TENSION HIGH IN ALAMINOS

ALAMINOS CITY – Tension ran high in the coastal areas here last week due to alleged forcible takeover by the former mayor of Bolinao town and his men of properties believed to be outside the areas covered by a receivership order by the Regional Trial Court.

The owners, through their lawyer Facundo Palafox, are now bent on suing former Bolinao Mayor Jesus Celeste for trespassing or land grabbing.

Celeste, elder brother of the incumbent congressman of the first district of Pangasinan, Arthur Celeste, and Bolinao Mayor Alfonso Celeste, took over several fishponds, a salt farm and several parcels of agricultural lands on October 16 ostensibly on the strength of an order issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Jules Mejia of Alaminos City.

The order named Celeste as the receiver of 52 properties in Alaminos and other towns of Pangasinan that were subject of civil cases between heirs to deceased Josefa Rabago.

Celeste, reportedly backed by armed men, took over several properties with an estimated total area of 88 hectares and drove away the caretakers employed by affected property owners and leaseholders after threatening them.

After Celeste occupied the fishponds, he reportedly ordered his men to harvest and sell the prawns and milkfish found in the fishponds.

Celeste also asked the court for the right to take over and sell thousands of bags of harvested salt from the salt farm in the occupied properties.

Owners claim that all the 88 hectares Celeste took over are outside the areas that have been placed by the court under receivership.

Palafox said injustice was committed to his clients who have legally acquired the properties in question as early as the 80s.

He told The PUNCH that when the former Bolinao mayor took over the properties, he did not bring along a surveyor who can determine the boundaries of the properties in question.

“If the mayor only examined documents before he rushed to occupy those properties, he could have learned that the tax declarations, areas and descriptions of these properties were different from those properties covered under the receivership,” Palafox said

Up to presstime, the former Bolinao mayor and his men refuse to vacate the properties and continue to lay claim over these.

Palafox maintained his clients have all the documents attesting that they bought their properties from people other than the late Josefa Rabago, adding that the lease contracts between lessees who occupied the properties and the owners are not part of the properties listed in the receivership order. — LM

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