City task force to go after vehicles parked along old railway areas

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The Iloilo City government’s group tasked to clear roads will now also go after cars and ambulant vendors illegally situated along the railway area in La Paz district and other barangays, to keep roads clear of obstructions in the wake of a fire in Molo district last January 2023.

Task Force Anti-Squatting and Illegal Structure Unit (ASISU) head Lovejoy Hosenilla confirmed to Aksyon Radyo Iloilo on Friday that they were able to visit several barangays in the district including in San Nicolas, Burgos-Mabini, and Magdalo, among others, based on requests by residents.

San Nicolas, one of the barangays once traversed by the old Panay Railways locomotors, has narrow streets that might be barely passable for bigger vehicles, something that Hosenilla notes may be a problem for fire trucks should conflagrations occur.

He said that for the cars, the owners would either be reprimanded by the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) personnel on the spot. If the owner is not present, the enforcers can leave citation tickets on cars’ windshields.

“There were a lot of kiosks and illegally parked [cars], which hampers [the flow] of people and other vehicles,” Hosenilla shared.

“[San Nicolas] has narrow roads, and if [cars] park there, fire trucks would need to have wide space to enter. It would be better if it was only private [smaller] cars there (passing through),” he added.

Hosenilla said that since they are mandated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on road clearing, they would also make themselves available should the public raise concerns on road obstructions with them.

“We are mandated by the DILG, so we go to the barangays whenever there is a request. There would be [cars] remaining [on the roads], so [we go there,] at least they would know that we are doing our job. We also coordinate with barangay officials and we ask for certification that we go there,” he stated.

But ultimately, he said that barangay officials and residents themselves must take responsibility on road obstructions especially in smaller barangays, citing the distinct landscape of barangays in the city.

He cited the example of Barangay Railway, which has a gym over their road, which they also cleared and inspected with coordination from barangay officials.

“Barangays have different designs. We cannot just tell them to do this and that, because there are different situations in each barangay, so the barangay officials are the number one who need to know what to do,” he remarked.

“The people there cannot say that they need to do a specific thing [for another affected house] in case they will be on fire. They cannot say that they have to tend to another house, they need to tend to their own first. They can tell on their neighbors about illegal parking, but when it comes to a fire, they can no longer perform,” he added.

A fire ravaged two barangays in the early morning of January 28 in barangays West Habog-habog and San Juan in Molo, and Iloilo City officials pointed to narrow roads in the former as a factor in the aggravating the fire, which led to 284 homes affected.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas previously announced plans to develop mid-rise housing in that exact area for those affected by the fire, ensuring clearer, wider pathways to ensure entry of vehicles providing essential and emergency services.