Baguio questions 22 titles over Busol forest

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The city government here filed an adverse claim with the Land Registration Administration (LRA) questioning the issuance, registration and release of 22 derivative titles to 22 alleged claimants of around 7.8 hectares portion of the Busol watershed, the main source of potable water supply of Baguio and La Trinidad residents, saying it was in gross violation of existing rules and laws governing ancestral claims and land registration.

           

Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan branded OCT No. 0-162 which was issued in 1965 as null and void from the very start because it was issued through judicial opening No. 211 which was declared by the Supreme court (SC) was unconstitutional in the case of Republic vs. Judge Pio Marcos et. al.

            

“We are alarmed over the continuous issuance of certificates of ancestral land titles and their derivative titles over portions of our watersheds which are violative of existing rules and regulations,” Domogan said, adding  Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) mandates that CALTs will only be issued to legitimate claimants of portions of watersheds provided that the applied area must first be delisted from the reservation.

            

OCT No. 0-62 was issued to the heirs of Josephine Abanag without undergoing the prescribed validation pursuant to Proclamation No. 1271 issued by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos. The 7.8-hectare property was then surveyed in June 2013 with the survey plan approved by the Registry of Deeds on June 13, 2013 with the subsequent issuance of the derivative titles to the heirs of Abanag.

            

According to the local chief executive, the area that was issued the CALT and its subsequent derivative titles is a thickly forested portion of the watershed that sustains the abundant supply of water for Baguio City and the nearby capital town of La Trinidad, Benguet.

           

 “The state of our watersheds and forests is now under serious threat because thousands of trees are out to be sacrificed once the local government will not succeed in its bid to nullify the illegally issued titles over reservations in the different parts of the city,” Domogan said.

He said the city needs the support of various sectors that are strongly advocating for the preservation and protection of the trees to fight for the predicted cutting of thousands of trees in watersheds once the titles over such areas will be legitimized.

           

Domogan also questioned the legitimacy of those individuals who were issued the assailed derivative titles considering that some of them cannot even trace their ancestral origin to that of the heirs of Abanag, thus, there is doubt on how their names suddenly appeared as heirs of the purported ancestral land claimant.

           

Busol watershed has a total land area of 336 hectares with 224 hectares situated in the jurisdiction of La Trinidad, Benguet while the remaining 112 hectares that plays host to the thickly forested portions of the reservation is located within the territorial jurisdiction of Baguio City.

           

Domogan explained what the city government is questioning is the illegal issuance of ancestral land titles to purported ancestral land claimants, particularly in identified watershed reservations in the different parts of the city, thereby posing a serious threat to the state of the environment that might compromise the city’s cool and romantic weather and its natural scenery.