Land dispute in Pugaro settled
A 40-YEAR row between a private landowner and some 300 informal settlers in Barangay Pugaro, Dagupan City was finally settled last August 21 through the intervention of Mayor Belen Fernandez.
The dispute is between members of the Soriano family who own an eight-hectare land in the island barangay and the informal settlers who have built houses on part of the property over the last four decades.
Gloria Soriano Cruz and her son Adelo Angelito S. Cruz, consul general of the Philippines in Xiamen City, China, represented the family in the dialogue.
The Soriano family agreed to sell up to two hectares of their land to the informal settlers through a rent-to-own scheme.
Each household can avail of a 48-square meter (sqm) lot priced at P1,000 per sqm.
Under the agreement forged by the parties, payment will be made at P40 per day until full settlement of the amount.
Settlers whose existing homes occupy more than one lot will be allowed to purchase two lots.
The settlers, recognizing the Sorianos’ ownership of the land they have been occupying, said they have long been worried of being evicted from the site.
“But it was the reverse. Mabait sila (Sorianos) and understand the plight of the informal settlers,” said City Legal Officer George Mejia who was part of the mediation team.
The company of the Sorianos will also conduct a survey of the entire area to determine the number of informal settlers and assist them in getting titles of ownership.
TOURIST DESTINATION
Five of the remaining six hectares of the property, according to the Sorianos, will be offered to private investors for the development of tourist resorts in Pugaro, which still has an unspoiled beach.
The mayor pledged to build an access road leading to the property, which also prompted the Sorianos to agree to cut their initial asking price of P2,000 per sqm from the settlers.
Fernandez said the settlement was totally unexpected and she considers it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the informal settlers.
Mejia said the “win-win situation” is a fulfillment of the campaign promise of Fernandez to help the informal settlers of the barangay.
Pugaro was the site of the cancelled Tsunami Hill project of former Mayor Benjamin Lim.
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