Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella yesterday said there will be no demolition of structures of informal settlers in danger zones in Bacolod City this Christmas but the New Year will not start very well for them.

Puentevella said he is trying to be considerate of their position now but the demolition of their houses will be implemented starting January.

During a housing board meeting yesterday, it was approved that all houses in creeks and rivers or danger zones will be demolished, he said.

These areas include the creek behind the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, the old Bascon Hotel in Gatuslao Street, Lupit Bridge near the old Bacolod Airport, and Taculing River, he added.

Puentevella said there are professional squatters, who were already awarded lots at the city’s relocation sites, and yet have constructed illegal structures in other barangays.

He has directed the Bacolod Housing Authority to tag these informal settlers, and they were initially able to identify about 50 houses, he added.

Meanwhile, Puentevella said everything is back to normal and classes resumed yesterday.

He said he thanks God for sparing Bacolod again from the typhoon. He also thanked the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office led by Rufino Alcala for a job well done and the Department of Social Services and Development led by Pacita Tero.

He acknowledged the school principals and teachers for manning the evacuation centers and thanked all the volunteers especially those from the private sector for their help, as well as Transcom for conducting a medical mission.

Puentevella said there were almost 2,000 people evacuated during the weekend.

However, they did not rely on PAGASA, which he said is ill-equipped to monitor major typhoons. He hopes the government could supply PAGASA with more sophisticated and modern equipment, he said.

He added that he expects a typhoon of good blessings coming in 2015 in terms of tourism and economic progress.*CGS

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