Court sheriff urged: Talk relocation before demolition

Relocation first before demolition.

This was Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman’s request to the court sheriff about the pending eviction of occupants of the contested Apas lot 937.

“There’s a need to sit down with the sheriff,” he said knowing that there’s a proposed 12 hectare-relocation site owned by the Capitol.

Ayuman said that he was pleased with the offer of a relocation site near the contested lot.

“We are okay that there’s already a development,” said Ayuman referring to the delayed case of Apas demolition.

Recently, Judge Soliver Peras of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 inhibited from the case citing “personal reasons.’

Peras lives in Camp Lapu-Lapu, many of whose personnel are residents of the contested lot in barangay Apas.

Ayuman said that that he understands the contention of the 168 residents since they want the pending case to be resolved.

“The issue is in court. We are concerned with how it will affect the people because they still they want to own the lot,” Ayuman said.

He said the proposed relocation site is not only applicable to the members of Archangel Residents Mergence Inc. (ARMI) because these may also be applicable to other issues of private lot ownership.

Affected residents said they believed that the government had expropriated the land and that the lot was identified as a socialized housing site under the Cebu City Council Resolution 99-4771 on June 30, 1999.

“If irelocate sila sa Apas ra gihapon, malipay gyud ta (If they would be relocated in Apas, I would be happy,)” Ayuman said.

Though the residents are third parties of the court case, they sought the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to intervene.

The OSG ask the court for a 30-day delay of the enforcement of the writ of demolition.

Ayuman also asked Mariano Godinez, the owner of lot 937, to show up and discuss the issue with the city government, residents and barangay officials.

Godinez, who is living in the United States, has been acting through his lawyer. As a demolition may start anytime, barangay officials are also prepared with the police assistance to secure safety and peaceful demolition. /Tweeny M. Malinao, Correspondent