BONUAN BINLOC BEACHFRONT RACKET

THE campaign of the Dagupan City to regain the shoreline of Bonuan from affluent squatters is now meeting stiff resistance from the latter, with a new trick.  

After Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. issued an executive order canceling all the Tax Declaration Certificates (TDCs) over public lots in the area, some of the holders have rushed construction in their claimed areas to give the impression that they have long been settling in those areas.

This was the observation made by members of the Task Force on Housing and Urban  Poor  Resettlement headed by City Engineer Virginia Rosario.

The task force held an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss possible action against the squatters, most of them out-of-town affluent businessmen.

The meeting was called a day after task force members, together with Bonuan Binloc Barangay Chairman Ernesto Torio, conducted an ocular inspection of the shoreline.

City Planning and Development Coordinator Romeo Rosario, spokesman of the task force, said they found newly constructed structures which he suspected to have been built starting the latter part of November.

“We have no other option but to demolish the illegal structures,” said Rosario, adding that squatting in the foreshore land of Dagupan has reached a proportion “that is already nauseating”.

The new structures built by holders of TDC were apparently rushed to make it appear that they have introduced improvements in the land they were applying for permanent titles to satisfy certain requirements provided by law in titling public lands.

“Obviously, these TDC holders must have been   built when they saw the city officials were busy during the city fiesta in December,” he said.

However, not even one TDC has been cancelled as the city assessor’s office has verified only five of the supposed holders of the document so far.

Executive Order No. 66, dated December 4, 2007 signed by Mayor Fernandez, ordered the cancellation of all existing TDCs along the foreshore land of Bonuan adjacent to the Tondalingan Park established under Proclamation No. 98 issued by then President Diosdado Macapagal.

“I don’t know what the intentions of these people are but definitely, this is a clear violation of law and needs to be addressed,” Rosario said.

“This is unfair to the people of Dagupan, especially the poor, about 6,000 of whom have been confirmed in the survey to be informal settlers,” she said.

UTILITIES

To support its action against the affluent squatters, the task force passed a resolution calling on the Dagupan Electric Corporation (DECORP) to terminate its service to all illegal structures, including vacation houses, along the beach.

“Without electricity, these people will be discouraged to put up their structures or to live in the structures that they had put up,” City Engineer Virginia Rosario said.

The city engineer said these structures were not issued building permits by her office but surmised that DECORP might have extended electrical connections on the basis of waivers that may have been issued by a city official during the Lim administration.

Rosario, the City Planning and Development Coordinator, said that based on the law, any structure, before it could be extended electricity, must have a building permit.

It was verified that electric service was extended to structures illegally erected in foreshore lands or public lands.

The task force also urged the local police to set up a checkpoint in the area leading to the beach in Bonuan Binloc to intercept any vehicle bringing in construction materials, including sand and gravel, that may be used in the construction of illegal structures.

The Dagupan City Water District was also advised not to extend water connections to the illegal structures in the beach as part of the measures to stop squatting.

“If we had been strict on the small man squatting on public lands, the more we should be strict on squatters who are well off,” said Rosario who pledged to act against squatting by the affluent.

City Engineer Rosario said a legal action against the squatters is now being finalized by City Legal Officer George Mejia.

BLISS PROJECT

Meanwhile, former Councilor Alex de Venecia, another member of the task force, also noted a very anomalous situation at the BLISS housing project in Bonuan Binloc where about 80 percent of the occupants are no longer the original beneficiaries from Dagupan.

De Venecia, now working with a non-government organization, visited the BLISS Housing Project on Thursday along with officials of the Development Bank of the Philippines and Asian Development Bank.

He said many of the rights of the original beneficiaries of the BLISS project have been bought out by rich families, many from Baguio, La Union and Manila, who converted the homes into vacation rest houses.

De Venecia said he saw workers setting up fences up to the shoreline, and were quickly stopped by the City Engineer’s Office.

The former councilor revealed that he and the task force are now close to identifying the persons who spearheaded the selling of rights over lots in the beach area.

He said three persons came to him and expressed willingness to execute affidavits identifying the members of a syndicate that peddled the “rights”.

He described the issuance of the executive order recalling all TDCs issued by the city government as timely. —LM

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