No homes to be demolished without consent of owners: Gandamra

By MASIDING NOOR YAHYA 

October 21, 2019 

Marawi City mayor Majul U. Gandamra. (File)

MARAWI CITY: Mayor Majul U. Gandamra assured the residents of Ground Zero or the Most Affected Area (MAA) of the 2017 Marawi Siege that no structure within the MAA will be demolished without the consent of the owners. 

In a Facebook post by the City Government of Marawi on October 16, 2019, Gandamra clarified that the demolition permit he issued to demolish Sector 6, 8 and 9 of MAA has no blanket authority which means it cannot be used to demolish damaged structures without the consent of the owners. 

In fact, he said, Sections 6, 8 and 9 are areas where most government buildings are located like the public market and others. “All those demolished are government property,” he added. 

The city mayor said he signed the demolition permit based on the assessment of experts from the building officials who confirmed that all damaged structures are indeed destroyed which cannot be repaired. 

He said pursuant to the agreement of the NHA, EDDMARI, civil societies, homeowners, and officials of the local government, if ever a structure owned by a private person is to be demolished, the owner must be present. 

“If he is not present, the presence of the barangay chairman is needed at the time of the demolition so that if ever he has any wishes on how his property is demolished, it should be done,” added Gandamra. 

“If there are structures demolished which are owned by private individuals who did not give their consent, these are done at the discretion of the agency tasked for debris clearing and its private contractor,” said the mayor. 

(RSP)