Dagupan SP denies CENRO’s request for tax declarations
THE DENR UNIT CAN INSTEAD APPLY FOR DEED OF USUFRUCT
The Dagupan City government cannot issue tax declarations covering any part of the lands designated by Proclamation No. 98, issued by then-President Diosdado Macapagal in the early 1960s, which specifically allocated these lands for parks and playgrounds.
This was underscored by Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, chairman of laws, ordinances and judiciary of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), relative to the request of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) for the issuance of tax declarations over two parcels of land with a combined area of about 3,000 square meters, located at Sitio Tondaligan in Barangay Bonuan Gueset, which it had been occupying for more than 30 years.
A tax declaration serves as proof of payment of taxes, but is not a land title and is a prelude for patent application.
The CENRO in Dagupan City is the field office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) covering 20 towns and two cities in central Pangasinan.
City Legal Officer Aurora Valle concurred with the opinion of Tamayo, and recommended that, since the agency had long been in continuous possession of the area, it could instead apply for a deed of usufruct from the national government.
Tamayo and Councilor Karlos Reyna, chair of the committee on land utilization, and Liga ng mga Barangay President Lino Fernandez, agreed with the option and vowed to pass a resolution that will support CENRO’s formal application for a deed of usufruct, on condition that it must first submit schematic plans for a planned high-rise office building, plus a tourist park
Valle cited that the Bangko Central ng Pilipinas was given a usufruct lasting for 20 years over a portion of the Tondaligan Park that it now occupies, while the Department of Social Development was also issued a separate presidential proclamation over its occupancy of part of the land covered by Proclamation No. 98. (Leonardo Micua)
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