A TASK force of the city government will soon ask the city council to pass a resolution requesting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to amend Proclamation No. 98 and name the city government as the owner, and not merely as an administrator, of the former National Children’s Park in Bonuan.

 The Task Force on Housing and Urban Resettlement, headed by City Engineer Virginia Rosario, launched the initiative amending Proclamation No. 98 issued by then President Diosdado Macapagal in 1963 which named Dagupan City as administrator of the National Children’s Park, now Tondaligan Park.

Mejia said the task force wants to ask the city council to ask President Arroyo to now give the full ownership of the park to Dagupan, not just its administration.

“We are asking the President to give the city full ownership of the park  because the vast track of land from Bonuan Gueset to Bonuan Binloc is an ideal site for socialized housing  and resettlement, taking into consideration the availability of basic services, like potable water, electricity and its accessibility to transportation,” he said.

Since 1963 to date, the park has doubled its size due to accretion from the Lingayen Gulf.

It  is  the accreted area of the park, if not the park itself, that  affluent families are now claiming ownership based on mere Tax Declaration Certificates issued over the years by the City Assessor’s Office.

Mejia said it is a big wonder why rich and influential people are now occupying the beach whereas many poor people of Dagupan have nowhere to build even their makeshift houses.

ONE SHED
PER FAMILY

Meanwhile, the city government, which is now implementing the long awaited redevelopment of the Tondaligan Park, the  city’s biggest park at 72 hectares, located in Bonuan Gueset and Binloc, has adopted a strict policy of one beach shed only per family.

Barangay Captain Angelito Gumarang of Bonuan Gueset said many of the present shed owners have objected to the regulation set by City Administrator Alvin Fernandez.

Gumarang said the “one family, one shed” policy has been discussed lengthily with City Engineer Virginia Rosario, Tondaligan Park Administrator Ike Palinar and Myrna Cayabyab, president of the Tondaligan Shed Owners Association.

He said he is in favor of this policy so that other families will have a chance to earn a living.  Until the new policy was introduced, a number of families owned up to five sheds.

Gumarang said under the redevelopment plan, it is the individual owner who builds his or her own shed following the specifications prescribed by the city as their contribution to Tondaligan Park’s development.

The storm surge in the last week of November destroyed 70% of the sheds and paved the way finally for the long overdue implementation of the redevelopment plan of Tondaligan Park.

The surviving sheds there were given only up to last week to remove their sheds lest the city government demolishes them at their expense.

The former location of the old sheds will be now be converted into a clear walkway giving visitors with a full view of the beach, said Gumarang.

Beautification of the Japanese Garden is personally being supervised by Mrs. Elmina Fernandez, wife of Mayor Alipio Fernandez.

Gumarang said the sheds were re-positioned and moved farther back to give visitors better access and better view of the sea.

He said a marketing plan will soon be developed to promote the Tondaligan Park. —LM

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