A ‘home’ for Brgy Apas residents

CEBU, Philippines — After 16 years of legal battle, about 4,000 residents in five sitios of Barangay Apas, Cebu City, particularly near the Central Command headquarters, will not have to live in uncertainty anymore.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has signed a compromise agreement that will enable residents to buy the properties and start negotiating their prices with the Cebu provincial government.

The development was revealed yesterday by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, who chaired a hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Housing and Urban and Development yesterday afternoon direct at the Centcom.

The hearing sought to check the status and implementation of Presidential Proclamation 409 issued by then-president and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declaring part of the area at the Central Command under a socialized housing program.

Arroyo, who joined the hearing in Apas yesterday, told reporters that the solicitor-general can tell the court about the compromise reached by the two parties, being the representative from the Department of National Defense.

The lots, totaling 32 hectares, are located within the boundary of AFP-CentCom, spanning seven sitios, including Santo Niño, Mahayahay, Upper Panabang, Plaza, Central Apas, Rotunda, and Calvary Hills.

To recall, the Capitol donated 80 hectares or 47 parcels of land to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in October 1959.

Former governor Pablo Garcia would later cancel the donation after 21 hectares of the donated lands were occupied by some informal settlers. (FREEMAN)