Folks accuse Sagada execs of land grabbing

By Dexter A. See

SAGADA, Mountain Province – The local government here is being accused by some private property owners of land grabbing after the municipal council approved the conversion of their real estate as public property.

Ordinance No. 01-2009 declared five hectares out of the 24-hectare private property which hosts the Kiltepan Picnic Ground and View Deck as a community park and recognizing the same as public property and is beyond private appropriation.

But some sectors raised an uproar over the council action, which they alleged as land grabbing, since the same was private property over the past four decades, thus, the intention of suddenly declaring it a park was highly questionable and irregular.

Ordinance No. 01-2009 cited the Kiltepan Picnic Grounds and View Deck for a long period of time has been used by the general public, particularly the community of Sagada as a picnic, viewing and even an area where they conduct rituals.

Being a picnic ground, the Kiltepan property has been open to the public in the celebration of community, private, and family affairs without any restrictions.

But some property owners in the town believe the declaration of the Kiltepan property as a public park was ill-advised considering there were legitimate owners of the same who had been religiously maintaining the picnic grounds and view decks as well as open the same to the public in order to boost the town’s booming tourism industry.

If the municipal government succeeds in taking the property from the private owners, other legitimate property owners in the town fear the local government will not spare them.

Despite the snowballing public outrage on alleged land grabbing acts of local officials, the ordinance mandated the municipal assessor’s office to cause the survey of the area and register the same in the name of the municipal government as the administrator and owner.

Furthermore, the municipal assessor was directed to refuse any other application for survey, application for declaration and revision of any private declaration that will tend to take possession of the area covered by the property.

Since 1965, the 24-hectare land within the jurisdiction of Kiltepan has been declared under the ownership of Simon Lam-en, the father of the late Mountain Province Assemblyman and Gov. Alfredo Gayagay Lam-en which negates the contention of the local government the same is a public property for a long period of time.

The taxes of the property had been religiously paid by the owners which is an indication that they really have possession of the property.