Relocating the rich and poor

They may be worlds apart but there is one similarity between the settlers occupying a portion of the property owned by the University of the Philippines Cebu (UP Cebu) and bar owners at Mango Square in former Mango Avenue.

Aside from being located in prime real estate , both the settlers and the bar owners find themselves considered as “undesirables” by school and city officials who want them transferred elsewhere so they can proceed with their own development plans.

The similarities end there of course. While the settlers haven’t created any major trouble yet to the UP Cebu administration aside from their presence, KTV bars at Mango Avenue have become a perennial source of trouble involving drunken visitors both foreign and local.

But while bar owners can confidently stand up to City Hall officials and say “dili na pwede (that’s not possible),” the same can’t be said of the settlers, who don’t have land titles or tax declarations to justify their continued stay in the property other than the claim that they’ve been living in the area ever since the school was built.

And unlike the bar owners who pay taxes and have employees, settlers at the UP Cebu property can only rely on the moral support of some City Hall officials like Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, a former barangay captain of Lahug who called on UP Cebu officials to do the right thing and help relocate the settlers.

What it all boils down to is that the Cebu city government has the burden of responsibility to move out both the settlers and these KTV bar owners to some place where their activities and services won’t be affected.

For the bar owners, perhaps the Cebu city government can advise them to relocate some place where they don’t violate the 100-meter rule in the city liquor ordinance that prohibits the sale of liquor near schools, churches and residential areas, and to do so immediately, perhaps within the year.

The temporary loss of tax collections could be justified for the sake of a more peaceful Fuente Osmeña area and fewer drunken teenagers and visitors. A peaceful, violence- free neighborhood cannot be quantified in pesos.

Who knows, better outlets can be built there which are more beneficial to the immediate community.

The plight of settlers in the UP Cebu property is another story. Unless it takes legal action and seeks a court eviction, the school is leaving the task of relocation wholly to the city government.

But finding a middle ground is part of the quest for social justice and being part of the solution of relocation is a shared responsibility that UP Cebu cannot ignore.