BAGUIO CITY – The city government does not give favor or exemption to owners of big structures in the ongoing clearing operations along Marcos Highway.
Asst. City Engr. Constancio Imson of the City Engineering Office who heads the clearing operations said that they were able to demolish two three-story buildings along Balacbac Road but because of the size and the make of the structures, the operations required more time and budget.
Imson said most of those cleared were small ones because they were not covered by any document and are easier to dismantle so that most owners volunteered to undertake the removal on their own.
He said the city’s demolition activities are dependent on the demolition orders that emanate from the Dept. of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“There are structures, mostly large ones, that cannot be touched right away because the owners were able to present lot ownership documents and the like which the DPWH and the city government need to also look at before we can move to approve the demolition orders,” Imson explained.
As of Oct. 30, a total of 280 structures were identified to have encroached on the highway’s road right-of-way and of the number, 122 were able to present documents or proofs of ownership.
Since the start of the clearing last Sept. 19, Imson said 83 had been demolished out of the 94 structures covered by demolition orders.
He said they are working on the logistics for the next wave of demolition in the area.
Meanwhile last Thursday, eight structures were also removed along Kennon Road which along with Marcos, Naguilian and Loakan Roads were the subject of the clearing operations.
The DPWH Baguio City Engineering Office also reported to Mayor Benjamin Magalong that they have started issuing notices of demolition to encroachers along Naguilian Road.
Imson said the department gave an estimated number of 600 structures identified along Naguilian Road particularly along the stretch from the Quezon Hill area to Justice Hall.
The RROW clearing which will cover 10 meters from the edge of each side of the road was based on the President’s directive to clear the roads of obstructions.
Last Oct. 24, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, in a memorandum, ordered all regional directors to strictly implement Department Order No. 73 series of 2014 and remove immediately “all obstructions and prohibited uses within the (RROW) of all national roads and henceforth prohibit the presence/occurrence of the structures, objects listed therein:
“All kinds of temporary and permanent structures such as buildings, houses, shanties, stores, shops, stalls, sheds, canopies, billboards, signages, advertisements, fences, walls, railings, basketball courts, barangay halls, garbage receptacles, and the like; posts and towers of Electric Cooperatives and Major Electric Power Distributors; distribution lines; posts for cables of phones and mobile service providers; driveways and ramps occupying or protruding to the sidewalk;
Trees, shrubs, and plant boxes; humps, whether permanent or temporary; dumping and storage of construction materials, such as sand, gravel, cement, lumber and steel bars, earth spoils, waste materials, debris, embankment, heaps, and the like; vehicles and equipment, including junked items that are parked, occupying or protruding to the sidewalk or shoulder; vending, repair of vehicles, and other businesses within the sidewalk and other parts of ROW; disposal of household/commercial/industrial wastewater and sewage into the sidewalk, curb and gutter, and carriageway; raising of animals or allowing them to roam within the ROW; and washing and drying of clothes, crops and similar items.
”Should clearing operations for road widening; improvement and/or rehabilitation are to be conducted, no compensation shall therefore be paid and allowed on the removal of these obstructions,” the order states. ** Aileen P. Refuerzo
