Try as they might, the settlers near the Mahiga creek had no choice but to allow the demolition team to dismantle their shanties. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
THEY tried to resist at first, even forming a human barricade to block a City Hall demolition team accompanied by police and a Special Weapons Tactics (SWAT) team.
But 44 families of sitio Mahusay, barangay Subangdaku in Mandaue City were left with no choice but to allow a city demolition team to dismantle their shanties at 10 a.m. yesterday.
Senior Insp. Miguel Andeza, chief of the Subangdaku police precinct, said residents raised their voices at first but relented later on, allowing the demolition team to clear the area. No one was hurt during the demolition.
The demolition team were also accompanied by personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), City Social Welfare and Services (CSWS) and a paramedics team.
Women members of the Sitio Mahusay Homeowners Association, who said they had lived in the area for more than a decade, covered half of their faces with shirts and locked arms to form a barricade.
Undeterred, the demolition team simply pushed away the wood placed by some women in front of them and proceeded to tear down the shanties.
“We talked to our men and instructed them to be at the side. We wanted to face the demolition team hoping that they won’t use force because we are women,” said a 17-year-old mother of a one-year-old child.
She said the demolition team didn’t bring a court order to justify their demolition.
Asked if she and the others availed of the housing offer at the relocation site in barangay Pakna-an, she said they could not afford the P2,000 down payment.
Subangdaku barangay chairman Ernie Manatad said the occupants were given time to relocate or accept P20,000 financial assistance to return to their province.
Manatad said the area occupied by the settlers is located within the three meter easement zone of the Mahiga Creek and used to house drug dens and a shabu market.
Last October, the settlers asked the city government to give them enough time to prepare for leaving the area.