Baguio officials press probe; P-Noy, Congress urged: Stop titling of city parks by NCIP

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city council is seeking help from President Benigno S. Aquino III and Congress to address land problems of the city particularly concerning free patent and ancestral land titles.

The committee on urban planning, lands and housing has recommended approval of the proposed resolutions of Councilors Leandro and Karminn Cheryl Dinney Yangot appealing to the President “to intercede and intervene in resolving the problem on Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles (CALTs) by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) over government parks, playgrounds, roads, reservations, forest and lands owned by the Government.”

The committee also endorsed the proposed resolutions of Councilor Fred Bagbagen asking the President to order the NCIP to halt the processing of CALTs and requesting Senate and Congress to hold a congressional inquiry and investigation on the issuance of titles by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) pursuant to the free patent law and the issuance of CALT by the NCIP.

In their measures, the Yangots said Aquino has to intervene to make his effort to protect and preserve the city along with Boracay as prime eco-tourism destinations in the country work.

“The issuance of the titles over road right-of-ways, rivers, easements, parks, forests and watershed reservations runs counter to the efforts of the Aquino administration to protect and preserve Baguio City as one of the prime ecotourism destinations in the country,” Bagbagen noted in his resolution.

The councilors said that based on the report of Mayor Mauricio Domogan and the city planning and development office, one-fifth of the city’s total land area is now covered by CALTs and if left unchecked, the city stands to lose all available parks and forests.

“Albeit some of these approved CALTs are subject of reversion and cancellation proceedings, it is but appropriate and proper to seek the immediate help of the most powerful officials and citizens of the Philippines, who can use all available powers needed to restore what rightfully belongs to the people so that everyone may enjoy what Baguio City has to offer,” the Yangots noted.

            

Bagbagen’s proposal for an inquiry was also prompted by Domogan’s call last August for the Baguio and Boracay Redevelopment Committee to investigate the issuance of free patent road right-of-ways, rivers and easements.

            

“Mayor Mauricio Domogan expressed that the circumventions done by the DENR to the Free Patent Law allowing the subdivision of lands that are more than 200 square meters in order to meet the prescribed limit is not in accordance with RA 10023 because it will affect the density of areas in the city which will complicate problems on solid waste, traffic, peace and order management, environmental issues and those of other lands that are being preserved,” Bagbagen said.

            

On the CALT, Bagbagen said that the titling of large portions of the Forbes and Wright Parks, Botanical Garden and Busol Watershed “is irregular and will result in the massive cutting of trees that will affect the city’s sources of water and destroy its environment.”

            

“There is even a legal doubt as to the applicability of the Free Patent Law in the city of Baguio which is governed by its city charter (and) there is legal doubt as to the issuance of the (CALTS) to supposed indigenous peoples even if they were not able to comply with the provisions of the IPRA Law  considering that section 78 of RA 8371 clearly defines legitimate ancestral claims in the City. 

Also, IPRA law provides that legitimate ancestral claims are those that were already recognized by the courts and quasi-judicial bodies prior to the effectivity of the law in November 1997,” Bagbagen said.

            

Domogan’s call to stop the wanton titling of government reservations and reclaim those already covered by CALTs resulted to commitment from key agencies to address the issue during the first meeting of the Task Force for Baguio City and Boracay Redevelopment in the city.

Land Registration Authority Cordillera (LRA-CAR) and Acting Baguio Register of Deeds (ROD) Guerrero Felipe recently said the city’s problem on spurious CALTs can be solved by the implementation of Joint Administrative Oder No. 01-12 entitled “Clarifying, Restating and Interfacing the Respective Jurisdictions, Policies, Programs and Projects of (these agencies) in Order to Address Jurisdictional and Operational Issues Between and Among the Agencies” which was issued by LRA, the NCIP, the DENR and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on Jan. 27, 2012.

            

Felipe said that based on section 21 of the said joint order, all transactions particularly the titling and registration activities over identified contentious areas will have to be suspended until issues raised have been resolved.

            

The order covers the processing of CALTs and Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) by the NCIP, the processing and issuance of free patents (FP) by the DENR, land acquisition and distribution (LAD) and Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) by the DAR and registration of titles by the LRA.

            

The order required the agencies to submit to the LRA a complete list of the CADTs/CALTs, CLOAs and FPs which will be the subject of the suspension order and Felipe said that they are presently waiting for the NCIP Cordillera to provide the list of questionable CADTs and CALTs issued in the city.

            

Felipe said the order ensures that no CADTs and CALTs will overlap with existing titled properties.