Demolition of shanties in 25-hectare CDO land ‘peaceful’
Viñas said plainclothes policemen entered the community as early as 3 a.m. Tuesday to check for troublemakers but none were found.
“As of noon Tuesday, the removal of shanties is going on peacefully,” he said.
The demolition team. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
Informal settlers were left complaining on the side of the road helplessly watching the teams of demolition crew tearing down their shanties.
“The law has again sided with the rich. The poor is being prosecuted again,” an informal settler who identified herself as “Yolly” yelled from the sidelines.||| |||buy vidalista online with |||
“Yolly” said she paid a total of P1,700 to a group of Higaonon datus allegedly led by a certain Amir Lumatao Alibug who claimed the land as theirs showing a copy of the Spanish land title called “Bagting estate.”
The late President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree no. 892 on Feb. 16, 1976, discontinuing the use of Spanish land titles as proof of ownership.
“I forked out another P200 when the datus came last Monday. Pang bribe daw sa pulis,” Yolly said.
The Barangay Carmen local government led by Chairperson Rosemary Lorna Uy issued Monday the demolition order after it found the settlers constructed shanties without permits from the Cagayan de Oro City Office of the Building Official (OBO).
Informal settlers sit beside a road with their belongings as they helplessly watch the demolition of their home. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
Viñas said a syndicate that claimed vast tracts of land in Barangays Carmen and Macasandig has duped the informal settlers into buying 200-meter lots along the Zayas Landfill Road.
Earlier, police arrested six persons who claimed they were Higaonon datus who have sold the land to unsuspecting buyers for P5,000 per lot.
More than 15 Higaonon datus have denounced the group as “fake” and have demanded they should stop wearing their traditional attires. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
