BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan disclosed the local government is inclined to pursue the demolition of the fifty-eight illegal structures within the Bontoc-Ifugao-Benguet-Apayao-Kalinga (BIBAK) Properly along Harrison Road and the three hundred forty four illegal structures within the nine two hectares Baguio Dairy Farm property in Dontogan by January next year to put an end to the long overdue removal of the said illegal structures and to send a clear message to the squatters that the city means business in their eviction from properties that they do not actually own.
The local chief executive claimed there is no more legal impediment in the enforcement of the demolition order against the squatters within the BIBAK property while the decision of the Municipal Trial Court (MTC) regarding the demolition of the illegal squatters within the premises of the Baguio Dairy Farm was not appealed, thus, it had become final and executory.
“We have to pursue the demolition of the illegal settlers that built their structures on government property illegally. We will not tolerate such act by enterprising individuals because we want to protect our reservations from the evils of man,” Domogan stressed.
He said concerned government agencies like the environment department and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Regional Development Council in the Cordillera have pooled their available resources and manpower for the realization of the illegal structures in both government properties.
The Baguio Dairy Farm is currently under the jurisdiction of the agriculture department which is now also doing its best to work out the removal of all the illegal structures that were erected on the said properties depriving government optimum utilization of the said properties.
Domogan claimed the local government is ready to spearhead the demolition of the illegal structures illegally built in the two major government properties in the city, saying that January will be busy month for the city in terms of evicting informal settlers from the areas that they illegally occupy.
Earlier, the 5,000-square meter that formed part of Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 1 under the Republic of the Philippines to the BIBAK to be used as an area where student dormitories of students coming from the different parts of the Cordillera will reside while studying in the city.
He underscored the fact that shoe claiming to be members of the urban poor and living in the place where the BIBAK property is situated are not actually members of the urban poor but they are moneyed individuals wanting to own properties around the city for their own personal aggrandizement, thus, the need to teach them a lesson not to squat on areas that are either government or private properties.
He pointed out that the absence of any lawful order from the court or any other governing agency stopping the local government from the implementation of the demolition order will confirm the original schedule of the demolition activities that will transpire in the said areas within the next several weeks.
By Dexter . See
