Residents: Let us build homes...

After their houses were demolished, they want to put up temporary shelters in the same area

SEVERAL residents inside the CitiCenter Commercial Complex in Barangay Kamagayan want to stay in Lot. No. 8524-B-3, albeit, temporarily.

Assisted by their lawyer Benjamin Militar, about 40 residents filed their memorandum on the civil case for certioari, prohibition and mandamus, asking Judge Soliver Peras to allow them to construct temporary structures inside the premises.

“The right of possession may not be permanent, but until the construction plans of the City Government have met the requirements of law, such possession is real and cannot be negated by brute force,” read the residents' memorandum.

But City Hall lawyers Jerone Castillo and Mary Rose Salvatierra, in their position paper, argued that the case ought to be dismissed since the judge lacks juris- diction over the case, pursuant to Sec. 1, Rule 65 of the Rules of Court.

The case stemmed from the civil suit filed by about 40 residents, who accused Mayor Michael Rama and seven other public officials of allegedly demolishing the houses of more than 100 families inside the CitiCenter Complex.

They are asking for issuance of a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in a bid to stop the city officials from further destroying the houses.

Apart from Rama, also named respondents are Raquel Arce, Prevention, Restoration Order Beautification and Enhancement (Probe) chief; Kamagayan Barangay Captain Raquel Avila and Councilmen Rene Boy Avila, Mansueto Avila, Jerome Avila, Rico Ramirez, and Norberto Diaz.

The suit developed after the City Government demolished more than 100 structures inside the CitiCenter Complex last month.

The site will be used for the planned medium-rise socialized condominium for City Hall employees.

The petitioners said the demolition violated City Ordinance (CO) 2351, which imposes moratorium on the demolition.

That moratorium is still in effect until the City Council lifts it, the residents said.

The residents asked the court to rule as illegal the acts of the respondents in demolishing their houses.

They also asked the court to allow them to stay inside the property and to order the respondents to pay the residents P200,000 as actual damages; P50, 000 as moral damages, and P50, 000 as lawyer's fees.

The case is pending before Regional Trial Court Branch 10 Judge Soliver Peras.

In the memorandum, lawyer Militar said that the respondents admitted that Mayor Rama ordered the demolition.

“His (Rama) justification for the demolition is quite convoluted,” said Militar in the memorandum.

He said that the mayor “deliberately” ignored the Constitution, the law protecting the urban poor, and CO 2351, which imposes a moratorium on demolition.

“In disregarding the mandate of the moratorium, the mayor has become a law unto himself; and made his own interpretation not only of the law, but the Constitution as well,” the memorandum read.

The petitioners asked Peras to issue a temporary restraining order to allow them to build their houses in the property until the case is resolved.