Loakan folks hit set demolition of houses

By Jordan G. Habbiling

BAGUIO CITY -- Residents of Loakan Proper here turned to the City council for help after individually receiving a notice of violation issued by the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) their houses beside the Loakan Airport would be demolished.

The Loakan Green Meadows Homeowners Association Inc. and other residents of Loakan Proper, during The Feb. 10 council session, aired concern over the planned dismantling of their houses situated within the buffer zone of the Loakan Airport. Residents requested for a dialogue with Mayor Benjamin Magalong through the assistance of the body.

Earlier, the city government announced it will clear the airport of all obstruction in preparation for its reopening for commercial operations.

Also present during the forum was engineer Stephen Capuyan, head of the CBAO Investigation and Demolition Division.

Capuyan said the issuance of the violation notice was enforced pursuant to the mayor’s call for an investigation on the buildings and houses erected within the buffer zone at the airport.

Capuyan said the buffer zone measures 75 meters from the centerline on each side of the runway.

Of the around 200 structures within the declared buffer zone, 150 had already been issued violation notice.

Capuyan, however, clarified that the violation notice was to merely inform the occupants that they violated Section 22 of the Environment Code of the City of Baguio/Ordinance 018-2016 (prohibition against erecting a structure on a safeguarded zone).

As a preliminary investigation, the CBAO mandated the residents to submit copies of their lot titles, building and occupancy permits, and other pertinent documents within seven days. The office also compelled the residents to submit a letter within seven days explaining why their structures should not be issued demolition orders. Capuyan said their office will coordinate with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to re-assess the cases of residents with sufficient documents. On the other hand, cases of occupants with no proof of ownership over the lots and their erected properties will be forwarded to the city's anti-squatting and anti-illegal structures committee for appropriate action, Capuyan said.

“We can’t just demolish these houses as these residents were able to obtain necessary permits,” Capuyan said.

However, he mentioned the possibility of the revocation of the residents’ permits since their houses are within a protected area.

Several legislators questioned the CBAO’s issuance of building permits to the residents within the buffer zone.

They said residents there should not have been issued building permits in the first place.

“The office that issued the applicants building permits is the very same office that tells them their houses are subject to demolition,” Councilor Betty Tabanda said. Capuyan said the onus is on the CAAP as “they are the ones issuing a certification or clearance.”

“Before our office issues a building permit, the CAAP will issue fist a certification or clearance because that’s their job,” Capuyan rectified. “So if an applicant shows us a clearance from the CAAP, then we have to issue them building permits.”

Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan told the CBAO to conduct first a series of meetings with the residents before issuing notices and directives to avoid causing panic among them.

Councilors Mylen Victoria Yaranon and Benny Bomogao requested the CAAP to present the development plan of the Loakan Airport before the city council.

The said presentation was scheduled on Feb. 24.

Responding to the residents’ request for a dialogue with the mayor, the city council referred the matter to the committee on urban planning, lands, and housing chaired by councilor Fred Bagbagen for study.