SP set to dialogue with Benguet on boundary row
LINGAYEN–Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) decided they will go to Benguet to call on their counterparts and convince them to agree on a dialogue on the boundary dispute between the towns of Sison, Pangasinan and Tuba, Benguet.
Sixth District Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr., a lawyer and SP chairman on laws and ordinances, said they are taking the initiative rather than resort to court action, which will be “costly, long and tedious.”
Pangasinan is asserting ownership over areas that Tuba has claimed at the boundary between the two provinces.
Bince prevailed upon his colleagues to shelve a proposed resolution filed by 5th District Board Members Danilo Uy and Clemente Arboleda Jr. seeking to authorize Calimlim to represent the province in a case to be filed against the SP of Benguet and the municipality of Tuba.
The resolution seeks among other things to authorize the vice governor in a case of prohibitive and mandatory injunction with prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction against the Benguet SP and the municipality of Tuba for the encroachment by the town of Tuba on parts of Sison.
Local government officials of Sison have reported the encroachment of Tuba on properties within Sison by building roads, school buildings and other improvements.
He expressed certainty that the case is bound to be dismissed by the court for lack of cause of action because in his opinion, boundary disputes are to be resolved by provincial boards if the dispute involves towns belonging to different provinces.
COURT JURISDICTION
“If it were a Supreme Court or a Court of Appeals issuing writs, the same can be effective for the whole country but not the injunction of an RTC,” added Bince.
At the same time, he pointed out that the Pangasinan can not compel Benguet through the court to sit down for a dialogue since this matter “is purely between the two provinces involved under the local government code”.
He stressed that direct talks between the two parties, as in the planned preliminary discussion, is the best option.
If no agreement is reached in the dialogues, then the dispute can be brought to court, according to Bince.
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