WHO gave them the land?

This question was posed by Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. as the issue about massive squatting by affluent individuals in the foreshore land of Bonuan Binloc rages on.

Fernandez stressed that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has maintained that it had not given the plots to these individuals who, he said, are already landed and have the means to buy more lands.

It was in this context that the city mayor asked under what means were these owners in question, among them Calasiao Mayor Roy Macanlalay, able to acquire the lands that they are claiming if the DENR says it did not give them any.

Macanlalay and three other claimants recently sued the city government and the Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) to restrain the latter from cutting electricity supply to their respective properties based on notices of disconnection issued by Decorp.

The disconnection notices stemmed from the cancellation by Fernandez of all waivers issued by the past city administration that were used by the land claimants to secure electrical connections to their establishments.

The case, filed by Macanlalay, Mario Sandoval, Dave Calaguio and Juanito Torio, is now up for resolution by Regional Trial Court Judge Genoveva Coching-Maramba of Branch 44 after an oral argument between the plaintiff’s counsel, Juan Siapno, and Dagupan City Legal Officer George Mejia on February 22.

Fernandez said the rich families have occupied the beach land even without any authority while there are so many people in Dagupan who have nowhere to build their houses and continue to live in shanties built in dangerous zones, such as river banks.

He reiterated his determination to cancel all Tax Declarations over supposed parcels of land but added that the city is moving cautiously because there are processes to be observed.

Fernandez said he is leaving it to the court to decide on the case filed by Macanlalay and the others even as the latter claim, through their lawyer, that the city has no jurisdiction over lands of public domain.

Defending his order for the cancellation of all TDs, Fernandez said there have been many resolutions about this matter in the past and even during his first term as city mayor. – LM

       City Assessor verifies 93 TDs, but still no cancellation

As the Dagupan City government defends its position before a regional trial court on the land grabbing cases in Bonuan Binloc, not a single Tax Declaration has been cancelled up as of last Friday by the Assessor’s Office.

Officer-in-charge City Assessor Virginia Deocares said while her office has completed the verification of 93 parcels of accreted lands in the Bonuan Binloc area (covered by the same number of TDS) out of the 109 parcels that were first found on record, no TD has, indeed, been cancelled.

Noticeably, the name of Calasiao Mayor Roy Macanlalay was not in any of the TDs for the 93 parcels of land already verified. This means that he is not a holder of any TD, which is a proof of payment of taxes for the land being claimed.

A TD is one of the salient requirements for any one to present in order to acquire free patent for public lands under the existing law.

Records showed several persons have many parcels listed in their name with one Rodolfo Aquino, allegedly brother of former city councilor Nic Aquino, having at least 12.

Based on the Assessor’s office findings, It appeared that unlike the other claimants, Macanlalay took possession of the 1,000 square meter of land in the beach area without any TD or any other document to back his claim.

Alan Dale Zarate, local assessment officer of the Assessor’s Office, said pursuant to the mayor’s Executive Order No. 66, his office already stopped issuing TDs, hence, there is no way Macanlalay can obtain TD.

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