PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The city government here has postponed the demolition of 33 illegal structures, mostly houses, in its claimed environmental estate in Barangay Sta. Lucia Monday.
The city government decided to give the homeowners and other occupants enough time to self-demolish until April when school is over, said City Administrator Arnel Pedrosa.
Pedrosa said City Mayor Lucilo Bayron did not want to disturb the schooling of the homeowners’ children.
“The mayor has acceded to their request and they have until the end of the school year to do that (self-demolition),” said Pedrosa, also the city legal officer.
Last week, the city government reminded the 33 families living inside the environmental estate that the one-month extension would end and they need to vacate the area before March 12.
But the affected families requested another extension, citing their children attending school as the reason.
Pedrosa, however, said the dismantling of newly-built structures without occupants would continue on the same day, as stated in the order issued last month.
“Demolition will proceed with regard to structures that are not occupied,” he added.
He said the barangay hall and the church in the environmental estate would be spared from the impending demolition in respect of the authorities, who built them.
The 1,072-hectare area of the Sta. Lucia Subcolony was declared as an environmental estate through Presidential Decree 718 signed by former President Fidel Ramos.
Under the proclamation, the city government is tasked to primarily develop it for ecotourism and commercial enterprise purposes.
Pedrosa said the environmental estate would give rise to the construction of “sustainable government projects” in the future. (Keith Anthony Fabro/PNA)
