LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government is ready to demolish the gate that was illegally erected by the administration of the Pines City Doctors Hospital and its developer within its property following their failure to justify its construction and reply to the earlier show cause order issued to them.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda disclosed that the owner of the property and the developer failed to submit an explanation to the show cause order for them to explain why they erected a gate without a permit from the local government.
He added that the next move of the municipal government is to submit the said matter to the anti-squatting committee to decide on the issuance of the authority for him to issue the demolition order for the dismantling of the gate to allow residents of Cogcoga to freely pass through the said area.
Earlier, the municipal chief executive admitted that the municipal government issued a fencing permit to the developer for the put up of a fence between the property of the hospital and another private property in the area.
However, the developer allegedly demolished the hollow block fence that it erected that restricted the movement of Cogcoga residents to and from their houses and started putting in place the said gate which was again questioned by concerned citizens.
According to him, the failure of the hospital administration and the developer to respond to the show cause order is considered a clear defiance of lawful orders from the municipal government thus the concerned offices will be undertaking the necessary processes to pave the way for the issuance of a demolition order for the immediate dismantling of the illegally erected gate.
He appealed to the developer to cooperate with the municipal government in addressing the concerns of the Cogcoga residents and for it to respect the authority of the municipal officials and personnel to look into the matter aside from adhering to the enforcement of laws, rules and regulations governing the put up of fences within private properties so as not to jeopardize the greater interest of the majority.
Salda claimed that the municipal government is strictly adhering to the prescribed processes in ensuring the removal of the illegally erected gate which have inconvenienced the affected residents but he asked for more patience in awaiting the decision of the concerned offices so that whatever actions that will be undertaken will not be questioned that could further prolong the problem in the area.
The developer is also facing a separate environment case filed by the municipal government in relation to a series of landslides within its project site above the Halsema Highway that flowed to the main road and caused a standstill in traffic for several hours until the road was cleared.
The municipal government filed a petition for the issuance of a Temporary Environment Protection Order (TEPO) against the developer to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future that might cause more problems for people.
