Section 19
SEC. 19. The Corporation shall exercise the following powers and authority over duly declared slum areas: To prohibit the owner or agent of a parcel of land to use, or to rent to, or permit its use by others, for any building which the Corporation may declare to be unfit for use or habitation because of being unhygienic, unsanitary, dangerous to life or property, or of a type or character prohibited by the sanitary or building regulations of the Corporation or of the city or municipality in which it is situated; To prohibit the owner or agent of a parcel of land to use, to rent to, or permit its use by others for more buildings or dwellings than permitted by ordinance or regulations, and to prohibit the owner or agent of a house abutting on a private alley to use, to rent to, or permit its use for a building, unless (1) the site is provided with adequate surface drainage by means of concrete, tile, metal or masonry canals, gutters, or pipes emptying into a public drain, estero or other suitable body of water so as to prevent the accumulation or stagnation of water on the site or lot and unless (2) each dwelling abuts upon a public interest of alley or on a private alley having the minimum width herein after prescribed, so constructed, and maintained with stone, gravel, cinders, bricks, cement, or other equally suitable materials, that surface water will flow there from and that garbage collectors and others rendering public service may conveniently pass thereon. The minimum width for public and private streets and alleys for the purpose of this Act shall be three meters when the length thereof does not exceed thirty meters or the length thereof between intersecting streets or alleys does not exceed fifty meters. In all other cases the minimum width shall be five meters; To cause any building deemed unfit for use or habitation for the causes stated in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section to be demolished at the cost and expense of the owner, unless the same be brought in conformity with the requirements of the Corporation within a reasonable time, which shall be not less than fifteen days from the date of the order of the Corporation declaring said building to be unfit; To defray the cost of the demolition if the owner of the building fails or refuses to demolish the same or to bring it into such, conformity in due time, or to defray the cost of such demolition from the value of any salvaged materials resulting from the demolition of the building; To pay to the owner of a building demolished by virtue of this section such amount as the Corporation may determine to be just but not exceeding the assessed value of the building, when in the opinion of the Corporation, such payment will be less expensive and will be more apt promptly to accomplish the purposes of this Act than the withholding of such payment, and may stipulate how such payment shall be applied to further the purposes of this Act, including the application to arrears in rental due to the owner of the land when the building is owned by a tenant, when the Corporation is able to supply the dispossessed tenant with other housing suitable to his income and is satisfied that the owner of the land is fully cooperating in the Corporation's program of slum clearance; When the owner or agent of a property or properties has been notified under this section to bring the same in conformity with the requirements of the Corporation and fails or neglects to do so within the time stipulated in the order of the Corporation, the Corporation may, in its discretion, cause the work to be done which it deems necessary to bring the property or properties in conformity with the requirements of the Corporation and the cost thereof plus a surcharge of not to exceed ten per centum for overhead expense, shall be lien against the property affected superior to all other liens except tax liens, and the Corporation may proceed against the owner or against the property or both simultaneously, to recover such cost and surcharge. The power of the Corporation to bring a property in conformity with its requirements includes the power to repair or remodel existing structures when the cost thereof does not exceed fifteen per centum of the assessed or reasonable market value, whichever is the lesser. Should the owner make a showing to the Corporation that his failure or neglect to bring the property in conformity with the requirements of the Corporation is due to his lack of means, the Corporation may, in its discretion, authorize reimbursement of the cost and surcharge incurred by it hereunder over a period of years, with interest not exceeding six per centum per annum; Should any person do or refrain from doing any act or thing in violation of any municipal or city ordinance or order of the Corporation, the Corporation may apply to the Court of First Instance for an order enjoining the person against doing or ordering him to do the act or thing complained of, and if upon due hearing order, and in such case the sheriff or any officer to be justified, it shall issue and enforce the corresponding order, and in such case the sheriff or any officer of the Corporation appointed by the Court in lieu of the sheriff shall enforce such order of the Court. In such cases the applicable provisions of the Rules of Court shall be availed of; and Should the order of the Corporation involve the filling of the lowlands in the city or any populous town of Cebu, the owner of the land or the Corporation may avail themselves of the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and fifty-two, as amended, known as the Lowland Improvement Act, and upon petition of the Corporation, or at the request of the owner made within fifteen days after receipt of an order of the Corporation requiring the filling of his land, the Mayor concerned shall, if there be sufficient money available for expenditure in the fund created by said Act, condemn the land complained of and require that it be filled pursuant to said Act.