The Miracles of Elections: Baguio House Spared

In elections when every vote counts, anything can happen. And it looks like Baguio City’s urban poor dwellers are seeing a respite in the demolition of their communities as the city mayor, who had haunted them as some kind of a “demolition king,” has surprised all by declaring a freeze on his eviction orders.

BY NORTHERN DISPATCH
Reposted by Bulatlat.com

BAGUIO CITY (Nordis) - It’s the coming elections, not the incumbent mayor here, that received kudos in one of this city’s urban poor communities late February. Residents of San Carlos Heights,  Irisan cheered when Mayor Bernardo Vergara ordered the City Demolition Team to call off the scheduled demolition of a house in the community.

“Imbag laengen ta asidegen ti eleksiyon, no saan ket naburbor ti balay” (Thanks to the coming elections, or else, the house would have been demolished), said one of the residents in Ilokano. The house owned by Martha Aragon was spared from demolition when Vergara ordered a motatorium on the demolition order he allegedly signed earlier.

Aragon, together with officers of Lobinders, a neighborhood association in San Carlos Heights went to the office of Vergara to negotiate for the lifting of the demolition order.

As the negotiations were ongoing, other San Carlos residents together with members of the Organisasyon dagiti Nakurapay nga Umili ti Syudad-Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap-Anakpawis (Ornus-Kadamay-Anakpawis) barricaded the road leading to the house.

Everyone was relieved when a text message from the city mayor was received announcing the cancellation of the demolition order. Elated residents then dispersed thinking that the threat was over.

But momentary joy turned to shock when the residents saw the city demolition crew coming. They approached their leader, Engr. Nazita Bañez, and told her that the mayor had canceled the demolition order.

“Awan ti pakibiang ni mayor ditoy,” Bañez blurted out ignoring the residents’ pleas. “Ituloy mi ti demolisyon” (The mayor has nothing to do with this, we will push through with the demolition).

Amid the commotion, Mrs. Aragon asked lawyer Rocky Balisong to contact Vergara immediately and tell him that Bañez refused to honor his hold order.

According to Balisong, Vergara phoned Bañez to tell her that as long as he is the mayor of Baguio she should comply with his orders. The mayor also told Bañez to wait to get elected as mayor before she could do what she wanted.

As head of the demolition team, Bañez gained the ire of Baguio’s urban poor communities. She had figured in a stabbing incident when a lone assailant injured her buttocks during a demolition. She was just just following the mayor’s demolition orders, she was quoted as saying.

Baguio’s urban poor residents are however that demolition orders on Baguio’s urban poor colonies had been coming all the way from Vergara. “Idi nag-meyor ni Vergara ket aktibo ti demolisyon” (When Vergara became mayor, demolition was reactivated), residents here observe. Aldwin Quitasol for Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat.com

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