Illegal pigpens in Mandaue demolished

ILLEGAL pigpens found along B. Ceniza Street in sitio Ihawan in barangay Mantuyong, Mandaue City, were peacefully and successfully demolished last Wednesday afternoon.

Most pigpen owners have voluntarily removed their pigpens even before the demolition team arrived.

The Mandaue City Legal Officer Giovanni Tianero had issued the notice of demolition to 18 illegal pigpen owners for violation of the city’s Zoning Ordinance, the Sanitation Code of the Philippines, and the Animal Welfare Act.

They were given until yesterday afternoon to voluntarily demolish their pigpens and transfer to the city-owned slaughterhouse in barangay Labogon.

One of the owners of the illegal pigpen was barangay Mantuyong captain Antonio Maquilan, who is engaged in the “lechon” business.

Maquilan was the first to voluntarily demolish his pigpen.

“We followed the order City Hall order as we understood its purpose. We were at fault. We decided not to resist,” Maquilan said.

Although the demolition went on smoothly, just the same, many pigpen owners felt bad.

“I walked away because it really hurt watching them destroy our pigpens,” Magdalena Baclohan, 65, said Cebuano.

Although she owns a fish stall in the new public market, Baclohan said without her piggery, her income will be unstable. She said the income in the new public market is not enough to sustain their daily needs.

Last week, Baclohan figured in a fight with the anti-squatting team when she and other fish vendors tried to resist the authorities from confiscating the fishes sold in sidewalks. She is now facing direct assault charges for that./Correspondents by Fe Marie D.Dumaboc and Jucell Marie P. Cuyos