Demolition starts

DESPITE the residents and village officials efforts to stop it, the demolition of the structures of 157 families living in Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Apas, Cebu City pushed through yesterday.

A team began tearing down the houses after Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9 Judge Alexander Acosta and Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 6 Judge Pamela Baring-Uy denied separate motions for a temporary restraining order (TRO).

The motions for TRO that the courts denied had been filed by City Hall lawyers and the camp of Ben Militar, who represents at least 39 of the 157 affected families.

Another motion for a TRO was also filed yesterday before the RTC by Feliciano Payot, the legal counsel of majority of the affected families, but the court has yet to act on it.

Around 2 p.m., a demolition team hired by Aletha Suico-Magat started to tear down the houses. Suico-Magat is the owner of the property where the families live.

The team dismantled two of the 157 structures, in the presence of 50 policemen and 15 members of the Special Weapons and Tactics team, who were there to ensure the demolition stayed peaceful.

Tension rose once the demolition team started to knock down the houses, since the residents tried to stop them, considering the court has not acted yet on the motion filed by Atty. Payot.

To appease the crowd, Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman went to the site and met with court sheriff Edilberto Suarin and some of the demolition team.

He appealed to them to stop the demolition, considering also that it was already 3 p.m.

They granted Ayumans request but added that the demolition will continue at 8:30 a.m. today.

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Demolition starts