Monday, November 03, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
BAGUIO CITY: The John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) board of directors has directed that the process for the release of land titles to continue, particularly land titles of lot awardees who complied with lot disposition requirements.
In a statement, JHMC said it is now processing the release of 103 Scout Barrio lot awardees that have complied with the requirements.
The disposition requirements include full payment for the lots concerned, occupant’s signature in the notarized deed of absolute sale, an individual undertakings to generated lots, common areas, right of way; and actual lot occupancy and compliance survey by the Baguio City government, National Housing Authority and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
“We are requesting the buyer’s for compliance in the lot disposition” for proper processing and awarding, the JHMC said.
Executive Order No. 64 declared the BCDA property in Barangay Scout Barrio, Baguio City as “a housing site open for disposition to bona fide occupants who have been living in the area even before the enactment of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.”
The implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the EO 64 however, provided that out of the 159, 738 square meter (sq m) BCDA-Scout Barrio property, only 80,379 sq m., shall be subject to disposition to actual qualified occupants of the area.
The BCDA shall retain an area of 79, 359 sq m., which shall be exempted from the coverage of EO 64. The lot area according to JHMC is noncontiguous, portion of which is now being used as road right of way, aside from the lots where the church, playground and school are now located.
The opinion further stated “BCDA retains ownership over the generated lots and can decide on whether or not to sell them, but in order to sell them at commercial rates, it would need a Presidential Proclamation excluding such generated lots from the declared housing site.”
The OGCC Contract Review No. 297, s. 2007, on August 16, 2007, stated “the deed of absolute sale between the BCDA and the buyer may be given due course provided that all taxes, assessments and other expenses relative to the lot shall be paid by the buyer in accordance with the contracts to sell executed with the buyer or beneficiaries.”
Some residents of Scout Barrio refuse to comply with the disposition requirement and are questioning the ownership of BCDA on generated lots, fearing that these lots may be sold to big investment companies.
-- Larry Madarang with Jessica Joy Pamuspusan
