[ Manila Bulletin Online ] February 7,2009
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said the other day the repossession by the government of parcels of lands encroached on by the Zobel-Ayala family in Calatagan, Batangas is now in progress.
He assured the affected Calatagan farmers and fishermen of continued assistance by creating a desk that will exclusively attend to their needs and problems.
"We have already completed the survey of the areas as required of us by the Supreme Court and submitted the survey results to the court. It is now up to the court to nullify the land titles that were found to have covered portions of the public land," Atienza said, adding that the areas up for repossession by the government totaled 1,769 hectares.
Atienza said that President Arroyo has directed him to provide all the necessary support to speed up the repossession by the government.
"Ang direktiba ni Pangulong Arroyo ay ipatupad ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema, ibigay ang lahat ng tulong sa korte upang mapabilis ang repossession procedure at bigyan natin ng proteksiyon ang mga mahihirap na pamilya ng Calatagan (The President’s directive is to implement the Supreme Court decision, provide all support to the court to hasten the repossession process, and protect the interest of the poor families of Calatagan)," Atienza said.
In the meantime, the DENR head urged the farmers and fishermen who attended a recent dialogue at the DENR office in Quezon City to refrain from making any move yet. "Wala munang gagalaw habang isinasagawa natin ang lahat ng pamamaraan para sa maagap na repossession ng lupa ng ating gobyerno."
Atienza said the survey conducted by DENR was affirmed by the SC in its 12-page decision issued on Oct. 6, 2008, citing the survey’s finality, adding "it should not be regarded as an opening for another round of litigation on the issues definitively settled a long time ago." The DENR submitted its survey report to the Regional Trial Court’s Branch XI in Balayan, Batangas on Sept. 30, 2008.
"This should end our 40-year legal battle on this issue," Atienza said.
On learning that some of the Calatagan families were already facing eviction cases filed by people who had bought the parcels of the contested land, Atienza volunteered the services of DENR lawyers to defend the affected families.
"Our lawyers will now intervene in any ejection proceedings in court involving the claimants."
Lawyer Dominique Misa, the groups’ legal counsel, expressed hope that the DENR would finally be able to award the lands being occupied by her clients while the agency is under Atienza’s watch whom she described as having shown signs of the needed political will to advance the interest of her clients.
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