Awai land title was never transferred to city
THE controversial 30-hectare land bought by the city government in Barangay Awai, San Jacinto was resurrected in the budget hearing being conducted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP).
The city council noted that the purchased lot intended for a sanitary landfill is one of the P200- million worth of properties procured by the city that was never registered in the name of the city government.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, chair of the en banc committee conducting the budget hearings, said the Awai property could not be excluded from the discussion since it is among the properties mentioned in the 2010 report of the Commission on Audit (COA).
She also pointed out that the property issues must be resolved once and for all because the penalties being charged by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for these are continuously increasing.
During the budget hearing on Friday, City Legal Officer Roy Laforteza said the Awai property is now under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) coverage but he was not certain whether the land has already been distributed to the tenants who filed the case against the Dagupan City government, Cuna and other parties.
Laforteza said he could not possibly know the background because he was not the city legal officer. Provincial Legal Officer Geraldyn Baniqued was then the city’s legal officer when the purchase was made and when the Department of Agrarian Reform Arbitration Board (DARAB) started its hearings on the case.
Fernandez said she will propose to the members of the majority in the city council that Baniqued be invited to provide the council with more information about the Awai property.
The Acting City Legal Officer said he will meet with the Bureau of Internal Revenue to determine the amount of penalties already incurred by the city government.
She further noted that the SP previously invited concerned city officials to the council session to clarify the issues but none heeded the invitations since Mayor Benjamin Lim refused to allow them to attend.
MORE MISSING PROPERTIES
There were P88-million worth of properties mentioned in the COA report but based on information gathered by the SP, there are actually P120 million more that were bought using city funds but have yet to be registered in the name of Dagupan.
The Awai property was bought for P16million from a certain Jose Mariano Cuna, reportedly a business associate of Lim in 2002 during the first term of office of Lim.
But the project could not proceed because just a few months after the purchase, it was placed under the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for distribution to its tenants based on a decision of the Department of Agrarian Reform Arbitration Board (DARAB).
Records showed that the city of Dagupan did not bother to file a motion for reconsideration, thus making the decision final and executory nor did the city government seek a refund of the money paid.
In 2008, former Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. sought to appeal the decision of DARAB, but this appeal was eventually denied, prompting the city government through Legal Officer George Mejia, on order of Fernandez, to elevate the appeal to the DAR central office.
The vice mayor said City Auditor Ofelia Celi and an official of the BIR district office will also be invited to appraise the SP about details of the unlisted properties.
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