Baguio gov’t set to start crackdown vs squatting
>> Tuesday, July 23, 2019
By Aileen P. Refuerzo
BAGUIO
CITY – The city government is set to start a crackdown against illegal squatting
and structures in this summer capital.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong assumed chairmanship
of the city’s anti-squatting and anti-illegal structures committee tasked to
head action on complaints and issues on illegal structures, illegal activities
of professional squatters and squatting syndicates.
In Executive Order No. 21-2019, the mayor
retained members City Legal Office, City Building and Architecture Office,
Baguio City Police Office Director, Presidential Commission on Urban Poor
representative and the Public Order and Safety Division chief.
The mayor also retained restructured procedures
and guidelines in the demolition of illegal structures as spelled out in
Administrative Order No. 72 series of 2013 of former mayor Mauricio Domogan
save for the involvement of the POSD in the investigation which was now fully
relegated to the CBAO.
As per the approved process, complaints
for alleged illegal constructions will be filed with the CBAO which will
conduct an investigation on the complaint based on their own investigation
procedures.
The city imposes different demolition
procedures depending on the circumstances of the structures being complained.
For ongoing illegal constructions
situated on titled properties or areas covered by an order of award, the owner
of the structure if he happens to also be the owner or awardee of the lot will be
given 60 days to legalize his structure.
Otherwise, the owner will be charged for
violation of Presidential Decree 1096 and the structure will be subject for
demolition.
For illegal structures built on lots not
owned by the structure owner and for structures built on unregistered lots, the
structure owner will be asked to discontinue the construction or dismantle the
structure within 24 hours.
If the owner refuses, then the city will
undertake the demolition and file a criminal complaint against the owner.
For illegal structures completed or built
after January 1, 2006, the same procedure apply for those where the owner of
the structure is also the owner of the lot if the lot is titled while for those
who do not own the titled lot and for those who built on unregistered lots, the
investigation report will be endorsed to the anti-squatting committee for
deliberation and appropriate action.
For structures built within the right of
way of national roads, the complaint will be endorsed to the Dept. of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) Baguio City Engineering District pursuant to Dept.
Order No. 52 while those built on public places, right of way of city or
barangay roads and danger areas, forest reservations, water reservation and
similar areas, the investigation report and notices of violations will be
endorsed to the city administrator for immediate issuance of demolition order.
Appropriate offices will be tasked to
issue the certifications regarding the location of the structure.
"All complaints not covered by the
order shall be dismissed without prejudice to the parties taking alternative
legal remedies... However, even if the complained illegal structure was
constructed prior to January 1, 2006 if the same is already the subject of an
issued Demolition Order and a case has been filed in court, the said complaint
shall not be dismissed to allow the case already filed in court to continue
until its judicial determination and resolution," the order notes.
As to the guidelines for the
implementation of demolition orders to be implemented by the city demolition
team, the owner of the property subject of the demolition order will be duly
notified by furnishing him a copy of the Demolition Advice and Demolition Order
at least 30 days before the date of demolition.
The implementation of the order will be
done in coordination with the BCPO.
The following safeguards will be complied
with: Notice through the Demolition Advice at least 30 days prior to the date
of demolition; Proper identification of all persons taking part in the
demolition; execution of demolition will be done only during regular office
hours from Mondays to Fridays except during inclement weather and disasters
unless the affected parties consent otherwise; no use of heavy equipment for
demolition except for permanent and concrete structures; and use of proper
uniforms for PNP who should occupy the first line of law enforcement and
observe proper disturbance control procedures; and all those provided in
Republic Act 7279.
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