SOME residents who were evacuated from landslide-affected areas in Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga refused to accept the proposed relocation site being prepared for them.
The Cebu Provincial Government had agreed to donate 2.1 hectares of the Balili property, also in the barangay, for the construction of permanent housing units for the survivors.
Residents claimed that the Balili property is located in a danger zone.
“Dali man gud na maigo ug storm surge kay duol man sa dagat (The area is susceptible to a storm surge because it’s located by the sea),” said Celio Pañares, an evacuee from Sitio Sindulan 1.
The 45-year-old also refused to vacate his property despite its proximity to ground zero because his family rightfully owns it.
“Naa namiy titulo anang yutaa. Diha nami natawo, diha sad mi mamatay. Dili mi madali-dali ug pabalhin kung way klarong basehan (We have a land title. It’s where we were born, and it’s where we will die. They can’t just force us to leave without clear basis),” Pañares told SunStar Cebu yesterday.
Fellow evacuee Grace Ocampo also doesn’t want to move to the Balili property for the same reason that Pañares gave: it’s prone to storm surges.
The relocation site is about 100 meters away from the shoreline.
But not everyone shared their sentiment. Other evacuees, especially those living near ground zero, were willing to accept the City’s offer.
Paul Siton, of Sitio Sindulan 3, said they don’t want to go back to their homes after they were traumatized by the landslide.
“I’d rather move somewhere else rather than return home where we wouldn’t be able to get a good night’s sleep,” he said in Cebuano.
Procesa Alinganga, 63, and her daughter, Rosalie, 43, were more pragmatic.
MGB clearance
They will live in the relocation provided by the City as they have nowhere else to go after their homes were destroyed by the landslide.
“The slightest rain might cause a landslide so we’re afraid to go back. It’s better to live away from danger than stay and be worried all the time,” Procesa said in Cebuano.
In an interview yesterday, Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong said an independent team from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has deemed the 2.1-hectare area as safe for relocation. It’s not considered critical for geohazards, she said.
Chiong said that if the MGB had not cleared the property, the National Housing Authority (NHA) would not have agreed to it being used as a housing site.
Chiong also said she had tasked her staff to collate the documents of property owners affected by the landslide and to have them identified.
The NHA plans to build 320 low-cost, two-story houses for the landslide survivors on the Balili property.
Yesterday, Gov. Hilario Davide III and other Capitol officials committed to immediately donate the 2.1 hectare lot in the Balili property to the City of Naga.
Davide told reporters that even though the property was controversial in the past, the lot they will be donating does not have any legal impediments.
The Province had bought the 24.92-hectare property from the Balili family in 2008.
It was later discovered that 19.67 hectares were underwater and unsuitable for human settlement or a port project.
Davide said they will still send a letter to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to inform the latter of their plan to donate a portion of the property to the City of Naga.
Davide is confident that the anti-graft office will approve their request based on “humanitarian reasons.”
Members of the Provincial Board (PB) also vowed to fasttrack a resolution that would authorize Davide to sign a deed of donation.
Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said they will tackle the proposed resolution during their regular session on Monday.
PB Members Raul Bacaltos and Yolanda Daan will sponsor the resolution.
Davide also committed to donate an additional 5,000 square meters adjacent to the 2.1 hectares in case more land is needed for the construction.
Chiong announced that they will use the P25 million they allocated to acquire some lots in the Balili property prior to the landslide to build 80 houses for the survivors.