A Cebu City government dump truck clears debris from the fire scene in sitio Avocado in barangay Lahug. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Lahug victims get offer for relocation site
Fire victims in barangay Lahug were yesterday offered space in a two-hectare relocation site in Nivel Hills, but they remain wary of ongoing clearing operations and worry about their future.
The offer was made in a dialog led by Dean Liza Corro of the University of the Philippines Cebu which is asserting its role as land owner of the fire-ravaged area in sitio Avocado, where over 600 residents and renters lost their houses last Saturday.
While the sitio is being cleared of debris by the Cebu city government, displaced residents and Lahug village officials are wary of city plans for “re-blocking”.
They wonder about Acting Mayor Edgardo Labella’s assurance that they can return to rebuild their homes.
Corro said City Hall has not discussed the “re-blocking” or the fire’s aftermath with UP Cebu officials yet.
She visited fire victims who evacuated to the Lahug Elementary School to explain that the land belongs to the state university, which plans to use it to expand facilities after the area is cleared.
“The 4,000 sq meter area affected by the fire is exactly where our new P65-million high school building will be constructed. This has been in the works since 2013, but we have been faced with resistance because residents refused to listen to us,” Corro told Cebu Daily News.
This time, she hopes the reception will be different.
“Your relocation site will be yours,” she told fire victims in the presence of Lahug barangay officials.
“You will no longer have worries there about being evicted or dislocated. Whatever expenses you have for rebuilding, you might as well rebuild in a place where you will be permanently settled,” Corro said.
UNIVERSITY OWNER. UP Cebu Dean Liza Corro shows a photo copy of the university’s land title for a 2.6 hectares area in barangay Lahug, including the burned site in sitio Avocado. In her dialog with fire victims at the Lahug Elementary School, she offered a relocation site in Nivel Hills. Cebu City Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos (right) and acting Lahug barangay Captain Ging-ging Muana attended the dialog. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Sitio Avocado settlers, however, had reservations about the offer, and wondered if the distance was worth the transfer. Some also expressed doubts about UP’s land ownership.
“We are poor. We don’t have resources to spare, especially after the fire. Moving us to the far-off mountains will take a toll on us and we mightnot be able to cope,” said Rey Relampagos, whose house was destroyed in the Dec. 26 fire. Dean Corro said some UP Cebu employees live in the Nivel Hills site as well, and have no complaints of the location.
Corro said the university has long been ready with the 2-hectare relocation site in Nivel Hills in barangay Busay beside the GMA Network Complex. She said this was the former property of the Philippine Public School Teachers Association (PPSTA) Region 7 and is a ten-minute ride away from the fire scene.
The site is big enough for all affected home owners in sitio Avocado and other informal settlers in the 12.8-hectare UP Cebu property in barangay Kamputhaw and Lahug, she said. The UP Cebu property extends to to Sunset Drive in Lahug, one block down Gorordo Avenue to barangay Kamputhaw, and down to the Kamputhaw River.
About half of UP’s property is occupied by informal settlers, a decades-old problem that has hampered plans for school expansion.
Corro and her team distributed photocopies of the Transfer Certificate Title for Lot 911-B-2-C-2-E which is a 2.6 hectare area in Lahug, includingsitio Avocado.
CONTINUE DIALOG
Acting Lahug barangay captain Ging-ging Muaña insisted that a dialog be continued in the future to get the consensus of the settlers.
“I am happy that then dean remains open to a dialog, and is not going to ambush us by enclosing the area especially at this time when the victims are still tense and upset,” Muaña told CDN.
Muaña said she was alarmed when City Hall heavy equipment rushed to the area to clear the burned buildings in sitio Avocado and announced the area would be re-blocked.
“They did not coordinate with the barangay or the landowner, which is UP Cebu. That’s unfair for the people, and confusing as well,” she said in Cebuano.
Acting Mayor Labella, in an earlier interview, denied that he failed to coordinate with Lahug officials. He said he called for last Sunday’s dialog with a barangay representative to pave the way for heavy equipment to enter and re-block the fire site.
Re-blocking is a standard measure in the Rama administration after a fire tragedy to improve the area’s emergency access roads, rearrange houses, and setbacks, in order to help residents get back on their feet with on-site relocation.
BO-PK Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos who was present in yesterday’s dialog said the ownership of UP Cebu of the land is no longer an issue.
She said she had issues, however, with the city government’s “handling” of post-fire situations. “In my history as a barangay official of Lahug, I always coordinated with UP Cebu about re-blocking after we settled the issue on the ownership of the land. Never in history have I coordinated with the City of Cebu. That’s why I was surprised that evrything was done in haste with no consultation whatsoever,” de los Santos told CDN. “Just because I am in BOPK now and they know my attachment to Lahug, doesn’t mean they can neglect consulting the people. This should not be a political issue. They are muddling the issue by asserting action without consultation,” she said. De los Santos recalled coordinating with UP Cebu in two fires that hit sitio San Jose and sitio Sunset Drive Extension in the 20 years she was a barangay captain.
“UP Cebu has been more than accommodating and generous with the barangays of which their property belongs. There is no contest of ownership now that they have presented their title. We are happy that they are still willing to talk to the people,” de los Santos added. Corro said UP Cebu will await a future dialog before starting enclosure of the property and construction.
“The assurance we are looking for is the safety of the contractor and its employees. We may have physical access, as the area has been cleared, but we need assurance that it is safe now for building. We also need to agree with residents,” said Corro.
Architect Dioscoro Alesna, the university architect, said the contractor AA Masong is ready to mobilize personnel and equipment.
The clearing of the fire-ravaged area would allows UP Cebu to pursue its plans to construct a P13 million Arts & Sciences Extension Building as part of its campus development plan 2025.
Engr. Albert Bascon, school engineer and head of campus maintenance, said the city government backhoes cleared out a 15 to 20 meter area.
“Öur heavy equipment can pass here to start the project, which we couldn’t do before because it used to be occupied by informal settlers,” said Bascon.