THE Cebu City Government through the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) will issue a cease and desist order (CDO) against 10 establishments along the banks of the Estero de Parian that encroach on the three-meter easement zone.
Last April 22, the Task Force Gubat sa Baha sent notices to 34 establishments, not 33 as what was earlier reported, to voluntarily demolish or clear their illegal structures within 72 hours.
Only these 10 establishments have failed to comply with the notice, said Melquiades Feliciano, Task Force Gubat sa Baha chief implementer, on Monday, May 6, 2024.
The Estero de Parian flows through Barangays Parian, San Roque, Sto. Niño and Tinago.
“They did not cooperate. We do not want to consider it resistance but we got no response from them,” Feliciano said in a mix of English and Cebuano.
Feliciano did not divulge the names of the establishments.
However, he clarified that the order does not tell the establishments to clear the areas where they are situated since the CDO will only order them to stop operations.
“We want them to stop their operations. Clearing is a different one since it is under the clearing order,” he said.
Feliciano said the BPLO still has to meet with his team regarding the issuance of communications for the CDO to the establishments.
He said the other establishments have been responsive.
According to him, two establishments have received clearing orders, five still await technical reports from the Department of Engineering and Public Works, while six have voluntarily complied with the notice.
He said the task force will have to follow up on the rest.
Meanwhile, Feliciano said they will start sending notices to owners of other structures that encroach on the three-meter easement zone of the city’s waterways, but he did not say when.
Last April 30, he told SunStar Cebu that the City Government was bent on recovering the three-meter easement along the Estero de Parian.
He said the City was only following the law, citing Presidential Decree 1067, or the Water Code of the Philippines, which mandates that three-meter zones from rivers or waterways in cities are “no build zones.”
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, in an interview on Monday, warned all establishments found along the stretch of Estero de Parian to heed the notices and voluntarily remove illegal structures.
“These are all for the young generation. If not now, when? If not us, then who?” he said.
Rama said that they will strictly enforce this environmental protection policy not only in the Estero de Parian but also in other rivers in the city.
He said they are preparing for the upcoming wet season that may cause massive flooding in the city. / KJF