Globe to move cell site out of Apas

GLOBE Telecom is scouting for a property on which to build a cell site after Cebu City Hall ordered the closure of its facility in barangay Apas.

In a press statement, lawyer Manuel Gordon, Globe director for VisMin litigation and corporate and legal services, said they will replace their cell site in sitio Calvary Hills, which is a residential area.

“Globe Telecom has decided to look for alternative locations that will replace cell sites located in Sitio Calvary Hills in barangay Apas even before the Cebu City government decided to withdraw the special permit for telecommunication companies to operate cell sites within Calvary Hills,” Gordon said in his statement.

Last week, Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella issued separate closure orders against Globe and Sun Cellular for their cell sites in the area. The order was made after the City Council revoked the special permits issued to the two companies last year.

Sun Cellular has yet to comment on the closure.

Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman, who earlier welcomed the closure, said representatives of Sun Cellular have already visited his office informing him that their cell site will be transferred to an area with no households nearby.

Several residents in the sitio, together with barangay officials, have been lobbying for the removal of the towers. They blame radiation from the facility as the cause of cancer-related cases and deaths in the area.

As of yesterday, City Hall’s Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, Enhancement (Probe) team hasn’t implemented Labella’s order yet.

Probe head Raquel Arce said she hasn’t received a copy of the order yet.