CEBU CITY, Philippines — A proposed bill lifting the forest reserve declaration on the Camotes Group of Islands is now within the purview of the Senate.
In a news release from the Cebu Capitol, Fifth District Representative Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco was quoted announcing that the proposed legislation which he sponsored has already passed the third reading at the Lower House last Tuesday, August 25, 2020.
Once enacted into law, the proposed legislation, House Bill no. 4785, would lift the forest reserve declaration hoisted of the island group in northern Cebu in 1981, which has since prevented its residents from exercising their ownership of their lands.
The islands of Poro, Ponson, and Pacijan that makeup Camotes Islands are home to the over 100,000 residents of the towns of Pilar, Poro, San Francisco, and Tudela. However, none of the parcels of lands on the islands have titles.
Former president Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Proclamation No. 2152 in 1981, which declared Camotes Island as part of the Mangrove Swamps Forest Reserves hence, these lands causing are deemed as not “alienable and disposable.”
Frasco said he looks forward to the bill’s enactment into law within the next two years.
Frasco said that once the drylands of the island group would be reclassified as alienable and disposable, this will allow the residents to exercise fully their ownership of their lands and finally develop them.
The lifting of the forest reserve declaration, he added, may spur economic activities on the islands as businesses would be more confident to pour investments there.
“Once nga makapa-title na ta sa atong mga yuta diri sa Camotes, that means there’s gonna be more income, more investment, daghan na ang mububo og mga pundo ngari sa atoang Camotes kay kampanti naman sila sa yuta nga ilahang tukuran og development,” Frasco said.
(Once we would be able to have the lands in Camotes titled, there is going to be more income and more investments because several investors would already pour funds here in Camotes as they will be more confident of the land that they are developing.) /bmjo