BARANGAY LUZ URBAN POOR FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION (BLUPFO)
Sitios Lubi, Nangka, Mabuhay, Barangay Luz, Cebu City
Cell No. 0921-6080346

LETTER OF BARANGAY LUZ DEMOLITION VICTIMS TO SUPREME COURT

October 15, 2012

Hon. Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of the Philippines
Padre Faura Street, Manila 1000

Dear Supreme Court Chief Justice and Members,

Greetings of Peace!

We are writing in order to inform your honors of our horrible situation after your decision on our case.

Acting upon your order (Civil Case No. Ceb 18352 : Anselma Conag, et al vs. Province of Cebu, et al), the Regional Trial Court 11, under Judge Ramon Daomilas, ordered the demolition of our 32 households located in Sitios Nangka, Mabuhay and Lubi at Barangay Luz, Cebu City.

The demolition was started on October 8, 2012 and would continue this week. The implementation of demolition is staggered. The demolition team has demolished already nine households last week in Sitio Mabuhay rendering some of us homeless. There are 23 households left to be demolished this week.

The nine demolished households in Mabuhay are not provided with adequate relocation with facilities as the Local Government of Cebu City is ill-prepared for the situation. We are now living and stockpiling our stuff in side streets. We have no kitchen, water and electricity. We have not received the financial assistance from the Local Government, except for a few tents and food for 3 days.

We are conscious that before a demolition would be implemented, there should be available “Adequate resettlement site and relocation facilities” as EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 152 dated December 10, 2002 provides. The absence of “adequate resettlement and relocation facilities” and the non-existence of facilitative actions by the Local Government violate the procedure on demolition.

We are sure that the remaining 23 households which will be demolished starting October 16, 2012 will suffer the same situation. One of our members was told by a staff of the Cebu City Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor that the 32 areas listed as relocation site have already claimants or owners and we will be “assumees.”

We are thus asking your Honors to stop the demolition as the Local Government Unit of Cebu City has not provided us with “adequate resettlement site and relocation facilities” in gross violation of the law.

The Cebu City Council, whose majority is the opposition political party, disapproved the executive’s request for funds for on-site relocation. Moreover, Cebu City Councilor Nida Cabrera who belongs to the majority bloc politically opposed to the Executive, is the strong official who controls the Homeowners’ Associations (HOA) implementing the Community Mortgage Program (CMP). She is bent on getting rid of the 32 households, and replace us with suspected professional squatters (please see attachment for more details on the list of illegal assumees, and why they are deemed professional squatters).

We hope that you will find this request very urgent as demolition has continued and we have nowhere to go.

Thank you very much.

Very truly yours,

Generosa Corbeta (SGD.)
President

Lucena Fabular (SGD.)
Vice President

SIGNED BY 32 HOUSEHOLDS

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