HOMEOWNERS of two subdivisions in Barangay Macasandig, Cagayan de Oro City are uniting with the aim of stopping the development of a cemetery nearby.
Melecia Homes Subdivision Homeowners Association and Arrowvile Subdivision Homeowners Association wants the Regional Trial Court Branch 41 to stop the cemetery development and accept by issuing a temporary restraining order against Forest Lake Memorial Park.
Filed by Pryce Corporation, the motions argue that Forest Lake Memorial Park violated the city’s zoning ordinance as the three-hectare memorial park will be built right in the neighborhood of the said subdivisions.
The residents said in its petition that the City Council in 2014 approved the City Ordinance no. 12796-2014, allowing preliminary approval and location clearance for the memorial park, but argued that the Council based it in an opinion of the City Planning and Development Office.
The opinion stated that the cemetery project can be built in the residential zone, commercial, industrial zones, where park/open spaces are required, as long as it is park-like in nature.
Lawyer Odilon Apolinario said allowing the project is a mockery of law and prejudicial to the public and general welfare.
The homeowners argued that "no reasonable mind would conclude that a memorial park of cemetery is the same as park/open space."
The homeowners said that if the memorial is allowed, they would suffer irreparable injury, that is, the peace , quite, and even health and environmental concerns of the residents.
The project, according to the homeowners, is "an affront and offensive to their religious beliefs, as Christians and Catholics, it is offensive and unacceptable to their beliefs that the ‘dead’ will live with the living, as they believe that the dead should be laid to rest on a proper place and should not be disturbed."