62 of 68 remaining fish pens are titled
SIXTY two of the 68 fish pens spared from demolition by Task Force Bantay Ilog last year have been found to be covered by Transfer Certificates of Titles (TCTs) and the other six by mere Tax Declaration Certificates (TCTs).
City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina said the titled properties are subjects of validation by a task force created by Mayor Belen Fernandez headed by Assistant City Assessor Roland Soni, a geodetic engineer.
One of those titled is owned by former Pantal Barangay Chairman Lilia Yasar comprising of 10,629 square meters located in the middle of the Calmay River for which she applied an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
But the EMB denied the application and instead issued a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) after Yasar failed to provide a certification from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).
Molina said they are waiting for the action of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources (CDO) on the matter before acting on the case of Yasar.
Meanwhile, Molina said the task force is determining the present uses of the properties in question.
As for the other properties located in the rivers, the biggest of these at 2.7 hectares is being claimed by one Robert Gonzales based on a TDC issued by the City Assessor’s Office on Nov. 9, 2012.
The tax declaration, supposedly based on a lot number but is not specified, has for its boundaries the Carael River in the north, Agno River in the south, and canals in the east and west.
Other tax declarations issued in various years for areas in rivers in Barangay Lucao were for: Rodrigo Honrado in 1995 for a 3,975-square meter area; Maximo Ocampo in 2004 for 11,370 square meters; Meranda Caramat in 1979 for 5,342 square meters; and Felix Zabala in 2004 for 14,220 square meters.
Fernandez has ordered a stop to the issuance of tax declarations, which is not equivalent to a land title but is mere proof of payment of taxes, amid reports that the holders of tax declarations are now using their documents to secure land titles.
Fernandez earlier decried how parts of rivers in the city are being peddled using tax declarations.
In the case of Yasar, for example, City Assessor Alan Dale Zarate earlier said he previously dissuaded her from buying the land because it is part of the Calmay River but she proceeded anyway in buying it from Gonzales.
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