Senator: ‘We need to Bizman seeks Porac officials’ suspend Train Law’ aid on alleged land grabbing

ANGELES CITY — A prominent businessman here has sought the assistance of Porac town officials to stop a group of individuals who allegedly occupied portions of his golf course and residential estate.

Ruperto Cruz, owner of the Royal Garden Golf and Country Club, sent two separate letters to Porac Mayor Condralito “Carling” Dela Cruz and the municipal council headed by Vice Mayor Dexter David.

In his letter to Dela Cruz dated August 17, 2018, Cruz stated that a group of men and women are “illegally tilling, planting and going in and out of his property.”

“They destroyed the fence in such a way that we lost security feature inside the whole subdivision. Intruders go in and out of our premises. We also lost lights, wires, and other construction materials,” Cruz told the mayor.

The businessman stated that he sought the assistance of leaders of Barangay Santa Cruz, where portions of the golf course are situated, but to no avail. “They (barangay officials) said it is not in their jurisdict i on.”

Cruz asked Dela Cruz in particular to prevent in what he described as “wrong doings of land grabbing” in a legal way.

“If we allow these people to go on with their wrong doings, it will deprive workers of permanent jobs and jeopardize the construction of a hospital with 120 beds similar to Saint Lukes and Makati Medical Center, a European replica chapel and the establishment of an special economic zone which is expected to generate large scale employment for the town,” Cruz st at ed.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino on Monday said that he is pushing for the urgent suspension of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law on basic goods and gasoline products.

“We’re hoping to get action soon since the whole country is ‘drowning’and is dire need of it [suspension] already,” Aquino said.

Aquino said that Train has a domino effect on the poor who cannot cope up with rising prices of tax-imposed products.

“Since the ‘Ber’months are fast approaching, we expect another price increase, and this has to stop,” Aquino added.

Aquino said that the a solution must be found before December this year.

“We need to have a decision from government so that we can give what the public wants, which is to stop the Train Law,” Aquino said.

The group are also trying to occupy a portion of the property which was donated to institutions including the Bahay Pag Ibig for the elderly, Bantay Bata orphanage, and Indu, according to Cruz.

He asked the mayor to act swiftly as the incident will send a wrong signal to investors and locators in the area.

“Businessmen may shy away and invest somewhere else. It can deprive our future doctors, nurses, construction workers and permanent employees inside the facility,” Cruz said.

The businessman also informed the local chief executive that golf course management secured all pertinent documents in a legal process.

“Porac is lucky to have such hospital, economic zone, golf course, tourist oriented and industrial facilities,” Cruz stated.

In the same letter, the businessman said that they are “helping Porac change its local image into first class city and productivity to lessen the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“Agri-business is essential but will not increase Porac’s revenues and change its global image,” Cruz told Dela Cruz.

The businessman sent a similar letter to the town’s council.