SOME of the fire victims of sitio Avocado, barangay Lahug who were staying in 17 classrooms in the Lahug Elementary School will be congregated into eight rooms as students return to classes today following the holidays.
Cebu City Administrator Lucelle Mercado said City Hall will build makeshift classrooms in the school for the eight classes that will be affected.
“It will only be temporary. That’s why we’re trying hard to finish reblocking so the victims can return to their area,” she said.
After finishing the reblocking, Mercado said they will discuss the lot ownership issue with the lot claimant, the University of the Philippines Cebu (UP Cebu) and Cebu provincial officials. She said they still have to schedule the meeting.
Lawyer Colin Rosell, who heads Cebu City Hall’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), said he thought they already discussed the plight of the settlers with UP Cebu.
“Now that there’s a fire, they want to capitalize on that and take advantage of the situation. They don’t want to comply with what is required of them,” he said.
Rosell said during their previous meetings with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and UP Cebu officials, City Hall asked the school to integrate the settlers into their development plans.
The settlers voiced apprehension over the presence of police officers from the Regional Public Safety Battalion Central Visayas (RPSB-7) in Sibonga town and Cebu City Public Safety Company in their area yesterday.
The police tried to stop the distribution of building materials to the residents, who fenced portions of the spaces allotted to them after the reblocking using plastic straws and pieces of bamboo sticks.
The family of Hazel Lacang, a high school teacher, took wooden benches and plastic chairs to guard their fenced area.
She told Cebu Daily News that she and her family will guard their site even if they have to stay awake all night.