‘Vacate unsafe Gotiaco Bldg., area’

Saturday, February 11, 2012

AFTER he ordered four Cebu City Hall offices to vacate the Gotiaoco Bldg. immediately for fear it might collapse, Mayor Michael Rama now wants the whole block where the structure is located to be cleared of occupants.

Adjacent to the building is an open space surrounded by tall fences that the mayor feared have been damaged and also might collapse, after Monday’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Central Visayas, including Cebu City.

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The open space is occupied by more than 60 street traders in the Carbon area who are members of the Allied Vendors Association (AVA).

Rama said he doesn’t want to be blamed if the fences collapse, so he ordered the whole block to be cordoned off.

He instructed City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete to take charge of securing the area so passersby would be aware the risks.

Poblete, in an interview, said he will ask the Squatters Prevention Encroachment and Elimination Division to cordon off the area.

The city administrator said he wants all the occupants to vacate first before the entire block is closed.

Occupants at the Gotiaoco Bldg., which include the Market Operations Division, yesterday started preparing the area where they are going to transfer.

The decision of the mayor, however, doesn’t sit well with the members of AVA who have occupied the area since 2002.

AVA president Vicente Polo said they are safe in the area because the fences that surround them are 14-inch-thick solid blocks.

The organization’s adviser, Erwin Goc-ong, said the area has no roof that might collopse or floors that might crack.

The AVA adviser said they will ask the mayor to reconsider his decision and let them stay in the area.

The open space on M.C. Briones St. is owned by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

AVA members are occupying the area for free.