BAGUIO CITY December 21 – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan disclosed the city is inclined to pursue the demolition of the 58 illegal structures within the Bontoc-Ifugao-Benguet-Apayao-Kalinga (BIBAK) property along Harrison Road and the 344 illegal structures within the 92 hectares Baguio Dairy Farm property in Dontogan by January next year which are long overdue. This is to send a clear message to the squatters that the city means business in their eviction from properties that they do not own.
The local chief executive claimed there is no more legal impediment in the enforcement of the demolition order against the squatters within the BIBAK property while the decision of the Municipal Trial Court (MTC) regarding the demolition of the illegal squatters within the premises of the Baguio Dairy Farm was not appealed, thus, it had become final and executory.
“We have to pursue the demolition of the illegal settlers that built their structures on government property illegally. We will not tolerate such act by enterprising individuals because we want to protect our reservations from the evils of man,” Domogan stressed.
He said concerned government agencies like the environment department and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Regional Development Council in the Cordillera have pooled their available resources and manpower for the realization of said demolition.
The Baguio Dairy Farm is currently under the jurisdiction of the agriculture department which is now also doing its best to work out the removal of all the illegal structures that were erected on the said property depriving government optimum utilization of this.
Domogan claimed the local government is ready to spearhead the demolition of the illegal structures illegally built in the two major government properties, saying that January will be a busy month for the city in terms of evicting the informal settlers.
Earlier, the 5,000-square meter lot that formed part of the land covered by Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 1 under the Republic of the Philippines but given to the BIBAK to be used as an area where dormitories of students coming from the different parts of the Cordillera would reside while studying in the city.
He underscored the fact that those claiming to be members of the urban poor and living in the place where the BIBAK property is situated are not actually such and are actually moneyed individuals wanting to own properties around the city for their own personal aggrandizement, thus, the need to teach them a lesson not to squat on areas that are either government or private properties.
He pointed out that the absence of any lawful order from the court or any other governing agency stopping the local government from the implementation of the demolition order will confirm the original schedule of the demolition activities.** By Dexter See
