Tabuk City, Kalinga – The order of then Mayor Marcelo dela Cruz to demolish houses and huts of alleged squatters in Malapiat, San Pascual, Rizal on June 25, 2007, where nine persons were killed and 10 others were injured, was based on a defective ordinance.
Some of the settlers in the disputed land obtained their lots in good faith but there is a group led by a Butbut tribesman which entered the land through force.
These are the two of the key findings contained in the report of the Task Force Malapiat (TFM), the body tasked by the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) to get into the bottom of the bloody demolition.
Some of the settlers in the disputed land obtained their lots in good faith but there is a group led by a Butbut tribesman which entered the land through force.These are the two of the key findings contained in the report of the Task Force Malapiat (TFM), the body tasked by the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) to get into the bottom of the bloody demolition.
It was learned that Ordinance No. 2005-05 prohibiting land squatting in Rizal does not provide for demolition as a course of action against offenders. It only provides for a fine of P5,000.00 or imprisonment for one month or both at the discretion of the court as penalties for violators. Said municipal ordinance was declared by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), a provincial legislative body, in its Resolution No. 2005-03, operative on condition that the same be amended to the effect that it provides for summary demolition of illegal structures after due process but Rizal LGU failed to comply with such directive.
Consequently, the TFM has urged the SP not to approve municipal ordinances unless the corrections it has order are incorporated, for local chief executives not to issue demolition orders without following procedural due process, and for policemen to observe rules and procedures in providing police assistance in demolitions.
Regarding its objective to determine the rightful owners of the disputed land, the TFM found the following among others: the existence of a memorandum of agreement dated 1988 between some members of the Butbut tribe with Jeremias Cariaga, Sr., Vicente Felipe and Catalina Lapada allowing the occupation by the Butbot tribe of certain parcels of land in Malapiat; some members of the Mabaca and Naneng tribes bought their lots in good faith from either Vicente Felipe or Rufino Sapote; some members of the Butbot tribe obtained their lands from Vicente Felipe through waiver except the group of Emiliano Macad who forcibly occupied portion of agricultural land awarded to Buenaventura Sarga and his assigns.
In View of the findings, the TFM recommended the reactivation of the Susana Realty, Inc. Task Force (SRITF), headed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), which was previously created to effect the execution of the court decision on Civil Cases No. 29 and 244,and to include an arbitration body that will resolve all conflicts that may arise in the delineation of the remaining awarded areas.
Consequently, the TFM has urged the SP not to approve municipal ordinances unless the corrections it has order are incorporated, for local chief executives not to issue demolition orders without following procedural due process, and for policemen to observe rules and procedures in providing police assistance in demolitions.
Regarding its objective to determine the rightful owners of the disputed land, the TFM found the following among others: the existence of a memorandum of agreement dated 1988 between some members of the Butbut tribe with Jeremias Cariaga, Sr., Vicente Felipe and Catalina Lapada allowing the occupation by the Butbot tribe of certain parcels of land in Malapiat; some members of the Mabaca and Naneng tribes bought their lots in good faith from either Vicente Felipe or Rufino Sapote; some members of the Butbot tribe obtained their lands from Vicente Felipe through waiver except the group of Emiliano Macad who forcibly occupied portion of agricultural land awarded to Buenaventura Sarga and his assigns.
In View of the findings, the TFM recommended the reactivation of the Susana Realty, Inc. Task Force (SRITF), headed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), which was previously created to effect the execution of the court decision on Civil Cases No. 29 and 244,and to include an arbitration body that will resolve all conflicts that may arise in the delineation of the remaining awarded areas.
The TFM also requested the SP to pass a resolution urging President GMA to direct the three agencies to speed up the delineation of the disputed land and release the funds needed for the purpose.
The TFM also wants the plaintiffs and intervenors in the two civil cases, speculators and other claimants of the area who have been selling land that do not belong to them and also squatters prosecuted.
The TFM also wants the plaintiffs and intervenors in the two civil cases, speculators and other claimants of the area who have been selling land that do not belong to them and also squatters prosecuted.
Regarding the findings that the settlers procured firearms in their desire to protect their property rights, the TFM recommended that the negotiation component of the task force to dialogue with settlers to allow the inspection of their houses for possible firearms. The TFM also recommended the establishment of police detachment in Malapiat.
Due to its findings that 31 huts and houses in Malapiat were razed during the demolition and that there are now four unfinished and newly constructed huts in the area, the TFM recommended the placement of the area under the custody of the SRITF and that there will be no construction of houses and no cultivation of the land until the final delineation and resolution of all land conflicts have been accomplished.
(Note: The photo above shows former mayor Marcelo dela Cruz defending his case before the Malapiat Task Force's investigation last month.)
Blogged with Flock
No comments:
Post a Comment