November 12, 2021
Greetings:
This is to share with you the true knowledge and information on how Benguet Province and the Municipality of La Trinidad obtained its respective lands that used to be portions of the land reservation of Mountain State Agricultural College located at La Trinidad, Benguet Province.
Sometime in the year 1980 the actual occupants of an area of about 5-7 hectares of a level portion immediately at the base of the mountain lead by the former Barangay Captain Madonna Carantes petitioned His Excellency President Perdinand E. Marcos to cause the issuance of a land title to every petitioner-actual occupant based on their actual possession/cultivation thru the minister of Agrarian Reform, Conrado F. Estrella, and also to cause the investigation of the land scandal committted by the personnel of the mentioned college within the land reservation of the same Mountain State Agricultural College. Copies of the petition were furnished the office of the Provincial Governor of Benguet Province, the Municipal Mayor of La Trinidad, Benguet, the District Officer of the Ministry of Agrarian Reform covering the province of La Union, Baguio-Benguet Province and Mountain Province, the District land Office, Baguio City. On the date of the petition, the Municipality of La Trinidad had no land to construct the needed amenities to serve its constituents and also the Province of Benguet had no land of its own except the lot where the old building of the sub-province of Benguet was constructed at Km. 6, La Trinidad and entrance to it was thru a road alley along the Rural Health Unit of La Trinidad near the La Trinidad Central School. Pending the action of the offices that were copy furnished, it came to pass that.
The Municipality of La Trinidad conducted a municipal fiesta that lasted for more than two (2) days and each day had scheduled programs or events. On a scheduled day the Municipal Council thru the Municipal Mayor invited the lady Municipal Mayor of Paracellis, Mountain Province, then the President of the Mayors League at that time, Mayor Anastacia Rafael-Sagel to be the Inspirational Speaker on the last day of the fiesta celebration. Indeed, said Mayor came and delivered her Inspirational Talk before a thick crowd as audience at the New “Lidnique Hall”. After her talk and chat with leaders of Benguet who attended the program, she was treated the due respect as expression of the True and Genuine Cultural Traits of the People of Benguet and before she bade goodbye to her audience, she requested a copy from the head of the petitioners as she was also interested to share her political capacity to indorse favorably to the President at Malacañang thru the Minister of Agrarian Reform, Conrado F. Estrella. As it came to pass, when Minister Conrado F. Estrella on a Saturday in his residence at Carmen, Pangasinan, said, “I have received the endorsement from the Municipal Mayor of La Trinidad, the endorsement of the District Officer of the Ministry of Agrarian Reform covering the Province of la Union, Baguio-Benguet province and Mt. Province, the endorsement of the Mestiza Mayor of Paracellis, Mt.Province, referring to Mayor Anastacia Rafael-Sagel, I still have to wait for the endorsement of the Governor of Benguet before I will bring the Petition to Malacañáng for appropriate action. Know the cause of the delay, there might be a good reason”.
On the other hand Governor Ben Palispis said, “kindly tell the Honorable Minister of the Ministry of Agrarian Reform that I will give my favorable endorsement to the petition after the Deed of Land Swapping will be executed between the Province of Benguet and the President of Mountain State Agricultural College,” truly as it came to pass.
The deed of Land Swapping was executed sometime on the year 1982, and after the land swapping the Governor of Benguet Province gave his favorable endorsement to the petition, and thus in 1982 a Letter of Instruction (LOI) was signed by President Ferdinand E. Marcos, by way of instruction that the land occupied by Madonna Carantes, et.al, at Balili, La Trinidad, Benguet be issued land titles.
And as to the fruit of the Land Swapping the Province of Benguet got the land located at Wangal, La Trinidad, where the Sports Complex and where the Government Center, all stand, the area of the Housing Project of Benguet Province employees, plus the area where the Benguet General Hospital stands today.
As far as the Municipality of La Trinidad, she got the area of the Public Market now, the area of the La Trinidad Trading Post, at Km.5, La Trinidad, and the area where the Municipal Hall stands including the area of the other amenities like the Police Station, etc.
To recapitulate this shared knowledge and information, the day when Honorable Mayor Anastacia Rafael-Sagel was invited as an inspirational speaker during the fiesta celebration at La Trinidad Benguet in the year 1980, leaders of Benguet at that time who ättended the program after the inspirational talk, shook hands with her, appreciated her sacrifice to join them showing the good cultural traits of Benguet, but then the cultural traits that was shown before was reversed when the local legislators in the province of Benguet declared the niece of the late Mayor Anastacia Rafael-Sagel in the person of Atty. Anna Marie Rafael-Banaag a persona non grata when she went to work at the BENECO office at Baguio City on a mere reason that she violated a cultural trait of the people of Benguet.
In support of Atty. Anna Marie Rafael- Banaag many observers agree that you did not violate any of the time honored good cultural trait of the people of Benguet, and only after due process and order by the competent authority can you refrain from discharging the functions of your office. Much so that the declaration against your person is not germane to the law that created NEA and in the offshoot created BENECO. Further BENECO is not funded by the Province of Benguet, thus equating BENCEO as an entity separate from another entity which is the province of Benguet, there appears an over crossing of territorial limits to the local legislators’ having declared your person, a persona non grata.
To the silent observers, active partisans due to the political exercise, let us not further create division in our ranks. Let us allow the wheels of democratic processes to move to clear the clouds caused by the freedom to legislate that declared two persons at the BENECO as persona non grata.
Unless the law creating the NEA is amended, no matter how many more people at the BENECO be declared as persona non grata we remain victims within the system.
It is best for us voters/BENECO consumers to choose local legislators who have the legislative caliber to push a provincial ordinance that will cause the BENECO to have Autonomous Status from the NEA if we really dream to have a better BENECO, not just for a political gain.
Truly Yours,
Atty. Narciso A. Somyden
Tax Payer/Beneco Consumer
Km. 5, La Trinidad, Benguet
