CEBU CITY — Starting tomorrow, more than 200 families living along the Mahiga creek in Mabolo will be forcibly evicted from their homes.
Cebu City government’s Squatters Prevention Encroachment and Elimination Division (SPEED) is scheduled to demolish nearly 150 houses built within the three-meter easement zone along the waterways of sitios San Isidro, Back Pepsi, Magtalisay, Sto. Niño I and Sto. Niño II.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the city does not have a budget for financial assistance for these residents. Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña has however recently offered to shoulder P5,000 per family from his Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF).
The city has offered a relocation site in Budlaan, a village where there is no immediate access to basic services. Only 20 residents agreed to be relocated because it is too far from their workplace.
The city officials said demolition should be completed before the onset of rainy days.
In this audio slideshow, Cebu journalist Marian Codilla and her team visited the community and documented the current plight of the settlers there.
Codilla participated in a three-day training, “Thinking Beyond Stills: A multimedia course for photojournalists,” by VERA Files, in partnership with the Canadian Embassy. The trainers were multi-awarded phojournalist Luis Liwanag and VERA Files trustees Luz Rimban and Yvonne Chua.
