PMA fencing opposed

BAGUIO CITY (October 9, 2021)—- Residents of Purok Ongasan, Loakan Barangay, Baguio City are seeking help from the Baguio City Council on the fencing  by the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) allegedly encroaching portions of their properties.

Bontoc Organization of Purok Ongasan Loakan Inc. President Reynaldo Calaycay said they are appealing to authorities to stop the fencing as their properties where their houses are will be adversely affected.

They stressed that if the PMA project continues, they will have no other way towards their residences.

The Baguio City Council in response has passed a resolution requesting the adminstration of PMA to temporarily halt its fencing project.  This is to address first the plight of the 150 families who are staying in the vicinity where the fencing is being done.

The said lot is included in Proclamation No. 2405, Series of 1985 declaring the part of public domain inside the Fort Gregorio Del Pilar where PMA is as a military reservation. The reservation has an area of 3,731,399 square meters, while the residential lot is 29,631 square meters.

Calaycay insisted that they are occupying the lot for a long time and their parents were already there before World War II and before the establishment of PMA in the area.   He also told the city council that they tried several times to have a dialogue with the administration of the PMA but they got no reply

In 2017, the Pre-Proclamation Committee led by the Housing ang Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) agree and even recommended the segregation of the occupied lot. It also recommended the issuance of a presidential proclamation to the said lot for housing purposes.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Cordillera also issued a survey authority for the conduct of a segregation survey on the lot. The Land Management Services of the DENR Cordillera even provided a segregation plan of the said lot.

Artemio A. Dumlao