THE provincial government will not yield a square inch of its land to any of its adjacent provinces with whom it has an existing boundary dispute.

This was the position announced by Gov. Ramon Guico III and echoed by Vice Governor Mark Lambino before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) during its regular session on October 3 when the long-standing boundary dispute of Pangasinan with its neighbors, like Benguet, Tarlac and Nueva Vizcaya was discussed.

“The stand of the governor in all these boundary disputes is – we will not budge or we will not give away or we will not go off even a single square inch of the land that is duly owned and duly recognized by the people of the province of Pangasinan,” Lambino said shortly after the SP passed two resolutions, both authored by 6th District Board Member Noel Bince. This was in response to the ongoing boundary dispute between Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya over Barangay Malico in San Nicolas, Pangasinan and Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.

The first resolution expressed the SP’S  full support and assistance by taking positive action on the long standing boundary dispute between the municipalities of San Nicolas, Pangasinan, and Sta. Fe Nueva Vizcaya; and a resolution expressing SP’s desire to maintain the status quo on the boundary dispute between San Nicolas, Pangasinan, and Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya over Barangay Malico, and to inform all local governments concerned to respect the present status of Barangay Malico as under the jurisdiction of San Nicolas.

In introducing both measures, Bince cited the news report last week stated that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Nueva Vizcaya passed a resolution urging the municipal government of San Nicolas to stop building infrastructures in Barangay Malico since it is owned by the municipality of Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.

The Nueva Vizcaya SP further urged the San Nicolas municipal government to respect the memorandum of agreement supposedly entered into by both Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan years back with the help of the National Mapping and Resources Information Authority (NAMRIA) that allegedly delineated the boundaries of the two provinces.

Meanwhile, Lambino said there is an ongoing boundary dispute between Pangasinan and Benguet over the boundary between Sison, Pangasinan and Tuba, Benguet while there is another dispute involving encroachment between Pangasinan and Tarlac.

Consequently, the SP amended its Internal Rules and Procedures to include the Committee on Boundary Disputes in its list of standing committees to handle all the boundary disputes with other provinces. (Leonardo Micua) 

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