Busol settlers oppose fencing of watershed

4,500 folks, 758 structures affected 

By Jordan G. Habbiling

BAGUIO CITY -- Residents within Busol Watershed here appealed to the City Council to reconsider a proposed ordinance to fence the forest reservation in Baguio side covered by proclamation no. 15 affecting 4,500 residents, 758 buildings and residences.
    The proposed ordinance seeks to establish, maintain, protect and conserve identified communal forests, watersheds, parks, tree parks, spring lots, greenbelts, urban green zones and similar forest development projects in the city.
    The Baguio side is one of reservations identified by the proposed ordinance.
    Section 3 of the proposed ordinance states all identified areas shall be “fenced-off” and signages indicating that these are protected areas shall be put up. 
    Inhabitants, occupants and land claimants of Busol Forest Reservation Baguio side and members of the            Ambiong-Baguio, East Bayan, Brookspoint, Pacdal and Peripheries Federation submitted to the Baguio City Council their position paper opposing inclusion of the entire forest reservation as a protected area to be fenced. 
    The position paper said the proposed ordinance requiring fencing of the reservation and with no limit or restriction, flexibility, guidelines, or qualifications is “distressing, causing too much anxiety and pain, too dangerous, and totally provocative.”
    “Imagine your own existing dwelling or similar property very dear to you being fenced against your will and with a matching signage installed thereat,” the position paper read.
    According to the position paper, the proposed ordinance would “only weaken the capacity and chance of those inhabitants including the ancestral land claimants to pursue whatever rights or claims, remaining or in the future, they have over the place.” 
    The position paper said fencing and installation of signages should only focus on and limited to wholly unoccupied portions of the forest reservation.
    It called for a declaration or statement by the city government recognizing existing human communities in the area.
     “The proposed ordinance should not prejudice the legitimate pursuits of Baguio side inhabitants including ancestral land claimants of their rights and claims,” the position paper said.
    The Baguio side straddles four barangays Pacdal, Ambiong-Baguio, East Bayan Park and Brookspoint.
    According to the ABEBBPAP Federation, there are 758 residential structures within Baguio area with the most in number in Pacdal and Ambiong-Baguio.
    The federation claimed there are about 4,500 permanent residents therein with indigenous peoples constituting majority of the population.
    The position paper said the total land area of the Baguio side should be determined accurately.
    It said total land area of the Baguio side is inconclusive as the proposed ordinance claims it to be 112 hectares while the Conservation and Development Division of the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources says it is 83.968 hectares while project map approximates area as 82.4617 hectares.
    In a public consultation held last August 22, City Environment and Natural Resources Office Baguio said Busol had been delineated and surveyed and data and management plan already transmitted to the City Environment Park and Management Office.
    In April 2021, some structures within the area were dismantled by the city's demolition team. 
    The ABEBBPAP Federation lobbied to the city council and Rep. Marquez Go for segregation of the heavily populated portion of the Baguio side.
    The federation said for decades, this portion had been resided by descendants of four clan claimants namely Gumangan, Molintas, Kalomis and Rafael whose land claims are believed to have preceded the enactment of Proclamation No. 15.
    The federation claimed Proclamation No. 15 mentions and recognizes land claims of inhabitants within the reservation.
    The Supreme Court, in its 2014 decision, said Proclamation No. 15 does not appear to be a definitive recognition of ancestral land claims. 
    The Supreme Court’s decision ruled the proclamation “merely identifies the Molintas and Gumangan families as claimants of a portion of the Busol Forest Reservation but does not acknowledge vested rights over the same.”
    The federation urged city officials to consider their plight, saying the only way to protect residents with legitimate land claims is for the inhabited portion to be segregated from the forest reservation.