CEBU CITY – Residents in Barangay Lambug, Badian town, south Cebu have filed a petition asking some government officials to stop the construction of beach houses in their area.
The residents number to about 60 signed the petition that was addressed to Cebu Gov. Gwendoyn Garcia, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Tourism Secretary Cristina Garcia-Frasco and Senators Loren Legarda, Raffy Tulfo and Risa Hontiveros.
In their petition, the residents said that the fencing and the construction of beach houses in a 2.5-hectare area in their barangay has affected their daily lives.
“Before, we could easily swim in the sea together with our guests. We can also easily dock our boats in the area. Now, security guards are shooing us away. The illegal structures are causing us great inconvenience,” read the petition, which was written in Visayan.
The residents alleged that the structures were built illegally.
They said that based on the April 8, 2022 findings of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the structures violated the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape and the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Systems Act.
The residents added that the local government unit also found that the structures were built without fencing and building permits that prompted Mayor Carmencita Lumain to issue a cease and desist order.
Despite the order, the owners of the structures allegedly defied the law by allowing the construction to continue, the residents said.
The owners’ continued defiance of the order stopping the construction put the residents’ livelihood at risk, the petitioners said.
“That is why we are pleading to authorities to intervene and stop the construction,” the residents said.