City pursues BIBAK demolition
THE CITY Building and Architecture Office is preparing for demolition of the Benguet--IfugaoBontoc-ApayaoKalinga (BIBAK) by June 30.
Engineer Nazita Bañez said CBAO is prepared to demolish structures in the area if none have dismantled by the time the deadline expires.
Months ago, a promise to leave amicably has given occupants in the area at least three months to dismantle structures in the lot.
The government has given occupant’s time to dismantle structures in the 7,000 square meter area and set demolition of what remains of the area on July 1.
The Regional Trial Court refused to grant a temporary restraining order to stop the City Government from demolishing structures at the governmentowned lot along Harrison Road where 58 illegal structures which the occupants claimed they have been occupying since 1982 and are members of the marginalized sector.
Domogan said parcels of agricultural land in Long Long, La Trinidad is being eyed for relocation for settlers with talks with valley mayor Romeo Salda progressing to convert the land into residential.
The dismantling operation has been reset several times after the parties took the case to the court and later when the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor intervened for the occupants.
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch V on Oct. 28 last year declared as valid the demolition order issued by the city government and dismissed the two cases filed by the lot occupants aimed at stopping the city government from implementing Demolition Order No. 24 series of 2015.
The same court also denied for the second time the petitioners’ motions for the issuance of a temporary restraining order to hold the demolition.
Last Sept. 9, the court first denied the motion citing earlier rulings that the claimants have no right over the lot and thus over the structures they built on the area because they do not own the lot and their buildings were not authorized by the owner of the lot.
The city wanted to clear the area of the dwellers who the city said do not possess building permits and who are not members of the urban poor and are using their structures for business purposes without care for sanitation and order.
The demolition was also supported by the Regional Development Council-Cordillera Administrative Region (RDC-CAR) and the DENR-CAR which said the “petitioners’ occupation has no legal basis and neither can they qualify as beneficiaries under (Republic Act) No. 10023 (Act Authorizing the Issuance of Free Patents to Residential Lands) because the lot is not alienable and disposable.”