Mandaue City reclaims 17 hectares of disputed property

Mandaue City’s demolition team seizes the disputed property in Barangay Paknaan.

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Mandaue City reclaimed about 17 hectares of land in Barangay Paknaan on Thursday, August 25, which is alleged to be illegally claimed.

Personnel from the City Assessor’s Office, and Housing Urban and Development Office, among others, visited the area and put a notice that it is city-owned.

Lawyer Julius Caesar Entise, the acting city assessor, said the lot is owned by the city government pursuant to Republic Act 5519 or the Charter of Mandaue City.

Entise said the foreshore lease agreement between the government and Pastora Senerpida had already expired in 2002. It was used as a fishpond before.

“I did explain to her through a written writing, nga ma’am dili man na inyohang yuta tinuod amoang lola naay tax declaration but the tax declaration is merely for taxation purposes it is not equivalent to title, kana si Pastora nakakuha na og tax declaration because in 1977 nakakuha og foreshore lease gikan sa siyudad, nag-abang sa siyudad gigamit og fishpond,” said Entise.

However, in a phone interview with reporters, Maria Priscilla, the heiress of Pastora claimed that the classification of the lot has been changed sometime in 1980. It is not classified as foreshore land anymore.

“Ilaha nang sige og balik-balik ang RA 5519 which is using the Mandaue City Charter but that doesn’t hold anymore because naa namay land classification starting December 9, 1980, it is not foreshore land anymore,” said Priscilla.

Priscilla said that the demolition that was conducted by the city government was unfair to her because they allegedly did not follow the guidelines.

“There are requirements for the demolition and there should be a pre-demolition conference, it never happened, there is no court order, naa man na sa DILG memorandum circular no. 2014-82,” she added.

However, Entise stressed that the city government has the right to conduct the demolition of structures that do not have a permit even without a court order.

“Nangayo sila og court order, actually if we’re going to look at the local government code, ang mayor has the authority to caused the demolition of the structures without permit, naa na’s local government code, dili kinahanglan magpafile ta’s korte, kung imo’ng building walay permit, if walay fencing permit pwede ipademolish, that is the basis of this action,” said Entise.

Priscilla said she has already filed cases of grave abuse of authority and trespassing against some city government officials before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The city government planned to use the lot to build temporary shelters or relocation sites.

Entise said since 2015 when the area was reclaimed by another claimant, the waters cannot pass through the sea which could pose danger to residents.    /rcg

ALSO READ: 

Mandaue retakes property illegally claimed by private entities