Swindling the government

 

TAX declarations, based on Philippine laws and court decisions, are not conclusive proof of ownership and these by no means replace a title. But in many rural parts of the country, there are still many land parcels that are just covered by a tax declaration, which allows the holder limited rights though ownership remains in the public domain. In some cases it works out just fine for the land’s occupant for years and years but the situation becomes sticky when the area becomes subject to development. A glaring case in point is Dagupan City.

The administration of Mayor Belen Fernandez has been hard-pressed in fully implementing its river rehabilitation program under the Sa Ilog Ko May Pagbabago campaign because there are claims by fish pen owners that their structures are built on privately-owned land that have been eroded and became part of the river. It remains to be resolved – and city hall seems to be taking too long a time sorting it out – whether the private ownership claims are actually based on certified titles or simply tax declarations.

At the root of the matter is the apparent ease with which local governments, particularly the assessors’ offices, seem to issue tax declarations without solid proof of evidence of a land tile. This practice needs to be stopped and assessors should be made accountable for such negligent issuances.

Attempts to own a public land through tax declarations is tantamount to swindling the government. And if such attempts hamper development plans, it is tantamount to defrauding the public of economic and social progress.  The time for pagbabago is long overdue.

 

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Ping fits to a T

 

PERHAPS, the best thing that P-Noy did in the aftermath of Supertyphoon Yolanda that killed thousands, injured thousands and rendered thousands more missing in Tacloban City and other places in the Visayas was appointing Ping Lacson as Rehabilitation Secretary.  There is no one that fits the job to a T other than Ping.  Of all our politicians today, Ping seems to embody the most the shining qualities of our politicians in the olden, golden days:  Brave, pro-people, straightforward and, most of all, honest to the bone.

After P-Noy had earmarked a P40-B budget for rehabilitation and repatriation, Ping’s terse statement was:  “I will use all my powers to punish anyone who would dip his finger into our rehab fund.”  For someone who never availed of millions upon millions of pork barrel funds during the entirety of his 12-year stint as senator of the republic, Ping can say that a million more times and it will resonate a billion times.  Such is the man’s integrity.

Godspeed, Ping.

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