Tuesday, April 24, 2007 Soc orders police: Remove blockade at Linao road
MAYOR Socrates Fernandez yesterday ordered the police to immediately remove the road blockade, which was set up by the heirs of a private lot in Linao, a hilly village in Talisay City.
The barrier, built by the protesting Rita clan early yesterday morning, rendered the Linao-Magha-way road impassable to all vehicles, including city-owned garbage trucks.
Apart from a coco lumber fence, the protesters also used a passenger jeep and a multicab to block the area.
The blockade stemmed from the alleged non-payment of the heirs’ demand for just compensation following the paving and widening of the old Linao road that traverses their property.
The road is a vital artery to the sanitary landfill in Barangay Tapul and the Talisay City jail in Barangay Maghaway.
“You are hereby directed to immediately remove any and all obstructions on the road and clear the same for the free passage of the public,” read Fernandez’s letter to Talisay City Police Chief Romeo Perigo.
Fernandez said the heirs should address their demand to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the road project implementor, or file a formal case in court.
“If there is (a) court order directing us to pay them, then the City Government would be obliged to pay,” he said.
“This act constitutes a public nuisance that can be summarily abated,” said City Legal Officer Paterno Belciña, who cited Article 694 of the New Civil Code in relation to Section 455 of the Local Government Code.
A court order is no longer necessary since it (the barrier) is a public nuisance, said Belciña.
He also advised the heirs to file a formal demand in court instead of taking the law into their hands.
Linao Barangay Captain Reynaldo Sedentario, for his part, preferred that a negotiation must be exhausted before dismantling the road barrier to avert a bloody confrontation.
Sun.Star Cebu called up Perigo yesterday afternoon but he still has yet to receive the mayor’s order.
He will also consult the legal counsel of the PNP to guide them before dismantling the barrier.
If authorities fail to clear the area, the dumping of thrash at the city-run sanitary landfill in Tapul will be hampered, as Camella Subdivision residents in the neighboring Barangay Lawaan 1 also plan to block the entry of garbage trucks today.
The garbage trucks temporarily used the access road at Camella Homes Subdivision in going to the Tapul dumpsite.
“Our concern here is the health and safety of the residents because we often encounter a smelly watery thrash dripping from a fully-loaded garbage trucks,” said Manuel Abong, president of Camella’s Tierra Grande Homeowners’ Association.
Abong called on City Hall to immediately clear the road barrier so as not to hamper the dumping of garbage in Tapul.
But Tito dela Calzada, one of the protesting heirs, told reporters that they will not budge until the City Government acts on their demand for just compensation. (GC)
