City hopeful motion for stopping demolition to be granted

IT IS now up to the court whether to push through Wednesday with the demolition of houses in a contested land bordering between Barangays Puntod and Macabalan after the City Government filed a motion to delay the displacement of the families living in the area.

Lawyer Edgar Cabanlas said Mayor Oscar Moreno asked him, on behalf of the local government, to file a motion to defer the execution of the writ of demolition scheduled this Wednesday.

Cabanlas said City Hall has asked Branch 25 of the Regional Trial Court to grant its motion that would allow Moreno to look for a relocation site for the residents within 90 days.

On January 25, the members of the Cagayan Integrated Landless Residents Association Incorporated (Cilrai) held a protest rally in front of the National Housing Authority (NHA)-Northern Mindanao in Puntod demanding the putting off of the demolition.

The group also went to the City Mayors Office to ask for his help.

Although Moreno is not much aware of the situation, Cabanlas said it was the mayors order to file the motion in court.

We did not promise them that they can get the land back, but to find a relocation site, he told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro Monday.

He added the residents even hand-carried the motion and had it received in court.

Cabanlas said the City Government can find a resettlement site for the would-be affected residents in three months time if its petition is granted by the court, but the relocation would be farther from their original dwellings.

It would be hard, he added, for City Hall to buy the contested area since the city cannot afford the price.

View original post here:
City hopeful motion for stopping demolition to be granted