Prejudice and justice

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

By Roger Sinot 

BAAN, Aritao, N.V. – Going down from Baguio towards Aritao is a barangay called Baan. Since this is located within a boundary dispute, it has two sets of barangay officials. One set is called Baan, Kayapa barangay officials and the other is Baan, Aritao barangay officials. In a certain family, half is registered in Baan, Kayapa while the remaining members are registered in Baan, Aritao. The same is true with their primary school. They have two principals (head teachers) belonging to each of the barangay.

How interesting is it to find two barangays in one area. I have inherited two adjoining parcels of agricultural land from my late mother Feliza Sinot which is exactly located in this barangay. These titled lots are bounded on the North East by the property of my late brother Robert Sinot, and on the South East by Balungao Creek. On the South West by the National road and on the North West by the pasture land named after my late grandfather Ngamoy Dalisdis.

Without my knowledge and consent, a government worker who is now retired, along with an engineer of Kayapa, Nueva Viscaya persuaded and encouraged the barangay officials of Baan, Kayapa, Nueva Viscaya and two other individuals to occupy portions of my property in front of my titled lot adjacent the road. The two individuals are the barangay midwife and the barangay treasurer then who happens to be the sister of the barangay captain then. Without my knowledge, they conducted their own survey, acquired a certification from the DENR in 2003 that the land they surveyed is Alienable and Disposable (A&D), and the barangay and the two individuals had their Tax Declarations placed under their names.

Taking advantage of his position, this retired government official helped facilitate the approval of the tax declaration of these individuals, despite my opposition and effort to make remedies to get his attention. He never considered the kindness that my family had in his favor. He is not just a family friend but we also considered him as a relative.

In my understanding, barangay Baan, being a government entity, is not among those allowed by law to privately own alienable and disposable public lands, and that tax declarations on lands are for tax purposes only. The retired government official also has a tax declaration of a portion of the national highway in his name so that he is familiar with the place. The unlawful land processing of documents by the government and Barangay Baan, Kayapa and the two individuals are all the more reprehensible as they have squatted on the said frontage (SW) South West portion between my titled property and a national road. Even with the barbed wire fence and rice paddies, the barangay officials requested the municipal government for the equipment that hauled the gravel and sand from the Pingkian River then dumped the same in the area without informing me.

This is only the start of a two-series story in this column that one must read. The recent events in my life made me write about what led to damage and great prejudice on my part. The word prejudice as I understand means “prejudging” or making an estimate of others without knowing the facts. It is a form of robbery, for it robs it’s victims of a fair trial in court. This word can also mean “murderer” because it kills the opportunity of advancement for those who are at its prey.

As Jesus struck at the very core of it when he said “and why beholdest thou the mole that is in thy brothers eye, but consider not the beam that is in thine own eye?” and then he laid down a specific rule against it when he said “judge not that ye be not judged”. Stay tuned and happy trails to all travelers along the Benguet-Viscaya via Ambuclao road.