It was almost 46 years ago when then President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Presidential Decree (PD) 1067, or The Water Code of the Philippines, which established the three-meter easement along waterways in urban areas.
What that means is that no person is allowed to erect any structure along the entire length of banks of rivers, streams and the shores of seas and lakes and that these must be reserved for the use of public recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage.
I have no idea what is referred to by floatage or salvage, but the rest is pretty straightforward.
So it’s mind-boggling that in Cebu City alone, there are around 14,000 structures that blatantly violate the law.
This can only mean one thing and that is the City Government has been remiss in its job to enforce the law in the last four decades.
There’s no getting around it. I mean, what else could it be?
I can think of several reasons why this has happened; the most obvious one being that the City Government doesn’t have the manpower to monitor waterways 24/7. However, it should have immediately confronted owners of structures that encroach on the three-meter easement. It’s not like some of these were built overnight.
We’re not talking about houses made of light materials. Some of these structures are huge warehouses and multistoried buildings. Don’t tell me their owners didn’t know about PD 1067. Somebody must have told them. The engineer or the architect, surely.
Then again, they were able to obtain a permit to build from the City Government so they must have thought it was okay.
As for the indigent squatters, I will call them that because I’m old school and I’m allergic to political correctness, most of them probably did not have a choice even if they knew about the law so I wouldn’t be too hard on them.
It’s hardly fair to judge them equally. But much has changed since 1976. In August, waterways swelled after several days of downpour, inundating much of not only Cebu City but also its neighbors. Some structures built along their banks were washed away. Properties and lives were lost.
For many of the indigent squatters, it’s no longer about staying put but being able to afford to relocate. I truly believe they deserve all the help they can get. I cannot say the same for owners of big establishments.
Mayor Michael Rama can rest assured that the issue has transcended politics. Critics might vilify him for the ongoing clearing operations along the city’s waterways, but at least he is rectifying more than four decades of neglect.