Tefasco squatters sue City Hall
Nine squatters on a creek in Ilang, Bunawan who have been issued demolition orders filed a petition for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the city government.
Regional Trial Court Branch 13 Judge Ridgeway Tanjili granted a 72-hour TRO on Tuesday but the temporary relief may not be extended after City Legal Officer Melchor Quitain issued yesterday afternoon his recommendation after attending the morning hearing of the case.
Judge Tanjili has ordered Quitain to submit the recommendation for the guidance of the court.
Pableo Lorono, one of nine squatters who refused to accept a city government relocation site, filed the petition for TRO. One hundred forty-one of the 150 squatters in the Sto. Nino squatter colony accepted the offer, but the nine refused to accept as they run business in the coastal sitio sandwiched between the Tefasco and Unifrutti wharves.
Councilor Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling and his father Ilang barangay captain Romeo Cabling facilitated the relocation under the city’s socialized housing program. Councilor Cabling said the residents were at high risk from tidal waves and floods from the Awad Creek and from operations of vessels loading export bananas at the ports.
In his memorandum, Quitain said demolition orders should be slapped against all the squatters, including those who have accepted the relocation site.
In his recommendation, Quitain said two of the nine squatters should be given relocation but the seven would not qualify for the socialized housing program as they own real properties.
Tefasco has donated a one-hectare lot to the city government for the relocation site.
Quitain recommended that “demolition orders be issued against all the occupants…to be carried out without delay once the restraining order of the court runs its course or is not extended.”
The nine squatters earlier had been issued demolition orders by the City Engineers Office based on the recommendation of the Committee on Squatting Syndicates and Professional Squatters (CASPPS) and the Local Housing Board, which would have been implemented on Tuesday this week.
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte also visited the site on Tuesday and told the squatters that they have to go.
Filed under: City councilors, Duterte, davao city, prostitution | Tagged: arnolfo ricardo cabling, mayor rodrigo duterte, prostitution, tefasco
