Public warned on subdivision scams in Baguio City, Benguet

BY DEXTER A SEE

BAGUIO CITY -- Buyers of properties within subdivisions in this mountain resort city and nearby municipalities of Benguet were warned not to be hoodwinked into giving money to developers who do not have the appropriate license to sell from the Housing, Land use Regulatory Board covering their prospective subdivisions.

This developed after concerned individuals formally filed before the HLURB-CAR a letter complaint stating that Vision Heights Realty and Development Corporation are allegedly collecting the so-called “commitment fees” for their Villa Lubos subdivision project located at Lower Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet without any necessary permits to do so.

Prospective lot buyers in the said subdivision are allegedly being asked to pay so-called “commitment fees” in the amount of P5,000 and P10,000, respectively over a certain area at the Villa Lubos subdivision.

In case of withdrawal, the P10,000 commitment fee is subjected to a 10 percent surcharge while the P5,000 commitment fee is considered to be non-refundable.

Worst, the complainants disclosed that when they decided to withdraw the commitment fees that they paid to the company, they were eventually issued checks amounting to P9,000 which eventually turned out to be drawn against a closed account.

Ironically, the developer allegedly cut down over 30 trees and started earth-moving activities in their subdivision project even without the required tree cutting permit and Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), respectively.

Furthermore, the subdivision project does not have an approved conversion of the land from agricultural to residential which will be issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). Granting that the developer has pending applications for the issuance of the necessary permits from the concerned government agencies, the complainants emphasized that they are not still authorized to collect fees from their buyers due to the absence of a license to sell from the HLURB.
The developer intends to build 260 residential units within the four-hectare property and they are still on the process of applying for re-classification from agricultural to residential as well as a development permit with the municipal government.

In a related development, hundreds of residents, stakeholders and ancestral land claimants of Wangal have registered their vehement opposition to the project since it would surely devastate the environment of the barangay especially the Wangal river which have become creamy due to the tons of debris coming from the project site.

The cited that some barangay officials allegedly signed some documents favoring the presence of the project but some have reportedly signified their intention to withdraw their signatures because they were not fully informed of the consequences of the project and that there signatures were taken from their individual residences instead of the proposal being taken up in a council meeting where the proposal could have been properly discussed.

The petitioners explained that the subdivision project would have a drastic impact on the environment, economic and social well-being of the community since the property is located at the foot of Mount Aduyen and below it is a creek which is one of the tributaries of the Wangal river.
The petitioners alleged that the sudden increase of population in the area with the subdivision project would hastily deplete whatever little natural resources that the people have been enjoying such as water, fuel among others.

The residents expressed concern over the peace and order situation since the increase of population would surely result to the increase in crimes brought about by the increase in migrants from other places and other tribes.

The community asked the DAR to deny the conversion of the land from agricultural to residential, the municipal government not to approve the re-classification from agricultural to residential and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) not to approve the ECC and the tree cutting permit and the national Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to take into consideration the opposition of the indigenous peoples to the project.

However, the residents welcomed the introduction of development in the area if the property would be subdivided into farm lots and be maintained as agricultural land and nature and that the steep portions would remain as forest and open spaces.