BAGUIO CITY September 23 – The City Government wants the numerous “landowners” within the 139-hectare city-owned property in barangay Sto. Tomas School Area to submit their respective proposals on how the local government will deal with their occupied areas that will be reportedly affected in the preparation of the master development plan for the said area that was already declared and identified for city needs.
During a dialogue with more or less 80 “landowners” in the area Thursday, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan agreed to the appeal of the affected land owners to give them at least one month for them to discuss among themselves the contents of their proposals that will be submitted to his office by October 24, 2016.
“From the start, the City government does not intend to cheat the “landowners” because the local government respects the vested rights of the people in the area, provided that they are able to show conclusive proofs of ownership. If the land owners only possess tax declarations which are not considered conclusive proofs of ownership, then we are not closing the doors on them because we want them to submit proposals for consideration before the finalization of the master development plan of the city-owned property,” Domogan stressed.
The local chief executive informed them that portions of the city-owned property will be identified for socialized housing projects of the city, parts of it will serve as the alternate site for the city’s integrated solid waste disposal facility, while other available areas will serve as the expansion area of the Baguio public cemetery. among others.
Some of the “landowners” admitted most of them only possess tax declarations for the lots that they currently occupy and that they were not able to process the titling of these because of the difficulty of raising the required money for the purpose while others claimed they have pending ancestral land title applications with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
However, Domogan explained that for those with land titles, it is the obligation of the local government to recognize such. For those with tax declarations only, it is best for them to submit their respective proposals for the city to study and eventually come out with the appropriate solutions in the future.
Those with pending ancestral title applications with the NCIP, he claimed the city will also recognize the said claims once approved by the regulating agency and it will be segregated from the city-owned property.
The “landowners” agreed to hold an assembly in their barangay hall anytime to discuss their respective proposals.
Domogan added the city and nearby Tuba, in partnership with various environmentalists, will also reforest the boundaries of the city-owned property in order to sustain the greenery of the area, thus, local residents should not prohibit those conducting tree planting activities in the identified portions of the property.**By Dexter A. See