THE business sector on the island of Mactan expressed fears that the popular resort destination—particularly Lapu-Lapu City—is slowly turning into a “squatter city.”

Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Ephraim Pelaez Jr. said the city’s administration has neglected to regulate the influx of squatters, which are now threatening to crowd, and even contaminate the beaches, of Mactan.

“Lapu-Lapu City has become a squatter colony—there are squatters just beside the beach resorts and these people have sewage systems. How can we promote the city as an island paradise in the Pacific?” Pelaez said.

He said there are at least 100,000 squatters in the city, mostly living on foreshore lands and near the resorts.

Pelaez criticized the 2020 master plan of Mayor Arturo Radaza, which presented before an elaborate “investors’ night” last week at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa.

“They have been there for seven years and they only thought of these projects now? How do we expect them to finish these projects?” he said.

Part of the city’s plan was to build a tourist boulevard spanning the island’s beach strip from barangays Punta Engaño to Maribago, a centralized sewage system and an ambitious 480-hectare reclamation project off the northern tip of Mactan.

The chamber, which has been recognized by Ombudsman as its antigraft watch unit in Lapu-Lapu City, is spearheading the filing of graft charges against the mayor and city officials.

They are pushing for the resolution of the cases implicating the mayor in the Aseandecorative lamppost scam, the alleged overpriced purchase of personal computer sets for public schools in the city and, recently, the alleged P4-million-a- month payroll for ghost employees.

City Hall fired back at the chamber’s vocal members, including Pelaez, Richard King of the Crown Regency group   and water treatment-player Antonio Tompar for being tax evaders.

The city also tried to close down Pelaez’s  Marina Mall, until the Philippine Export Zone Authority stepped in and insisted jurisdiction over the mall. The chamber has some 50 members.

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