CIAC starts clearing Clark aviation area
CLARK FREEPORT — The Clark International Airport Corpo ration (CIAC) has started clearing the civil aviation com plex of informal settlers to give way for the construction of a new passenger terminal that can accommodate eight million passengers annually.
CIAC stated that it initiated the move after exhausting all legal remedies, including a series of dialogues and notices through the year s.
The CIAC Committee on Informal Settlers (CIS) started the process of clearing settlers at the area called Group 4 located along
the north side of Clark airport’s existing passenger terminal and alongside Mabalacat road and the old Ammo Dump.
This area is where the private company GMRMegawide will build the access road network for Clark airport’s New Passenger Terminal Building Project.
The CIS was created by CIAC management in August 2016 and is composed of heads of the Aviation Security Department, Emergency Services Department, Airport Operations and Management Group, Community Relations Department, Safety and Environmental Management Office, and the Corporate Communications Office, along with representatives from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Philippine National Police Aviation Security Command, and GMR-Megawide.
The CIAC-CIS will also seek the assistance of the local government unit of Mabalacat City, especially its social welfare desk, and of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) in augmenting CIAC’s security personnel.
Prior to this, numerous dialogues were conducted since 2009 with these settlers in the hope of amicable settlements, but to no avail.
Several notices of eviction were also served to heads of families in the occupied areas.
Top CIAC management reiterated that the land occupied measuring around 12 hectares is part of the Clark Freeport and not an agricultural land and the settlers present in the area are not farmers.
The CIAC management also said that this time, these settlers may have to relocate elsewhere as they have been unlawfully occupying and even profiting from their crops, livestock and fruit-bearing trees using government-owned lands for several years now.
The continued increase of activities in these areas pose serious hazard to airport operations as farm produce attract birds and the likelihood of bird strikes also increase especially that Clark airport is now registering 440 flights per week, the state-run corporation added.
The CIAC management also gave clear instructions to the CIS and to all those involved in the process to exercise maximum tolerance and to ensure the orderly manner of clearing operations.
Earlier, the CIAC-CIS created a policy approved by the CIAC Board for the grant of financial assistance to the affected individuals in reference to a previous policy implemented by CIAC in 2009 when it cleared informal settlers in the area of IE-5 or where the Clark Global City stands now.
In 2009, some of these settlers received financial assistance from CIAC after a thorough evaluation by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) of the produce (fruits and crops) in the said areas.
They were also made to sign a quit claim which states that they are to vacate the premises and, together with their families, are prohibited to plant trees and crops within the entire freeport.
In 2017, the affected informal settlers, represented by their association CABCOM, sought the assistance of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and conducted a series of dialogues with CIAC and BCDA to discuss several issues.
Concerns raised include the valuation of compensable trees, a separate financial assistance on the land occupied by informal settlers, and CIAC’s standing policy on prohibiting the entry of farm equipment and machineries on the affected areas, and CIAC’s offer of financial assistance.
On November 7, 2017, an article was published in the Manila Bulletin citing the audit observations of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the 2016 Annual Financial Report of CIAC, particularly, the “lapses in security and absence of policies” in the management of illegal settlers, and COA’s recommendation that CIAC must take action against the security agency tasked to secure the Clark Civil Aviation Complex (CCAC) for the unabated entry of illegal settlers.
The clearing process started in November 2017 with CIAC’s payment of financial assistance based on a Boardapproved policy.
But CIAC then sought the opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) on the matter.
On September 7, 2018, the OGCC opined that affected informal settlers are qualified to receive their respective financial assistance despite their relatives having signed quit claim in 2009.
However, the OGCC also opined that the Board-approved policy on the determination of financial assistance based on the number of trees and crops planted as evaluated by the DA and DENR has no basis in law.
It was also stated that there are no law covering the payment of financial assistance to informal settlers occupying lands owned by government.