Family donates land to Pugaro informal settlers
IN A sudden twist of fate, 50 informal settlers in Sitio Suit, Barangay Pugaro in Dagupan City who have been ordered for eviction by a court can now stay where they have illegally built their homes after the landowner agreed to donate to them a 7,000-square meter portion of the property.
Manuel Pablico of the family that owns a sizable portion of land in Sitio Suit said the family has decided to donate the land through the mediation of Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez.
The donated 7,000-sqm lot, which costs about P7 million, will be subdivided among the 50 informal settlers.
“Sa panahon ngayon ay wala nang namimigay ng lupa nang libre,” said Fernandez as she hailed the Pablicos for their generosity.
The mayor visited Pugaro Suit, an island village, on March 25 to deliver the good news to the people who settled there decades ago with fishing as their chief means of living.
Following the court order, which directs the eviction of the settlers and the demolition of their structures, Fernandez, with the help of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, talked to Manuel and his wife and succeeded in convincing them to give away part of their land.
As a bonus, Fernandez vowed that the cost of the transfer of the land title to the beneficiaries will be shouldered by the city government if they are indigents.
OIC City Assessor Roland Suni, who accompanied Fernandez during last week’s visit, said each informal settler family is entitled to receive 50 to 70 square meters in their own name.
“We are happy that with the help of Mayor Belen, we will finally own the land that we are occupying and need not fear eviction anymore, ” said Michael Caridad, president of the community’s group Balon Oksoy na Suit.
He added that he felt a sigh of relief on the resolution of the dispute which he said is as old as one resident there who is now 92 years old.
Pablico was the second landowner in Pugaro who handed over land to informal settlers.
The first was the Soriano family who agreed to sell part of their land in Pugaro Centro to informal settlers in August last year with easy monthly amortization, also through the intervention of Fernandez.—LVM with report from CIO
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