BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan urged the Cordillera and Region I office of the Housing Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) to fast track the issuance of the pertinent permits that will facilitate the development of a still undisclosed lot within the jurisdiction of nearby La Trinidad being eyed as the relocation site of interested informal settlers who will be displaced from the BIBAK lot along Harrison road who are set to voluntarily demolish their illegal structures on or before June 30, 2017.
The local chief executive said he received a message from an official of the Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP) asking for help to request the HLURB to fast track the issuance of the pertinent permits required for the development and subdivision of the property to the interested relocatees.
“We are elated that the PCUP is providing the needed assistance to the BIBAK informal settlers to find a suitable place to settle once they voluntarily demolish their illegal structures within the 5,000-square meter BIBAK property. We also got in touch with the municipal officials of La Trinidad to support the request of the PCUP for the conversion of the identified relocation site so that the pertinent documents could already be processed for its subdivision and eventual development as a relocation site for the BIBAK settlers,” Domogan stressed.
He asserted that while there are no movements yet among the informal settlers in the said property, their commitment to voluntarily demolish their illegal structures on or before June 30, 2017, stands and whatever structures that will be left will be demolished by the city.
Further, the City Mayor reported the informal settlers also committed in their notarized undertaking that they will withdraw all cases they filed against the city with the different courts for a peaceful resolution of the long-standing problem with the removal of their illegal structures in the area.
After the dismantling of the illegal structures within the property, Domogan said the boundaries of the property will be fenced and all the officials of the concerned government agencies and local governments who have concerns on the property will sit down together to discuss the crafting of a comprehensive master plan for the whole property that should promote the preservation and protection of the rich culture and traditions of the Cordillera.
He appealed to local residents to be patient while waiting for the informal settlers to remove their illegal structures as they also deserve to be given sufficient time to relocate before voluntarily demolishing their structures in the BIBAK property.
He explained that the local government is not actually tolerating their stay in the area but they have executed a notarized commitment which he finds meritorious and allows the informal settlers sufficient time to voluntarily dismantle their structures to spare some materials and relocate to where they intend to transfer without being pressured.
By Dexter A. See