse on Saturday, July 25.

DWUP Chief Collin Rossell said he would assist the affected residents despite the fact that they refused to continue negotiations with the city when they joined in the case of Osmeña.

“We will still consider those who will qualify for the city’s socialized housing program. But we still have to screen them because some are only renting in the area,” he said.

Last Tuesday Rossell announced aloud in the court room where settlers were attending the hearing, to come to his office if they still want to avail of the city’s housing program.

He said the city was already meeting with the affected settlers before the case was filed.

Revised design

Inside the cemetery, sari-sari stores, eateries and small tailoring shops do business.

City Hall wants to clear the structures in front of the cemetery entrance.

Initial agreements were made to preserve some niches and family mausoleums. An initial design of the heritage and memorial park was presented by Architect Socorro Atega but a final version still has to be made.