TABUK CITY, Kalinga – City officials and zoning offices warned that the relocation of some eighty residents affected by the government’s road clearing operations will create more problems for the city government instead of helping solve the problem on encroachment on the road-right-of-way and easement of waterways or riverbanks.
City Administrator Arnold Tenedero stated that the area in barangay Appas where some 80 residents, who were displaced by the government’s road clearing operations in the past, were relocated purportedly courtesy of suspended Vice mayor Bernard Glen Dao-as is within the easement of waterways or along a riverbank which is a gross violation of the ongoing road clearing program.
He pointed out that the claim that the vice mayor owns the property is untrue because the same is not titled in his name aside from the fact that it cannot be issued the title primarily because it is within the easement of waterways or riverbank which is supposed to be free from obstructions such s the houses that were built on it.
The city administrator claimed the city government, in coordination with concerned government agencies, is inclined to aggressively implement the government’s road clearing operations as this is being closely monitored by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the failure to comply with the same will cause the filing of administrative charges against the city government.
For his part, Mayor Darwin C. Estran֮ero underscored that the said relocates were allegedly given false promises by the vice mayor who used the matter to advance his personal and political interest during the recently concluded May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
However, the vice mayor lost to the incumbent mayor in the race for the city’s mayoralty post during the recently concluded election.
Mayor Estran֮ero asserted it is unfortunate that the issue on road clearing has been used against him by his critics during the political exercise purposely to discredit him among the city’s voters but he is grateful that many of the residents are still well informed of the real issues and of the state of development the city achieved during his first term as the local chief executive.
Under existing laws, rules and regulations, obstructions along road-right-of-way of roads and the prescribed easement ֮of waterways are prohibited which underpins the aggressive implementation of the road clearing operations of local governments.
Estran֮ero called on residents to ensure that their structures do not encroach on the road-right-of-way of roads and easement of waterways or riverbanks to prevent these from being affected by the ongoing implementation of the road clearing operations being undertaken by the concerned government agencies and the local governments to allow people to have wider spaces to use for their mobility and other requirements.