Informal settlers expelled from old Mandaue market

THE Mandaue City Housing and Urban Development Office (Hudo) pulled out 30 families of informal settlers inside the old public market on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019.

These families were part of the more than 40 families, who were discovered by a barangay official living in the market grounds without permission last month.

After their shanties were demolished by the Hudo personnel, 30 of them came back in the compound.

Cesar Ylanan, head of the Hudo demolition team, said the returnees did not build shanties in the compound anymore; they went inside the old public market building and they slept in abandoned stalls.

The building was condemned after its foundations were weakened by the October 2013 earthquake.

Most of the evicted families are from Barangay Ibabao-Estancia, Mandaue City, V. Rama Ave., Cebu City, Consolacion town and Lapu-Lapu City.

Ylanan said the informal settlers promised not to go back to the old public market if the Hudo personnel could transport them back to their homes.

When he got a permission from his superiors, Ylanan and his team fulfilled the informal settlers’ wish.

Nympha Pinos, one of the informal settlers, said she is worried about her livelihood when her family is already back in Lapu-Lapu City.

She said her husband is an on-call construction worker, who only finds work if his services are needed. Their children are students at the Mandaue City Central School.

Pinos, 36, used to sell snacks at the old public market. However, she was not allowed to transfer at the new public market in Barangay Centro as she failed to get a business permit.

The Hudo, on the other hand, noticed that Restituto Navarro, who was assigned by Assistant Market Administrator Cesar Marcadal to guard the old public market, failed to prevent the 30 families from coming back in the facility.

Navarro, 63, said he was powerless as he was alone in the compound. The informal settlers came in droves; if he reprimanded them, his life might be at risk. KFD

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