‘SQUATTERS MUST GO’ | Demolition to pave way for new, bigger Freedom Grandstand

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Demolition to pave way for new, bigger Freedom Grandstand’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – A city hall task force will clear a property on Muelle Loney-Aduana streets to give way to a new and bigger Freedom Grandstand.

Around 38 houses of more than 100 informal settlers will be removed.

The city government acquired the estimated 2,600-square meter lot from Panay Railways, Inc. last year, said Engr. Robert Dumanil, executive director of the Task Force on Anti-Squatting and Illegal Structures (TF ASIS).
Dumanil and task force personnel met with the affected residents at city hall on July 13.

“Gin-warning-an na sila namon nga amat-amaton sila namon kwa within 60 days,” or between that day and Sept. 13, Dumanil said.

The displaced informal settlers may transfer to the city government’s relocation site in Barangay Lanit, Jaro district.
Dumanil said the demolition was supposed to start next month yet but 10 locals already agreed to move to Lanit and for TF ASIS to take their structures down.

“Iban sa ila dugay na [diri nagatiner], 1960s ara na sila, [while ang] iban bag-o lang,” said the task force head.
Small variety stores and eateries, as well as the regional and city offices of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will be demolished, too.
Food kiosk owners who are not qualified for slots at the relocation site will be provided with new kiosks, Dumanil said.
A city government-donated lot in Molo district will host the BFP’s regional and city offices.
TF ASIS and the Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office already informed the affected locals about the impending demolition as early as January, Dumanil said.

The construction of the new Freedom Grandstand is expected to start this year.
The facility will have a 4,000-seat capacity — double the size of the existing Grandstand on J.M. Basa Street. It will have spaces for offices and vendors, too.

The existing Grandstand will be demolished to pave the way for the restoration of the Sunburst Park.
Last year the Sangguniang Panlungsod approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to sign on behalf of the city government a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the Sunburst Park revival project, with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and the Bureau of Customs.

Under the MOU, the city government shall “maintain, operate, manage, and administer” the Sunburst Park. The Customs owns the park property.
Sunburst was named in honor of the American 40th Infantry Division of the same nickname that liberated Iloilo City from the Japanese during World War II./PN
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