PMA to maintain ‘Status Quo’ in Ongasan due to land dispute
The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) has decided to maintain the status quo in Purok Ongasan, Loakan Proper Barangay due to an ongoing land dispute.
In a meeting conducted by the Baguio City Council’s Committee on Urban Planning, Lands, and Housing on August 17, the PMA and the Bontoc Organization of Purok Ongasan Loakan Inc. (BOPOLI) agreed to maintain the status quo in the area.
In view of this development, the city council passed a resolution last October 31 approving the committee’s recommendation that the status quo be maintained pending the resolution of the land dispute.
It can be remembered that the BOPOLI members, in 2021, sought the help of the City Government of Baguio regarding the plan of the PMA to construct a perimeter fence which they claimed would enclose the lot they are currently occupying.
The construction of the said perimeter fence is funded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of National Defence (DND).
A fencing permit has earlier been issued by the chief engineer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who serves as the building official authorized by the DPWH to issue fencing and building permits for structures within military reservations in the country.
The lot occupied by BOPOLI members is part of the area covered by Proclamation No. 2405, s. 1985 which declared certain portions of land of the public domain situated in Fort Gregorio Del Pilar as a military reservation subject to private rights, if any there be.
The entire reservation covers an area of 3,731,399 square meters more or less whereas the residential lot covers an area of 29,631 square meters.
The BOPOLI members claimed the said area had been occupied by their forefathers since World War II and prior to the establishment of PMA.
Several years back, the members and officers of the Bontoc Organization of Purok Ongasan Loakan Inc. requested for the conduct of a segregation survey of the said parcel of land.
In 2017, the Pre-Proclamation Committee chaired by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) favorably recommended the segregation of the lot and the issuance of a presidential proclamation covering the said lot for housing purposes.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Cordillera Administrative Region (DENR-CAR) granted a survey authority for the conduct of a segregation survey over the area. Subsequently, a segregation plan for the said area was prepared and issued by the Land Management Services of the DENR-CAR.
In 2020, the city council passed a resolution approving the said segregation survey.
The BOPOLI members asserted that the land they are occupying needs to be segregated from the operations of Proclamation No. 2405 so that they can proceed with the processing of their titles.
However, for the said lot to be segregated, a certificate of no objection has to be issued by the DND. Unfortunately for the residents, the DND had expressed its objection and rejected all requests for segregation by claimants within the military reservation. – Jordan G. Habbiling
