Friday, October 19, 2007 Many factors considered in setting boundaries: CH
NATURAL boundaries, equity, precinct maps, and basic services are the bases for the recommendation by the Cebu Planning and Development Office (CPDO) to declare Waterfront Hotel and Casino and Grand Convention Center part of Barangay Luz.
City Planning Officer Nigel Paul Villarete explained yesterday that he is acting on the boundary disputes “technically.” Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos had accused City officials of political vendetta in deciding on the disputes.
Based on the CPDO recommendation, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña earlier asked the City Council to approve an ordinance declaring the proper delineation of boundaries between Barangays Luz and Lahug. The proposal places Waterfront Hotel and the Grand Convention Center in Barangay Luz’s jurisdiction.
In his analysis and recommendations for barangay boundary disputes, Villarete noted that both the City Planning Map and the City Assessor’s Map set the centerline of Archbishop Reyes Ave. as the boundary of the two barangays.
Survey
“But we also conducted a survey of the establishments and buildings along one side of Archbishop Reyes Ave. which presumably is within Barangay Lahug,” he said.
The results of the survey showed that in garbage collection, Barangay Luz personnel gathered wastes produced by 12 establishments, out of 15 respondents.
“It is significant to note that not one of the establishments along Archbishop Reyes Ave. actually received solid waste collection services from Barangay Lahug, the barangay they purportedly belong and to which they pay taxes, too,” said Villarete.
About 80 percent of the solid waste collection and services along this area are done by Barangay Apas, which also responds to alarms of all these firms.
“Considering the proximity of the lots adjacent to Archbishop Reyes Ave. to Barangay Luz, it is recommended that the boundary between Lahug and Barangay Luz be set along an alignment more or less parallel to the Archbishop Reyes Ave.,” said Villarete in his report.
This will start from the lot where Park Lane Hotel (Barangay Camputhaw) is located, passing through the centerline of an existing service road, and connecting up to Salinas Drive, passing along the northwestern property line of Waterfront Hotel-Lahug.
Authenticity
The Barangay Luz-Lahug boundary is just one of the cases handled by Villarete, who stressed that he is doing everything “technically.”
De los Santos earlier said that she will go to court to protect Lahug’s territory with claims based on the original 1965 Cebu City map.
Villarete said he does not “personally subscribe” to the authenticity of the map because he suspected it was copied by handwriting more than a hundred times.
CPDO has been validating and delineating barangay boundaries in the Cebu City since last year. (NRC)
