BAGUIO CITY

Baguio air pollution worsening;almost twice over normal level

BAGUIO CITY — The Cordillera office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources here reported an "alarming air quality situation" in the central business district of this mountain resort city as the city recorded recently its highest air pollution level.

From the normal level of total suspended particulates or standard air quality level of 150 micrograms per cubic meter, the reading almost doubled to 280 micrograms per cubic meter especially during rush hours of 6 to 7 a.m. on weekdays.

On June 5, 2007, the reading was recorded at 329.91 micrograms per cubic meter, the highest in the history of the city, which is more than twice the normal reading.
It was learned that Saturdays and Sundays are worst because the hourly readings are all above 100 micrograms per cubic meter.

Environmental experts said that the air-quality monitoring station on Session Road makes an hourly recording, adding there is an up and down patter, but it does not show a regular trend.

The only stable readings recorded by the state-of-the-art monitoring equipment is during rush hours in the morning and in the afternoon which are above the normal air-quality level.

Vehicle emissions are the main pollutants in the central business district over the past several decades.

Based on a study conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), taxicabs and private vehicles cause most of the pollution in the area, contrary to claims that the public utility jeepneys are causing the tremendous increase in air pollution.

DENR officials said that the worsening air quality in the city’s central business district and the rapidly deteriorating air quality in other parts of the city must be given preferential attention by local and national government agencies.

The EMB recommended improvement in the traffic management of the city and the apprehension of smoke belchers. Vehicle owners are also asked to take it upon themselves to have their vehicles regularly checked to prevent smoke belching.

Moreover, it was stated the worsening air pollution in the city and the absence of anti-smoke belching measures must be a cause for alarm among the newly elected local officials.

Aside from the unabated issuance of franchises to public utility vehicles by the Department of Transportation and Communication and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), another factor that causes the worsening air quality in the city is the rapid deforestation of forest and watershed reservation caused by urbanization. -- Dexter See


‘Public bidding over city public lots maybe scrapped’
BY DEXTER A SEE

BAGUIO CITY – The registration of alienable and disposable lands, which are part of the Baguio Townsite Reservation, in the name of the city is not confiscatory and neither would it deprive vested rights but instead it would facilitate the speedy disposition of public lands to qualified occupants and beneficiaries as the mandatory public bidding for the granting of Townsite Sales Applications (TSAs) may be dispensed with.

City Rep. Mauricio G. Domogan bared this adding legitimate ancestral lands and titled properties are not covered in the proposed amendments to the Charter of Baguio City as embodied in House Bill (HB) 3617, like most, if not all, the lands in San Carlos, Irisan, for these are covered by titles and therefore not alienable and not disposable.
While it is true that Judge Fernando Vil Pamintuan of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 3 here has rendered a decision, which in substance declares the titles of the land in San Carlos as null and void for the reason that the same are forest reserves, Domogan said the said decision has not yet attained finality.

Even granting that the said decision will attain finality finally declaring them as forest reserves, the lawmaker pointed out that the lands are not alienable and not disposable and therefore not covered by the proposed revision of the City Charter and unless reclassified as alienable and disposable, the same cannot be the subject of acquisition by private individuals.

He welcomed the submission of various proposals to improve the revision of the century-old charter and that all proposals must be submitted to his office on or before July 15, 2007.

The former council passed a resolution supporting the revision of the City Charter under HB 3617 after the conduct of a series of information drive relative thereto.

Section 2, Article II of the bill provides that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall issue original certificate of titles (OCTs) in the name of the city government covering the finally surveyed alienable and disposable public lands.

Domogan disclosed that the areas identified for residential purposes shall be awarded and the titles transferred to actual and/or qualified applicants for reasonable consideration, which in no case exceed the appraisal rate arrived at by applying the method or formula being followed by the DENR in the determination of the consideration of the sale of alienable and disposable public lands similarly situated.

A committee composed of the city mayor, as chairman, the chairman of the committee on lands, housing and relocation of the city council, as vice-chairman, the city planning and development coordinator, the Register of Deeds and the city assessor as members, shall award the disposable residential lots to actual and/or qualified applicants in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the city council.

Domogan said ancestral lands recognized under Section 78 of Republic Act (RA) 8371, known as the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act,” are considered as private properties or lands which are not part of the alienable and disposable public lands and therefore not covered by the amendments.

Under the revised charter, the city shall conduct a massive subdivision survey of all its alienable and disposable public lands which are part of its townsite reservation in accordance with its land use development plan, segregating therein the areas for public use, such as, but not limited to road systems, greenbelt areas, playground lots, health center sites, school sites and the like; provided, that the needs and interest of the city and its barangays shall have priority over the private persons.

The minimum area to be awarded to a TSA applicant should not exceed 1,000 square meters as prescribed under the rules.


John Hay exec deputized as DPWH building official

BAGUIO CITY -- The Department of Public Works and Highways has deputized a John Hay Management Corp. executive as a building official to ensure faster processing of building permits and other related papers for locators, investors and building owners at Camp John Hay here.

Acting DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan appointed as building official Ken Aquilet, a civil engineer, with concurrent position as technical services manager.

The designation of Aquilet was viewed by JHMC executives and economic zone locators as JHMC’s response to the need for “seamless processing of building-related permits and documents.”

“We want to make sure that we will not experience delay in the development of Camp John Hay,” said JHMC vice president and chief operating officer Lyssa Pagano Calde, who noted the steady entry of locators in the economic zone in this mountain resort city.

Like other government building officials of cities, and municipalities, Aquilet will issue building permits and conduct annual inspections of buildings in Camp John Hay. He is also responsible for enforcing the provision of the National Building Code as well as its implementing rules and regulations the Camp John Hay property.

What makes Aquilet different from local government building officials, Calde said, is that Aquilet is an inhouse building official of Camp John Hay, and “it is expected that he will act fast in the execution of his functions.”

JHMC is the first BCDA subsidiary with a deputized building official.

With Aquilet’s new position, activities at JHMC’s One-Stop Action Center, established earlier, is more coordinated and efficient, Calde said, adding that JHMC is now be better prepared for the expected influx of new locators and investors.

As the estate manager of the John Hay Special Economic Zone, JHMC is set to transform Camp John Hay, the former rest and recreation facility of American troops stationed in the country, into a premier tourist and investment destination in Northern Luzon.

JHMC is a subsidiary of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority which was created by law to supervise the conversion and development of the former US military bases like Camp John Hay, Poro Point in LA Union, Clark Air Field in Pampanga, Fort Bonifacio and Villamor Air Base in Metro Manila. – Dexter A. See