PEZA, city gov’t to clear buildings in 69-hectare lot covered by ancestral titles

 BAGUIO CITY – The State-owned Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and city government will be working with concerned government agencies and indigenous peoples (IPs) in the city to clear the zone’s 69-hectare property covered by a Presidential Proclamation from “illegal settlers” for expansion of the Baguio City Economic Zone (BCEZ).

Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said the city government will start ascertain number of affected residents and determine solutions to the problem.

Reports said a number of residents in the area are indigenous peoples of the Ibaloi tribe who have native titles over the area.

He added the city government will also probe reports some claimants of the property who sold parts of the land owned by the zone and covered by presidential decree.

PEZA Director General Charito Plaza had called on the local government to assist the zone administration in clearing the property of illegal settlers to expand locators and accommodate more companies that have signified their intention to invest in the BCEZ.

According to Plaza, the 33 locators and 53 service companies operating in the BCEZ occupy only 28 hectares of its proclaimed property considering that more than 30 hectares of the same had already been occupied by informal settlers that impeded expansion projects.

The PEZA official said zone officers were willing to sit down with local government, concerned government agencies and IPs with legitimate domain titles to craft solutions for relocation of settlers to a public property.

She added IPs would also be tapped as PEZA’s partners in attracting more investors in the zone where the IPs will be the private developer of the economic zone that will be applied with the government as regulator.

She disclosed that PEZA was successful in partnering with the IPs in Agusan del Sur that caused the establishment of the economic zone within their ancestral domain and that the IPs are now earning substantial income from the operation of locators considering the influx of companies that are interested to operate in established economic zones for the same to be able to avail of the privileges and incentives granted to locators within economic zones.

Plaza said if PEZA was successful in tapping the IPs to be PEZA’s partners in the establishment of economic zones in Mindanao, then it will also be possible for PEZA to partner with the Ibalois, who are the original claimants of portions of the BCEZ, to facilitate the possible expansion of the existing zone that will attract the influx of more locators as there are many companies that have signified to operate in the city but the absence of adequate land area within the zone is hampering the eventual operation of the said companies that will open job opportunities for local residents, added revenue to the national and local governments, increase in the sources of livelihood of the people and spur economic growth within the area among others.