Parts of Dagupan rivers being sold
TDC RACKET UNCOVERED
PLANNING on owning part of a river in Dagupan? Perish the thought because the city government has already discovered the racket.
The city government recently discovered that supposed properties located in the middle of rivers, which are under the law part of the public domain, are being sold by private persons holding Tax Declaration Certificates (TDCs) for these spots.
For this, City Assessor Alan Dale Zarate was called on the carpet by an angry Mayor Belen Fernandez over the indiscriminated issuance of TDCs during the Lim administration.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH Thursday, Fernandez said she has received reports that parts of rivers in Sitio Talaib, Barangay Calmay and in Barangay Salapingao have been put up for sale using TDCs issued by Zarate.
One of the alleged sellers is one Robert Gonzales who is peddling a 36,000 -square meter property in Calmay River which he claims to own based on a TDC.
Another was identified only by a family name, Carcha, who is the holder of another TDC covering a watery area in Barangay Salapingao.
STOP THE ISSUANCE
Fernandez has ordered City Legal Officer George Mejia and Assistant Assessor Roland Soni to take “decisive actions” to stop the issuance of TDCs relating to rivers as she gave Zarate direct orders to stop issuing TDCs on his own.
Fernandez became more incensed when Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Raymundo Gayo reported that Zarate issued the TDCs to these persons even if their documents stated that the land being claimed by them is under water.
“If this continues, we may wake up one day to find out that all of our rivers shall have accrued to private persons who are well off,” she continued.
When asked, the mayor did not reveal what actions she would take against Zarate.
CALMAY RIVER
The mayor learned that it was Gonzales who sold some 10,000 square meters of part of the Calmay River to then Pantal barangay chairman Lilia Yasar.
It was on this part of the Calmay River where Yasar built her controversial fish pen, for which she applied an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) as a community fishery project.
However, the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) instead issued a cease and desist order as Yasar failed to secure a certification from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) that the supposed fishery project is not part of a river.
The CENRO recently reiterated to the city government a land mark decision of the Supreme Court that ruled that rivers are parts of public domain and therefore beyond the commerce of man.
Gayo also said that if a residential or agricultural land had became part of a river or waterway over the years, the area becomes part of the public domain.
Fernandez vowed to stop the illegal partitions of rivers which she suspects has been going on for years now.
Gayo said he had advised the Assessors Office to inspect claimed properties before issuing TDCs to ensure that public territories do not accrue to private persons.
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