Ancestral landowners demand city government: Vacate Asin hydro or we'll barricade area

TUBA, Benguet – A group of ancestral land owners here demanded that the Baguio City government vacate premises of the Asin Hydro power plant project after negotiations on payment of rentals of lands traversed by the plant bogged down.

The group said they may barricade premises of the plant if their demands were not met.

In a resolution, Baguio officials headed by city mayor Reinaldo Bautista were told by the Tadiangan-Nagalisan Hydro Ancestral Land Owners Association that they have lost interest to dialogue with the city government and demanded that the latter vacate the area in 30 days.

The resolution said a dialogue was held last month with the city officials headed by the city administrator Peter Fianza failed to arrive at a common and acceptable understanding among parties.

“The members and officers have thoroughly evaluated matters discussed during the dialogue and they have come to the conclusion that they were leading to nowhere and that the city government appears to evade the ancestral land claimants of the damages and compensation claims,” the resolution added.

The resolution was made after a meeting last week of the land owners at Barangay, Nangalisan here.

Present during the meeting were association officers Roger Sinot, chairman; Olga Dangwa, vice chair; Juliana Guzman, secretary; Dario Saingan, auditor; Job Culbengan, assistant auditor; Oscar Mainis, press relations officer and Angie Marino, assistant secretary. -- AD