BACOLOD CITY — The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) is assisting the city government here in the demolition of structures occupied by informal settlers under a bridge identified for widening and expansion.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the 39 families living in the area of Lupit Bridge can only be evicted once there is a go-signal from the PCUP.
“We cannot just simply demolish their structures and eject them without a clearance from PCUP,” he added. “We already have the budget, we already have the contract but the construction has been stopped because they are still there.”
The mayor said the bridge widening project is critical and necessary. The bridge is located along the extension of Lacson Street, one of longest and busiest streets in the city.
Undersecretary Noel Kinazo Felongco, chairperson of PCUP, met with Leonardia at the Bacolod City Government Center on Wednesday.
Felongco said the mandate of the PCUP is to ensure that a consultation is conducted and a relocation site is provided for the affected residents.
“No genuine consultation and relocation, no eviction. That’s the marching order from the President,” he added.
Felongco said the PCUP will conduct a survey to determine whether the identified informal settlers are indeed underprivileged and homeless.
Many pretend to be homeless but are actually professional squatters, he added.
“After that a pre-demolition conference will be conducted. No demolition can take place without it. We will invite affected families and other government agencies. Then we agree on terms and conditions. The purpose is to carry out a demolition that is violence-free,” Felongco said.
Neil Victor Saril, PCUP assistant chief of operations for Visayas, said the case of Bacolod is “demolition by administration” since it involves a government project.
He added that they have already conducted three meetings with the informal settlers as part of the process.
Saril said there are three reasons a demolition can take place. First, there’s a government project ongoing in the area; second, the area occupied is a danger zone; and third, a court order.
In the case of Lupit Bridge, the first two reasons apply, he added.
“The project engineer said ‘Definitely, they have to go.’ The people’s safety is primary. They may not understand it, but they really need to,” Saril said.
Felongco named Saril as the focal person who will lead the conduct of the pre-demolition conference (PDC).
“After the PDC, he will endorse the papers to my office in Manila. If things are in order, my office will issue the certificate of availability of relocation or of financial assistance,” he added.
Felongco said the mayor himself is willing to provide a relocation site for the people affected by the project. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
