CBAO ordered: Probe illegal Baguio structures

By Dexter A. See 

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ordered officials and personnel of the City Buildings and Architecture Office to hasten investigation of illegal structures erected on danger zones, forest reservations and other public lands to ease waterways and road-right-of-way in the city.

“We know that it is difficult to clear our waterways and road-right-of-way from established obstructions but we have to be consistent on the matter before nature will take its toll against us,” Domogan said.

He said there are national and local laws that provide required easement of waterways and road-right-of-way which must be freed from obstructions, particularly illegal structures that constrict the free flow of water in creeks, streams and river systems and the mobility of motor vehicles and pedestrians on the established road-right-of-way.

 According to him, the migration of people to the urban centers of the region has greatly contributed to the proliferation of illegal structures that are constricting numerous waterways and road-right-of-way in the city contributing in the worsening effects of natural calamities.

He said preservation and protection of the city’s environment has been the primordial program of the local government because it is the state of the environment that greatly contributes in maintaining the cool weather condition prevailing in the city which is being frequented by thousands of foreign and domestic tourists.

Domogan said government agencies and the local government must continue working together in implementing programs and projects geared towards improving the city’s state of environment aside from helping free waterways and road-right-of-way from obstructions in such problem areas in the city.

hasten issuance of building and occupancy permits for legitimate structures to allow building owners to pay their taxes to the local government.

Because of the need for a home in the city where they work, he said people resort to constructing their shelters in restricted areas, specifically the existing easements of waterways and road-right-of-way, that often create more problems for the local government.

He urged residents not to constrict easements of waterways and road-right-of-way as these will surely result to them wasting their money when these are demolished.