Investigate this Laiya LGU

AMEMBER of the local government unit (LGU) of San Juan, Batangas, is embroiled in a controversy over a land dispute between landowners and resort operators on one side, and the illegal settlers on the other side regarding the town’s tourism hub in Barangay Laiya, Batangas.

The official is accused of being insensitive to calls of landowners to persuade illegal settlers to move peacefully to a nearby relocation village, developed to avoid the need to implement a court-ordered demolition.

So prevalent is the influence of the New People’s Army and its allied leftist groups over San Juan that they continue to prevent the tourism development of four privately-owned resorts. They backed the erection of shanties along the highway on the resorts’ perimeter fences.

Instead of helping, the official reportedly sided with the illegal settlers and incited them to rise against the landowners and resort owners. He is also being accused of allowing the left-leaning groups and their armed men to enter Laiya and provoke the illegal settlers.

Last July 23, the illegal settlers killed two unarmed, uniformed security guards manning a resort. A week later, the Philippine Army following an encounter with the NPA, recovered firearms, improvised explosive devices (pressure detonated; prohibited by international convention) and a Macbook containing two terabytes of subversive data — thus validating suspicions of collaboration between local officials and the NPA.

Earlier in March, a barangay captain who is a caretaker of a landowner was killed and the communists proudly claimed this in the Philippine Revolutionary Web Central (PRWC) online site.

So why is this LGU not focusing on his town’s problems? Is it because — according to allegations reaching the townsfolk — he frequently visits a casino in Manila and might be betting protection money collected from illegal settlers?

The good people of San Juan, Batangas hope that proper authorities will investigate this officail on all these charges and make him accountable if proven guilty.

They believe that the task of removing the leftist and NPA mass base community from Laiya should squarely fall on his shoulders “since he allegedly allowed its creation in the first place.”