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Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Guv: Pala-Pala area clear in a week
By Roberto L. Bacasong, Avelyn Z. Agudon and Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
COME hell or high water, the Provincial Government will clear the P1 billion prime property in the Pala-Pala area, Bacolod City, of illegal structures within a week.
And with the courts' dismissal of two petitions for the issuance of Temporary Restraining Order contesting Monday's demolition, Gov. Joseph Marañon refused to yield to the request of Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chairperson Percival Chavez that the province suspend the demolition.
"It is just a request. The demolition should push through. The court already ruled in our favor," said Marañon of Monday's start of demolition in the area covering Barangays 6, 8 and 9.
As residents held a noise barrage at the back of the Capitol Building Monday morning, the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 dismissed the application for the issuance of a TRO filed by 19 petitioner-residents of Barangay 8.
Last Friday, the RTC Branch 41 also dismissed a similar petition separately filed by squatter-families.
Residents held a noise barrage as various militant groups took turns in lambasting the demolition team and the police and other law enforcement agencies led by Senior Supt. Vicente Ponteras, city police director.
They gathered for a mass at 7 a.m. in front of the Provincial Government.
Some members of the demolition team tried to convince them to start destroying the houses but some residents drove them away claiming the Provincial Government's decision to demolish their houses was marred by irregularities and was unconstitutional.
PCUP letter
Chavez earlier said although PCUP is standing on its decision of issuing the Certificate of Compliance that paved the way to demolish the illegal structures in Barangays 6, 8 and 9, "we still believe the case being administrative in nature should first be reviewed by President Arroyo."
But Marañon said they could not grant the request of PCUP because the Regional Trial Court has ruled in their favor.
Chavez, in the letter, requested for the deferment of the demolition "pending the completion of the review."
"It is just a request but Marañon has the last say," Chavez' letter said.
Assistance
Lawyer Jose Maria Valencia, Marañon's chief of staff, ordered the pullout of the province's dumptrucks to assist the illegal occupants to transfer to the relocation site.
Valencia said they have gone through a lot of process, the decision already came out, and now it should be followed.
He said the province provided financial assistance to the affected families.
Opposition
But some residents resisted the demolition with some of their placards that read: "You (Marañon) step out from the building. We are only asking for extension until March next year."
Luisito Berjit Jr., president of the Urban Poor Solidarity Association of Barangay 8 said, "We want to celebrate our Christmas and New Year's Eve here."
Berjit advised the demolition team to go back to their respective homes, saying some of them (demolition team) are even residing in the squatters area.
Berjit said in March, they are willing to vacate the area and are willing to be relocated in Cabugwason.
Decision
RTC Branch 42 Judge Fernando Elumba, in dismissing the petition of residents said: "Instead of crossing swords in the legal area, the City of Bacolod would have done well to discuss with the respondent the possibility of coming up with a mutually beneficial solution to this legal and social imbroglio. After all, is not Bacolod City the capital of the Province of Negros Occidental?"
Elumba denied the application for the issuance of a TRO and dismissed the application to declare Executive Order No. 152 dated December 10, 2002 unconstitutional, for being "fatally defective."
The court said the affected areas immediately at the back of the Provincial Capitol, spanning from the North Capitol Road, along San Juan and Gatuslao streets, and up to the area immediately behind the Provincial Jail has been home to more than perhaps a thousands squatter families, may be even more, for almost decades now without paying any rent nor taxes to the respondent (province).
The filing of the petition, with the assistance of no less than the City Legal Office, the court said, sends a wrong signal to the Bacoleños, in particular, and to the entire province, in general - that the city is a haven for squatters.
"Squatting is unlawful and no amount of acquiescence on the part of the city officials will elevate it into a lawful act. Official approval of squatting should not, therefore, be permitted to obtain in this country where there is an orderly form of government," Elumba said.
(November 23, 2004 issue)
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