SAGADA, Mountain
Province – Following criticism of netizens over the reported plan of Ayala Land
Inc. to buy hectares of lots here for business, a statement of the company said
they did not intend to buy lots in this tourist town.
The municipal
government cited Ayala Land Inc. for supporting the town’s position for
preservation and protection of the rich historical tradition of the indigenous
peoples (IPs) and their communal and ancestral lands by not planning
development or acquiring property in Sagada.
Mayor James
Pooten, a few days before the New Year, said it was unfortunate that certain
individuals purporting to represent Ayala Land led municipal officials and IP
elders to believe that they were allegedly transacting with legitimate land
owners to develop a 20-hectare property in the famous tourist destination in
Northern Luzon.
“Sagada
belongs to the world and to all who appreciate what is beautiful. We are just stewards
of God’s creation and everybody is welcome to enjoy the place but care for it
while you are here like it is your own. And when you leave, remember that you
are leaving this beautiful place to your children and to generations behind,”
Pooten said.
Earlier, the
municipal government joined IP leaders and elders in opposing the allegedly
planned acquisition of a 20-hectare property in Batalaw by the Ayala Land Inc.
through purported agents that visited the municipality several times in the
past.
The property
will be reportedly developed by Ayala Land into a world-class tourism resort in
violation of the town’s existing unwritten policy that lands in the
municipality cannot be sold to outsiders.
In a separate
statement, the company denied reports that it was expanding its business
operations to Sagada.
“We would
like to inform the public that Ayala Land Inc. has no plans for acquisition and
development in the town of Sagada,” it said in a statement.
The company
is engaged in planning and developing large-scale, integrated and mixed-use
projects such as office buildings and commercial, industrial and residential
lots; leasing of commercial and office spaces; and developing, operating and
managing of hotels and resorts.
Sources,
however, disclosed that some purported agents of Ayala Land Inc. had reportedly
approached a daughter of a deceased landowner, allegedly signifying the
company’s intention to develop their property.
These agents
also reportedly visited concerned offices of the municipal government twice to
ascertain the validity of certain documents relative to the property being
intended to be developed.
Pooten said
what was good about the issue was that the people of Sagada were able to unite
and assert the existence of an unwritten policy that lands in the municipality
cannot be sold to outsiders, except to the closest of kin of the concerned
landowners.
The mayor
said with the issuance of the statement from Ayala Land that it does not plan
to introduce any development or acquire any piece of property in the town for
possible future developments, the issue would be laid to rest and that the
people of Sagada would be able to sustain the conduct of the mandated
nature-based tourism for the present and future generations of inhabitants of
the locality and for such policy to be recognized by future generations of IPs
from different barangay (villages). – Dexter A. See
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