CONSTRUCTION of the P100 million state-of-the-art Seafood Processing Plant in Dagupan is facing a serious challenge from residents of sitio Russia in barangay Bonuan Binloc who rejected a proposal to vacate the target site of the project.

Teddy Vilamil, a member of the technical working group created by Mayor Alipio Fernandez to conduct a survey in the area, said the residents flatly rejected the proposal and the alternatives offered to them to leave the area.

The residents rejected their relocation to the Gawad Kalinga Bangusville housing project in Bonuan Gueset where they are given first priority to own at least 30 housing units with only P200 monthly amortization.

Not even one was willing to sign a waiver for opting to relocate at the GK Bangusville project

Because of this, said Villamil, also a member of the executive board of the GK Bangusville project, the 30 housing units will instead be awarded to residents of Sitio Pagkakaisa and Bayanihan in Bonuan Gueset who are considered second and third priorities.

After the city government’s offer was rejected, the Fernandez administration will now have to forcibly eject the squatters, some of whom reportedly are holding documents from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to support their claim over the land they are occupying.

The squatters being ejected are reportedly led by a certain Francisco Caoile and Horacio Santiago who claimed they had been occupying the place since birth.

Some of the squatters are Igorots from Baguio City and Benguet province suspected to have bought ‘rights’ from a syndicate.

The City Engineer’s Office already sent its first notice to the residents ordering them to vacate the area in order to give way to the project. A second notice is already underway and a third notice will follow right after if necessary.

An earlier survey showed there were a total of 65 makeshift houses at Sitio Russia but 43 were destroyed at the height of Typhoon Cosme on May 17 this year.

IDEAL SITE

The site chosen for the processing plant is located beside the 24-hectare National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Villamil concedes its proximity to the Lingayen Gulf makes it a convenient area for squatters.

Studies have shown that site is ideal for for the soon to be constructed Seafood Processing Plant and the NIFTDC, where the newly opened Asian Fisheries Academy is also located.

NIFTDC chief and National Fisheries Development Institute Executive Director Westly Rosario said it is now all systems go for the processing plant funded by a grant of US$1.1 million from the Korean government through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

A memorandum of agreement was already signed by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Mayor Fernandez and the KOICA resident representative in Manila at the Department of Agriculture central office in Quezon City.—LM

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