ANOTHER OBSTACLE TO HURDLE

THERE seems to be no end to more demands by residents of Sitio Russia in Barangay Bonuan Binloc in Dagupan City in return for vacating their houses to give way to the establishment of a seafood processing plant.

This time, they are demanding the inclusion of 43 more families to the list previously agreed upon to be relocated to a designated relocation site in Sitio Bagong Baryo, also in Bonuan Binloc.

City Legal Officer George Mejia who represented the city in the hearing of the civil case filed by Sitio Russia residents against the city government last October 20, objected to their new demand that would raise the total to 108 families to be relocated.

He said in their previous meeting, only 65 families were identified as entitled for relocation based on a tagging survey conducted by the city’s Task Force on Housing and Urban Poor Resettlement.

Both parties met last Oct. 20 at the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Genoveva Maramba to agree on the final terms of settlement.

This new demand aborted the scheduled signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that could have finally settled the relocation issue and the civil case pending before Regional Trial Court Judge Genoveva Maramba.

“We have already agreed that there will be only 65 families that would be relocated,” Mejia said.

The plaintiffs were represented by lawyer Alan Paguia who was tapped by Archbishop Oscar Cruz to help the plaintiffs.

In that hearing, Paguia also asked the defendant city government to submit the proposed plan for the relocation site and once submitted, he asked the court to grant them 15 days within which to study the same and submit their counter-proposal.

Under the proposal of the city government, Mejia said residents of Sitio Russia are a favored lot since the city government will spend at least P8 million to accommodate them in a two-hectare relocation site, one half of which will be for home site and another half for park and livelihood projects.

“The city will also arrange for their water and electricity connections and train them for various livelihood projects to make them earn,” he said.

The city government is seeking to sign a usufruct agreement, good for 25 years, with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on the two-hectare relocation site which is still owns by the state, he added.

Consequently, each family that will be guaranteed continuous use and enjoyment of the area for 25 years but this became the other major contentious issue.

Mejia said the residents objected to the 25 year usufruct agreement and want that the land accrue to them perpetually which is not allowed by law.

“We can sign a proviso that will bind the city government to renegotiate the usufruct agreement for another 25 years upon the expiration of the first agreement.

But the residents fear that future Dagupan mayors may not agree to the renewal of the usufruct.

To this, Mejia said “Dagupan is a public corporation. Whatever contract we will enter today would be binding to future city administrations. That is the essence of a public corporation.” – LM

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