Resort owners cry‘land grabbing’

SAN FELIPE, Zambales: Legitimate resort owners and operators in this coastal municipality deplore the alleged land grabbing incidents which they said are intimidating their businesses.

Resort owners claimed that there had been incidents of land grabbing in their community, particularly in Sitio Liwliwa, Barangay

Santo Niño, San Felipe, Zambales.

The coastal community is a popular site among tourists, beach goers and campers.

A resort owner who requested anonymity for security reasons said the group is seeking intervention from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through Community Environment and Natural Resources officer Joel Dellosa who has jurisdiction over the area.

The group alleged that there are individuals who “grab as they please the privately owned lands to expand their properties.”

“Many times they ignore the orders to vacate issued by the Cenro and Municipal Engineering Office, which showed deliberate disrespect of the law,” the resort owner said.

The resort owner also claimed that he filed a complaint before the office of the municipal mayor against individuals who erected a concrete fence inside his property.

The group believes that these alleged land grabbers are being protected by government officials who showed interest in the area ever since Liwliwa became a popular swimming area in 2019.

Fearing that they will lose more portions of their properties to land grabbers, resort owners here are also calling on DENR Regional Executive Director Ralph Pablo, Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services Ricky Hernandez, and Dellosa to act on the matter immediately to stop these illegal activities.

“Only with the intervention of the government, through DENR-Cenro, that we can hope that massive land grabbing in our community will be investigated and penalized those who are involved,” the resort owner said.

The group also called on the local government of San Felipe to protect them from the alleged land grabbers.