Demolition in Luz this week; road-widening survey starts

THE demolition of the houses of 32 families in barangay Luz that were hit by last Friday’s fire may proceed anytime this week, a court sheriff said yesterday.

Sheriff Joseph Olmedo said a visit to the sitios showed that three out of 15 houses were hit by last Friday’s fire. No one manifested willingness to voluntarily vacate the area.

Olmedo was accompanied by five baranagay tanods when he went to the area yesterday. The demolition may affect some houses built in sitios Nangka, Lubi and Mabuhay.

Ramon Sagun, a resident of sitio Lubi, said they will oppose the demolition.

“Di mi sama sa iro nga nanganak dinha unya patiran lang. (We are not like dogs that  gave birth to puppies and then kicked out),” Sagun said.

The settlers, represented by 18 persons, filed a civil suit in court for “partial annulment of contracts and certificates of title with injunction and preliminary mandatory injunction.”

The plaintiffs claimed to be actual bona fide occupants of the province-owned lot in barangay Luz, Cebu City.

They declined to join the homeowners association who were covered under a “community mortgage program” citing onerous requirements.

The program paved the way for urban poor to acquire their homes through a 25-year amortization plan.

The court eventually ruled against the settlers. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled with finality on the case.

For his part Alvin Santillana, chief of City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC), said safety remains the priority in any plans to widen the road leading to barangay Luz.

The Management Information and Computer Services (Mics) and the City Engineering Office conducted a survey last Monday to determine the original width of access roads in the area for possible road widening.

The technical committee of Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) will work with the City Engineering’s Office this week to identify the areas to be affected by the road widening.

The affected families opposed the 10-meter road-widening plans and asked that a one-meter widening be implemented on both sides.

Engineer Ricardo Masiglat of the MICS said the road widening cannot be implemented immediately since the affected lots are divided into province-owned and city-owned lots. Other lots also fall under the community mortgage program.

Barangay Luz captain Rian Tante earlier said most of the families paid their lots to the province under Provincial Ordinance 93-1.

Four of five sitios would be directly affected by the proposed road widening. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol and Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao