Pasay mayor warns ‘rich’ Villamor squatters

Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad recently gave commercial establishments squatting along a prime portion of Villamor Airbase seven days to voluntarily vacate the area to give way to a road widening project crucial to the December soft opening of NAIA Terminal 3.

Around 50 illegally-build commercial establishments on a prime 1,500 square-meter area inside Villamor Air Base are blocking the implementation of a vital road widening project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) critical to the soft opening.

Earlier, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials said the road widening project "has already been seriously delayed due to the presence of powerful groups backing the squatters". This was confirmed by sources from the office of Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad.

Trinidad told the owners of the squatting commercial establishments that they may voluntarily remove the structures. He, however, warned that a multi-agency team would be constrained to forcibly remove the structures soon to give way to the road-widening project.

Trinidad said there would be a major increase in traffic in the area once the soft opening takes place. If the area is not cleared, the area will be a disastrous choke point, Trinidad added.

The Pasay City Mayor’s office also said they have reports that only half of the total number of illegal occupants received permits to build their business establishments.

The agreement, they said, was that the owners will voluntary remove the structures once the government needs the space. Others, however, "merely sprouted overnight in the area without any permit".

Earlier, the DPWH said it would have to proceed with the road-widening project as soon as the area is cleared of the squatting commercial establishments.

Among the squatting establishments blocking the road-widening project are restaurants and commercial shops.

The Office of the Pasay City Mayor said it would look into the complaint that the squatters are delaying the DPWH project.

This is a prime piece of land that belongs to the government and which the DPWH intends to use for the convenience of the general public, Trinidad said. It must, therefore, be freed up so it can be used for the legal purpose for which it has been earmarked.