Mandaue starts Orel demolition

A government  demolition crew started taking down   15 of 130 houses in barangay Banilad, Mandaue City despite verbal protests of residents who pleaded to spare their houses because Christmas was near.

Some families chose to dismantle their own houses to avoid trouble.

Demolition work will resume in sitio Orel at 8 a.m. today as part of the city’s effort  to clear danger zones like creeks and easement zones of informal settlers.

Tonypet Juanico, housing and home site regulation officer, said Dec. 7 is the target date to clear  the site and other inhabited areas in barangays Maguikay and Tabok  (74 houses) and Paknaan (60 houses).

As early as 6 a.m., residents of houses built along a three-meter easement and danger zone of a waterway in sitio Orel gathered near the gates of San Miguel Corporation and blocked the entry of vehicles, including the food conglomerate’s delivery trucks.

The standoff lasted throughout the morning as a  representative of the affected residents, Roberto Lebata,  tried to negotiate a stay of the demolition with  authorities.

He spoke with Supt. Crisaleo Tolentino,  deputy police director and Cynthia Suico, community affairs officer of the Housing and Urban Development Office (HUDO).

The demolition proceeded at around 2 p.m.

Representatives of the Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP) and the Commission for Human Rights (CHR), were present to  ensure that the operation was carried out in a humane manner.

Primo Cadampog of the CHR 7 said Mandaue city  teams did their part in holding prior consultation meetings with residents to hear their concerns.

Juanico said the demolition was supposed to be undertaken last year, but was kept rescheduled to give residents time to relocate.

HUDO’s Suico  said that 26 of the affected residents availed of the P18,000 financial assistance offered by the city government.

The rest of the families accepted the offer of a relocation site.

Milagros Escoto, 55 told Cebu Daily News that she has lived in sitio Orel for 20 years with her four children.

She appealed to Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to stop the demolition of their houses since Christmas is next month.

She said that when the local government offered to have them relocated to barangay Paknaan, she checked the area and found out the site was prone to flooding during high tide.

“Ang hangin pud didto kay baho man (The air also smells bad in the area),” she said. She said  City Hall should have sought a court order before they carried out the demolition.

Junel Devibar, a second year student of Cabancalan National High School, skipped class yesterday because  their house was among those marked for demolition.

Devibar, 16,  told CDN he now worries where to sleep and study as they voluntarily dismantled their  house.

“To avoid violence, we just decided to demolish the house ourselves,” he said.

His elder sister Jenalyn, who is nine months pregnant, said they may  have to put up a tent in a nearby basketball court.

Tonypet Juanico, housing and home site regulation officer,  told reporters yesterday said no court order is needed because the clearing of danger zones and easement zones   along creeks is an administrative proceeding.

He cited Presidential Decree 772 and Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Housing Development Act of 1992 which allows the eviction of people who occupy danger zone areas, such as esteros, railroad tracks, garbage dumps, river banks, shorelines, waterways and other public places such as sidewalks, roads, parks and playgrounds. / Jucell Marie P. Cuyos, Correspondent