Busol settlers seek segregation of forest reserve portion

April 17, 2021 Metro BLISTT

A federation of residents is lobbying for the segregation of an inhabited portion of the Busol watershed forest reserve as their residential area. Atty. Bernard Padang, Overall Coordinator of the federation, revealed on April 13 during the city council’s regular session that they had communicated with Congressman Marquez Go, the city’s lone district representative, pleading him to file a bill in the congress for the segregation of the heavily populated Workingmen’s Village from the forest reservation.
Led by various representatives of the four ancestral land claimants in the area, representatives of barangay organizations, and punong barangays of the affected barangays, the Ambiong-Baguio, East Bayan, Brookspoint, Pacdal, and Peripheries (ABEBBPAP) Federation was established in March 2019 as an informal organization to attend to the specific and collective needs of the communities within and near the said forest reserve.
The Workingmen’s Village stretches to some parts of Barangays Ambiong-Baguio, East Bayan, Brookspoint, and Pacdal. The federation asserts that, for decades, this portion has been resided by the descendants of four claimants namely Gumangan, Molintas, Kalomis, and Rafael whose land claims are believed to have preceded the enactment of Proclamation No. 15.
The federation further claims that Proclamation No. 15 which proclaimed the Busol Forest Reservation as such categorically mentions and recognizes the land claims over the reservation. It can be remembered however that, in 2014, the Supreme Court, in its decision on the case filed by the City Government of Baguio against then NCIP-CAR Regional Hearing Officer Brain Masweng, stated that Proclamation No. 15 does not appear to be a definitive recognition of ancestral land claims.
The Supreme Court’s decision further stated that 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.”
Moreover, City Building Official Arch. Johnny Degay pointed out that the Supreme Court had concluded in its decision in 2014 that the declaration of the Busol Forest Reservation prevents its conversion into a private property.
The federation begged the city officials to consider their plight, stressing that the only way to protect the residents with legitimate land claims is for the inhabited portion to be segregated from the forest reservation.
“We are appealing for the segregation of the inhabited portion of the reservation so as to dispel any further external discriminations as well as hardships and pain in the localities,” Padang said. The Busol watershed’s 224 hectares is situated within the jurisdiction of La Trinidad, Benguet while the 112 hectares is located within the jurisdiction of the city. Padang stated that the parcel of land being sought to be segregated covers only about 18% to 20% of the part of the watershed that is located within the city.
Padang informed the city council of Proclamation No. 202, s. 1987 which sought to exclude from the operation of Proclamation No. 15 certain parcels of land (Lots G, H, I, and J) situated within the forest reservation, open to disposition under the provisions of the Public Land Act. Proclamation No. 202, however, was suspended thereafter by virtue of Proclamation No. 239, s. 1988 due to the strong opposition of different entities, Padang said.
The city council in a resolution advised the federation to initiate the formulation of a land use plan which would substantiate or support the federation’s proposal to Congressman Go for the filing of a bill segregating the inhabited portion of the forest reservation. The council further advised the federation to seek the assistance of the City Planning and Development Office for the creation of the said land use plan.
The council likewise passed a separate resolution requesting the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples- Cordillera Administrative Region to act on the pending Certificates of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) applications of the original settlers in the said area. Councilor Fred Bagbagen, meanwhile, recommended that the matter be referred to the City Legal Office for the latter to study whether any legislative measure to segregate a portion of the forest reservation for human settlement is legally feasible.
Jordan G. Habbiling/ABN