Dumaguete City officials physically removed signages and barriers erected by St. Louis School (SLS)-Don Bosco after the private Catholic school allegedly blocked access to a road leading to two public elementary schools. 

The impasse is said to have caused delays in the transfer of DepEd staff in City Central Elementary School and Calindagan Elementary School to the new location, formerly the Catherina Cittadini Campus. 

The city government claims the disputed area is a public road registered with the land registry, while SLS-Don Bosco maintains it is not. 

In a letter sent to SLS-Don Bosco dated June 14, Remollo requested the school to remove the barriers and allow access within 24 hours. He asserted the city government’s right of way over the access road leading to the former Catherina Cittadini Campus. 

The mayor stated the city government acquired the lots and improvements of the Cittadini campus, and that the access road is part of a deed of donation executed in 1995 by the Salesian community in favor of the Ursuline Sisters who ran the Cittadini campus at the time. 

The City Legal Office also weighed in, stating that “the property in question is a road lot annotated in the land title and donated by Don Bosco, thus this cannot be alienated.”

The city government acquired the Catherina Cittadini Campus in May for P175 million to house the two public schools. The move aimed to improve facilities for hundreds of students and teachers.

With the clock ticking down to the July 29 start date for the new school year, both the city government and DepEd officials are hopeful for a swift resolution to the right-of-way dispute.