City Hall: Fire victims can rebuild homes after clearing

Cebu City Hall set up four tents on the fire site near the road. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

City Hall will allow victims of the Dec. 26 fire in sitio Avocado, barangay Lahug to rebuild their homes at the fire site after the Cebu city government finishes surveying and reblocking the area.

City Administrator Lucelle Mercado told Cebu Daily News yesterday that the city is prioritizing those who  lost their homes despite the plan of the University of the Philippines Cebu (UP Cebu) to use part of the site to construct a long-delayed high school building.

“We cannot allow these people to wait, especially since their evacuation area, Lahug Elementary School will be used by students once classes resume on Monday,” Mercado said.

If they can’t finish the clearing operations today, hen they will ask the school principal extend the stay of fire victims for two more days.

She had a heated exchange at the site on Dec. 31 with UP Cebu Dean Liza Corro who wanted to mark out boundaries of 2,000 square meters of the 4,000-square meter site before installing a temporary fence.

Acting Mayor Labella said he has assigned city lawyers led by Collin Rosell to sit down with the UP Cebu administration next week.

“Now, that the basic needs of the people have been addressed, it’s time for us to sit down with them. I have designated Atty. Collin Rosell, Atty. Jerone Castillo and City Administrator Lucelle Mercado,” he said.

“Now, that the province has also intervened this will  include the province the barangay officials and the home owners to come up with solutions to the issue. I  instructed them ASAP  to meet next week,” he said.

A meeting is set with  the UP dean tomorrow, said Castillo.

City administrator Mercado  said the city’s role is to to restore the fire victims, who number  890 individuals or 240 families, to their community in improved settings through re-blocking.

She said after the families are brought back then UP can continue  their negotiation with them.

“Dialogs and negotiations with UP Cebu will take a long time, and the fire victims cannot wait that long. They have nowhere to go, and the city can’t have that. So yes, we will proceed with reblocking,” Mercado said.

UP Cebu set up its own tent with 24-hour security guards and tarp banners of a planned high school building in sitio Avocado, barangay Lahug. Lahug barangay officials set up one tent as well. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

Dean Corro, for her part, said she was not informed of the city’s plans for reblocking in property owned by the state university.

She said her letters requesting a coordination meeting with City Hall were not answered and no one reached out to the school to discuss it.

Gov. Hilario Davide III, in a visit on DEc. 31,   said he was willing to mediate the brewing tension between the two government entities.

He  confirmed that the land  in sitio Avocado was donated to UP in 1963 for educational facilities and that the Capitol has made available a 2-hectare relocation site in Nivel Hills, barangay Busay for the informal settlers and fire victims.

“All Davide wants the  city government to do is to respect the property rights of UP Cebu, and in effect, for the city government to recognize the rule of law,” Corro said.

UP Cebu is planning to build a P65 million UP High School building in the areaIt has been in the works since 2013, and two other university buildings were also planned on the site.

After Dec. 31, the city government put up four white tents, which were used for a New Year’s Eve party for residents.

UP Cebu also set up its own tent with four security guards on 24-hour duty to ensure that no other tents are put up.

One small makeshift tent was put up by barangay Lahug officials as well.