Demolition threat

67 Salmonan households rise up vs demolition order

A GROUP of residents who organized themselves as the Quezon Boulevard Muslim-Christian Neighborhood Association in Salmonan appealed to Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio to heed their call for a stop to a demolition notice they received as the 3,515 square meter plot of land they are occupying is being claimed by someone who identifies himself as a datu.

The residents belonging to 67 households made up of 34 Moro and 33 Christian families claim they have settled

when Salmonan was still a marshland.

"Tungod sa among collective labor sa pagtambak og yuta sa maong lugar, na develop namo ang maong area ug karon nahimong hingpit na nga yuta. Kining maong luna kabilin pa sa among mga ginikanan hangtud sa mga anak ug apo. Nagpuyo kami sa maong dapit nga malinawon ug malipayon kauban ang mga Muslim ug Christian sulod sa 65 ka tuig nga walay hulga sa demolisyon nga nahimong babag sa among pagpuyo (through our collective labor, we filled the marshed with soil and thus deand veloped this area. This land has been handed down to us from our parents down to their children and even grandchildren. We have been living here in peace, both Muslim and Christians, in the past 65 years without threats of a demolition)," the statement printed in a tarpaulin in the area they barricade read.

Now, a certain Datu Bahajin Marcos Mahadali is claiming ownership of the land and has shown a title with TCT #2013002121 allegedly from OCT #40, but the group, further claimed that the title is in "Barrio Tugbok, Lianga, Davao City" and not in Salmonan.

Sun.Star Davao could not find any link to contact the datu.

The final notice of demolition dated March 3, 2018 was presented to the residents just last March 27, 2018 , the residents said in a press release.

Mahadali was said to have claimed that he bought the land in 2011 from the "Garcia family". It was not indicated which Garcia this is.

Residents meanwhile have barricade their area with barbed wire while their young men have prepared to put up a fight should the demolition team arrive.

Sun.Star has sought a statement from the city government, but city information officer Jefry Tupas in a text message said the prepared statement has not yet been approved.

"May statement kami pero waiting lang ng go signal," the message read.

MARK PERANDOS READY. A young man shows off his steel pipe, which he intends to use as a weapon should the demolition team arrive and demolish their houses at Salmonan in Barangay 26-C along Quezon Boulevard as the land is being claimed by a "datu".