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Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Tenants must vacate after Sea Games hostilities
By Ryan B Lachica
BACOLOD City Representative Monico Puentevella said that tenants residing beside the Paglaum Sports Complex (PSC) will have to prepare in vacating their posts after the city's hosting of the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) this year.
The solon, in an interview Monday, said that the PSC tenants have used their lot not only for business purposes but as their own residences as well.
In a survey conducted by the Bacolod Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee, in which the solon heads, they found out that there are a lot of tenants living in the area as of present.
Puentevella, on the other hand, received a round of applause when he announced to the tenants in a meeting Monday that there will be no relocation that will occur and residents along the area of Lacson and Libertad Streets will have their houses intact.
However, the applause died instantly and was replaced by murmurs when he revealed that there are some unlucky tenants who will be forced to vacate their lot as their area is covered by the main building that is up for rehabilitation. Dressing rooms will be installed in the said area.
Basoc said that the stadium and its surrounding area will be "artistically" covered to prevent exposure.
The kiosk in a portion of Lizares area will be demolished to extend the capacity of the parking lot and to ease traffic.
The solon said that tenants should take this time and event to earn more profit."Its a good chance to take the opportunity to earn while the event is still going," Puentevella said.
The tenants can still continue their business in the meantime but the solon stressed that Paglaum is not residential and soon they will have to vacate the area.
"Its a matter of time before the law will get you, so take time to find a new place," he said.
Puentevella appealed to the people to be cooperative in the coming meet. The solon, however, said that he could not assure the tenants if they can still remain after the SEAG.
The action now is just a second recourse as there is no enough budget to support the relocation of the people and not enough time to relocate them all.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said, "We all have to do our share", and appealed to the people in the area that they must be discreet so as not to embarrass Bacolod and to promote an orderly community.
The mayor said that there is a relocation site in case fate would not favor the tenants.
He further said that his administration is willing to help them as long as they follow the proper procedures showing that they are legitimate tenants of Paglaum and they have no lots to transfer.
The Negros Occidental High School (NOHS) principal Nilda Monge said that they have given the tenants a final notice of 15 days to vacate the vicinity for it has been years since they have not paid their rent.
Monge added that she is a school administrator, not a businesswoman, and there is no lessee-lessor relationship between them that is why she could not force the tenants to pay the rent.
"The school can manage even if they don't pay their rent," Monge said. "The tenants usually become violent and angry if there is a collector sent by the school or the government so it is hard to make them pay," she added.
But this was denied by some of the tenants occupying the Paglaum main building.
On a condition of anonymity, a tenant who had been living there for almost 20 years now said that the school administration and the local government did not communicate with them.
"We are not dogs so why can't they approach us like people and say what they want?" the resident said.
The resident also said that the people in the area have been cooperative whenever there's an event held in Paglaum where the people are the ones painting and cleaning the area to save the local government of their troubles in manpower.
A tenant also disclosed that they tried to pay the rent but the principal allegedly did not take the money saying that it is not necessary because they will be extracted from the premises anyway.
(June 7, 2005 issue)
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