River bank encroachment remains unabated – Guadiz
A Dagupan City councilor has expressed alarm over the massive encroachment of river banks by rich individuals who have built millions of pesos worth of commercial buildings and residential houses in the areas.
City Councilor Teofilo Guadiz III, in a privilege speech before the city council on Monday, denounced the unabated encroachment of river banks, calling the structures a nuisance and in clear violation of the anti- squatting law of the land.
Guadiz, a lawyer, identified the Tuliao and Pantal rivers crisscrossing a large part of the city before emptying into the Lingayen Gulf as among the most heavily encroached rivers in the city.
He specifically pointed at a building, currently under construction and estimated to be worth P30 million, right at the bank of the Tuliao River and a big hotel and an established technical and vocational school at a vast portion of the Pantal River.
Guadiz raised questions on why concerned government agencies failed to act and continue to turn a blind eye against the owners of these structures.
He asked how the owners of these establishments were able to secure permits from the City Engineering Office, clearances from the City Legal Office as well as Environmental Compliance Certificates from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Hinting that something is fishy in all these transactions, Guadiz called on the attention of the city council to do something expeditiously to save the river banks.
He said these illegal structures are obstructing the smooth flow of run-off waters during the rainy season, often causing flood in large parts of the city.
Guadiz also called on the attention of the city engineering office, city legal office, Department of Public Works and Highways and the DENR to address the matter “before it’s too late.” -A.P.E.
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