"Acting Mayor Paolo Duterte has pointed out one of the problems Davao City has that has been making traffic congestion a growing problem. There are some roads, he said, that have become unused and unusable because a number of people have put up permanent structures on them, including homes and businesses. These settlers, he said, have taken over public roads that could otherwise have been used for what they were built for: access of vehicles. Instead, the roads - built with taxpayers' money - have become settlements and even parking lots, benefitting only a few. And in the case of these roads, many of those who have settler are not the stereotypical urban poor who are forced to squat out of poverty but those who have the means to put up real houses. Some are rich enough to rent out the structures they build.
The obvious response should be demolish these structures for being patently illegal. They are built on public land that everyone should enjoy but are beeing kept from the people by a few who are not even in dire need. This, in fact, ist what the acting mayor said he would do, and in this, we agree. Traffic congestion is indeed a growing problem in Davao City, and any relief, no matter how small is welcome. Paolo spoke of at least two areas in downtown Davao, but we are sure there are many other roads that need to be cleared of illegal settlers.
The problem, of course, is that the settlers will not want to move and will fight for their supposed right to stay in these areas. This is where the political will of the city government will be tested. Unlike urban poor informal settlers who often have no choice on where they live and must, by law, be afforded every form of assistance so they can move to their own land, the settlers in question here can well afford to live elsewhere. The government must reclaim these "dead" roads and keep private individuals from keeping public lands to themselves."
