Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez Jr. has ordered the demolition of 30 illegal shelters along the two coastal barangays in the locality believed to have been used as “drug dens for rent.”
Martinez, in a phone interview with Cebu Daily News yesterday, said he came up with the decision after their surveillance for almost a year in barangays Sambag and Gairan where he claimed has become a “favorite place for drug users and drug dealers to do business.”
“We will send a notice to those who live in these shelters within this week and give them 15 days to prepare,” he said.
In less than one year, local police have raided the area four times and found that these “illegal” shelters have been used as hideouts for drug users, pickpockets and other criminal elements or dropoff points for illegal drugs.
Martinez said that owners of some of these shelters, mostly made of light materials, rent out the structures for P50 per “session.”
The mayor added that illegal drugs can easily be ferried via motor boat to the neighboring towns of Medellin or Daanbantayan.
He said that aside from allegedly being involved in illegal drug trade, these shelters were also built on a “no-build” zone.
Martinez invoked Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Housing Act of 1992 which prohibits the occupation or construction of houses and other structures on shorelines, riverbanks, esteros and waterways.
“This effort is undertaken to promote public safety and to serve as a notice to all drug users and dealers that the city is serious in its drive to maintain a drug-free community,” said Martinez.
Mayor Martinez, through an executive order, also created an ad-hoc committee task to study the proliferation of informal settlers in danger zones such as coastlines within the city.
The committee will be composed of the head of the city social welfare and development office as chairman while the chief of police, city environment and natural resources officer, and chief of the local peacekeeping team will sit as members.
The mayor said there are 15 out of 30 families whose houses are going to be demolished that will be relocated to resettlement villages within the city.
Martinez said that some of the shelters along the coastlines are owned by residents of nearby towns such as Tuburan and San Remigio.
While those who are to be relocated are also linked to illegal drugs, the mayor said he hopes they can be reformed once they are relocated.
“Once they are in the villages, they will be supported with livelihood programs by foreign donors,” Martinez explained, although he refused to name where these villages are specifically located.
The foreign donors include private groups from Norway, Switzerland, as well as non-government organization Habitat for Humanity, which helped respond to survivors of typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
Provincial Board (PB) Member Celestino “Tining” Martinez III, the mayor’s son, said that illegal drugs in the two barangays have become a perennial problem in the city.
He said that it was about time to provide those legitimately residing along the coastlines more decent living conditions.
“If they’re in a better position, I don’t see any reason for them to get involved in illegal activities,” the board member said. /REPORTER VICTOR ANTHONY V. SILVA