A better solution

EDITORIAL CARTOON

The TV newscast that showed an elderly man lying on a folding bed writhing in pain and his equally elderly wife sobbing and pleading with the Cebu City government to allow them to stay at their shanty within the easement zone of the Mahiga Creek hits home with viewers and the public.

But do those images accurately sum up the gist of the problem? According to the Cebu City Council, which has taken the cudgels for the creek settlers, Mayor Michael Rama has disregarded their welfare though they voted for him and his slate in the last elections.

The mayor has been adamant about demolition without assistance or relocation for these settlers. If there is to be a relocation, it should be on the Cebu City government’s proposed relocation site, which the settlers flatly rejected.

Their conditions are thus: Move the easement zone to 2.5 meters (which the mayor initially agreed to) and provide a relocation site near the creek, particularly near the slaughterhouse, already a constant source of foul odor and pollution to a major mall and nearby residents.

Then there is that talk about a mall supposedly pressuring Rama to clear out the settlers in the creek which Rama strongly denied. But even without the pressure exerted by the mall, the Jan. 25 flood that swept not only the area in the mall’s vicinity but other areas in the city proper provided testament to an undeniable fact that illegal settlers are the cause of the flooding problem.

There has to be a meeting of the minds and a willingness to compromise as far as this problem is concerned and it won’t do for local officials to argue and engage in populist politics.

So far the council wanted Rama to agree to one of two things; demolition with relocation or demolition with financial assistance, specifically aid to facilitate the settlers trip back to their hometowns in Cebu or in nearby provinces.

In resolving this Mahiga Creek dilemma, the Cebu City government needs to address long term the squatting problem that resulted in decongestion not only of creeks but city streets and aggravated urban pollution.

The solutions lie not just in simplistic approaches like providing relocation sites or assistance as the Cebu City Council are wont to do. These illegal settlers should be helped not just because they happen to be voters; in helping them, the council should realize that they shouldn’t compromise the public interest and welfare, which, in this case, means clearing the creek.

Rama was right in saying that providing relocation sites to these settlers will only encourage more squatting in the city; we hope the council realizes that and work with the mayor in coming out with a better solution to the Mahiga Creek problem.