FORMER CONG. ALIPING ACQUITTED

October 23, 2021 Headlines

Former Baguio Congressman Nicasio Aliping Jr., who recently filed his candidacy for congressman, was acquitted and not found not guilty for violation of Presidential Decree 705 or the amended Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines in relation with the destruction in April 2014 he allegedly caused on an area in the Mt. Sto. Tomas forest reservation in Tuba, Benguet.
The former congressman, along with William Go, Bernard Capuyan, and Romeo Aquino, was charged for violation of Section 78 of the Revised Forestry Code.
In a 21-page decision issued last Sept. 29, fifth Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Tuba-Sablan Presiding Judge Noe Aquino found Aliping not criminally liable for entering and occupying the forest reservation since the area Aliping occupied, based on records, is considered a private land.
While the parcels of land are proven located within the Mt. Sto. Tomas forest reservation, the court ruled that Proclamation 581, which established the Mt. Sto. Tomas as a forest reserve, recognizes the presence of private rights over the area.
Aliping was able to prove his claim and possession over the lands through tax declarations he obtained in 1960 after purchasing the same from its previous owners.
“As such, even within the forest reserve and since they are private land, the case against him for entering and occupying a forest land has to fail,” Aquino said in the decision.
For the earth-moving activities and improvements like road construction that destroyed trees and vegetation within the property, the court ruled that since the lands are private, it does not fall within the criminal charge under PD 705’s Section 78.
The same court however noted that while Aliping applied for permits for the earth-moving activities, he was not issued an excavation permit and no authority has been issued to him to enter and occupy a portion of the forest reserve.
Aquino added the court is “not unmindful of the paramount importance of the Sto. Tomas Forest Reserve to a safe, healthful, and balanced ecology, not only to the current, but also to the future generations of Filipinos.”
“The government, including the courts, should exert all legal efforts and resort to all legal means to protect this ecological treasure, but the concerned government agencies cannot resort to legal shortcuts.
They may do well heed the order of the Court of Appeals in the writ of kalikasan case to initiate the necessary actions to investigate the issuance of tax declaration covering the areas within the Mt. Sto. Tomas Forest Reserve and take necessary steps for the nullification of illegally issued tax declarations,” the court ruled.
It added only it after these tax declarations have been cancelled and the parcels of land they cover reverted to the government as forest land can the concerned agencies institute criminal or civil actions against the occupants if they continuously refuse to vacate after proper demand.
It can be recalled the former Baguio congressman was charged for excavating a road that destroyed hundreds of trees and polluted a spring in the area.
ABN