Tuesday, June 24, 2008 [ www.sunstar.com.ph ]
By Jane Cadalig
BENGUET stands to lose 100,000 square meters of land if no action is done to annul the approved subdivision survey within the 54-hectare provincial lot at Wangal, La Trinidad.
A team that conducted an investigation over the approved subdivision survey recommended the filing of a petition to cancel the survey covering a large area of the government lot to protect the interest of the province and its employees.
It also sought the filing of an opposition against the recognition of ancestral land pending before the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) by a claimant.
The provincial lot at Wangal was set aside as a housing site for provincial employees. About 339 employees will be prejudiced by the approved subdivision survey.
"It will be difficult for the province to recover the lots if there is no move to cancel or annul the approved subdivision survey," the team said.
The fact-finding team, composed of former Benguet Board Member Danio Bolislis as the chairman and four other members, reported the Provincial Government will lose 101,469 square meters if it will file a petition to annul the survey approved by the Land Management Services of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 2006 in favor of several ancestral land claimants.
The committee said a suit for violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act will be filed against former provincial officials and employees who facilitated the approval of the survey plan.
The team reported that former Governor Borromeo Melchor, who then endorsed the subdivision approval, acted illegally because he failed to get the endorsement of the Provincial Board, before recommending the approval of the subdivision survey.
Under the Local Government Code, chief executives should first secure the authority through a resolution of the municipal or provincial councils before disposing any government property.
Melchor's action was based on the recommendation of former provincial administrator Modesto Andong, whom he tasked to look into the request of ancestral claimants seeking the award of their supposed inherited lots.
"Andong, who solely conducted an investigation, was too sympathetic to the claimants and did not consider the background of the case before coming up with his recommendations," the committee reported.
It said the former provincial administrator failed to see that the province won in one of the cases filed by one of the ancestral claimants.
Due to the approved subdivision survey, several claimants are reported to be clearing and constructing houses within the government lot.
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