Squatters may occupy all vacant lands
To prepare for an inter-university extemporaneous speech joust half a century ago, I toyed with few probable opening statements. My coach then, Atty. Pat Acabodillo, a national champion in that field, and I designed one-liners to relate to various schemes. I had to decide quickly the essence of the topic my coach would say and blurt out the relevant prepared opening statement, then develop the topic. One such opener went: "It is in learning from the lessons of the past that we shall be able to prepare a better tomorrow." I was supposed to use it if the topic was socio-political.
I remembered this lesson when I saw on television Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña angrily interfere with the work of sheriff El Cid Caballes. (By the way, since I have taken leave from active trial work for many years, I have not met Caballes professionally). That Osmeña could, in his unhealthy physical condition, approach Caballes a little bit quicker than his usual only revealed his failure to grasp the problem. Osmeña forgot the problem was not Caballes or the court order. So, no matter how contemptuous his action was, it failed to address the issue. What was it Osmeña failed to comprehend?
Osmeña, mostly in the last 30 years, has failed to grapple with ballooning problems associated with squatters. That is the problem. I realize (and Cebuanos should probably admit) that Osmeña, known for his vindictiveness and arrogant behavior has shallow understanding of squatting. In this particular regard, he is unfit to be our mayor.
Let him learn from Dean Jeremias Montemayor. For his work, "Ours to share" which he wrote more than 50 years past, Montemayor studied and experiences the situation in Metro Manila, the city that served as the focal point of squatting. He said people from the provinces are lured by the prospect of working in the air-conditioned environment of malls and private offices. To them, this is heaven compared to farming under the sun. But they do not have land in the city so they can only squat on vacant areas.
Has Osmeña ever made policies in this regard? None. He only entertained us with the South Reclamation Project mirage. Is it not that despite the huge taxes we paid, none of the city's squatters have been relocated there? Is there any poor Cebuano family allowed to legally occupy a small patch of the reclaimed land? Absolutely zero. Recently, Osmeña talked about the supposed unpaid taxes of Rico's Lechon not knowing that the salaries paid by that establishment help their workers find ways not to become squatters.
Worse, under the guise of protecting a lot reportedly owned by the provincial government over which Osmeña has no authority, he has given his misplaced permission to people to seize, squat, and occupy property not their own. Had Osmeña learned to properly address this problem, he would not have protected squatters. So, it is inevitable that for as long as a mayor, who continues to ignore the past teachings of how to solve squatting, remains in office, we are bound to face a more resolute band of people poised to intrude all vacant spots in our city. Help us, Lord!
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