Ex-Mayor Belen airs side on land donation
UNFAIR REPORTING
“IN the spirit of balanced reporting, I would like to air my side.”
This was stressed by former Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez in her letter to Robert Jaworski Abaño, online editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a reaction to the published story (print and online) on December 3, 2019 entitled “Bank Takes Back Donated Land for Evacuation Site” reported by its correspondent Yolanda Sotelo.
Fernandez said the report of Sotelo tended to show that her administration failed to undertake the necessary due diligence before accepting a donation to the local government, referring to the 7,000 square meter land which was donated to the Dagupan City government by the Pablico family, out of their 50,000 square meter property in Barangay Pugaro.
She said this was underscored in the article when Mayor Brian Lim was reportedly quoted: “in the first place, why did the past administration accept the donated land if (it) was being encumbered by the Land Bank of the Philippines?”
Fernandez explained that before the donation was even considered, the Pablicos filed an ejectment case against a number of informal settlers occupying their lot in Pugaro, and won. This was referred to the Presidential Urban Poor Commission, which sought the assistance of Dagupan LGU, then headed by Fernandez.
The lawyer of the Pablicos, Atty. Francisco Angeles, also wrote a separate letter in reaction Sotelos’ story.
Noting the sincerity of the Dagupan LGU to provide assistance to settle the matter, the Pablicos agreed to donate 7,000 square meters of their land to the city where the ejected occupants could stay.
Despite this, a few occupants remained unhappy and filed another case against the Pablicos.
“I would like to state for the record that at the time of the donation, the title presented to me did not have any annotation,” Fernandez said
Moreover, she said, the counsel of the Pablicos assured Sangguniang Panlungsod members that the family dealt with the city in good faith, and that they disclosed to the bank that a portion of the land mortgaged was pledged to the city.
“From my understanding, the land is now being segregated so that the donated portion is not part of the encumbrance,” Fernandez said. (Leonardo Micua)
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
