DPWH evicts 50 bridge families

Nelson Heyrosa (left) and Dharlie Decierdo (right) are two of the affected residents whose housess are scheduled for demolition due to bridge repair in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)demo

For more than 20 years, Nelson Heyrosa has been an “under-the-bridge” dweller but he will soon have to vacate the house  he built beneath the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.

Heyrosa, 52,  a former messenger of the Mandaue city government,  owns one of the 50 houses made of light materials that will have to be cleared once the the repair of the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge starts.

Heyrosa, who like his neighbors is an informal settler in the coastal area on the Mandaue side of the bridge,  said they had been hearing news of their impending eviction but they have not received any official word from the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas  (DPWH-7) or the city government of Mandaue.

Jegma Construction, which is undertaking the bridge repair work, cannot start replacing the bridge’s cement slabs while there are families below sections designated for repair for fear of being sued should injuries occur from  falling debris, according to Tony Pet Juanico, the chief of the Housing and Urban Development Office (HUDO) of Mandaue City.

Juanico said they were informed early this month by DPWH-7  that a number of houses under the bridge would likely be affected by the bridge’s repair but it was only yesterday when they were told that it would require the removal of 53 structures.

Juanico said HUDO conducted its own socio-economic survey and identified only 47 structures that would be affected by the project.

Heyrosa said he and his neighbors feared their houses would be demolished before they are provided with  a relocation site.

“Uban sa amoa diri nanga hadlok na. Wala naman gani naninda o nangabli sa ilahang tindahan kay demolition na lagi mi. Dili man sad mi kaboot ana kay gobyerno naman nay mag ingon (Some of us here are scared. No one sells anything or opens a store here since demolition can happen any day. It’s the government’s decision so we cannot go against it),” he said.

Juanico said he would meet today with officials of DPWH-7 to discuss how to go about the eviction process and if the national agency could extend help to the affected families.

He said under Republic Act 7279, or the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA),  the city government is required  to provide a relocation site or extend financial assistance to an evicted family.

Juanico said the affected families are considered informal settlers since they are living in a danger zone.

He said that they are still looking into the possibility that these families could be relocated in a 6.5-hectare city-owned lot in Barangay Paknaan. In fact, he said, some of the families living under the bridge have long been asked to relocate to Paknaan even before the issue of clearing the area cropped up.

Juanico said there are about 500 families presently living in the Paknaan relocation site and those affected by the bridge project can readily transfer there since the site can accommodate up to 1,200 families.

DPWH regional director Ador Canlas meanwhile stressed that the families to be affected by the bridge repair have been informed beforehand of their impending eviction.

He said all the affected families have been given the standard three notices by the DPWH 6th Engineering District Office, informing them that they are residing in an area affected by demolition works for the bridge rehabilitation project.

“They really have to go. They should not have been there in the first place,” he said.

Canlas, meanwhile, said they would also meet with officials of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) today to review plans involving the additional support for the latter’s water pipeline that would be affected by the bridge’s repair.

He said MCWD has until Friday this week to submit its strategy, which will be then be evaluated by DPWH.

The need to protect the MCWD pipeline, which transmits potable water to about 60 percent of Lapu-Lapu City’s residents, has delayed the schedule of the bridge’s repair, which was initially set to start on Feb. 8.  In the meantime, Jegma’s scope of work is limited to the bridge’s sidewalks until the pipeline support issue is resolved.