By ADELA DEYAEN WAYAS
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BAGUIO CITY — Mayor Mauricio Domogain said the city will continue to fight for the declaration of nullity of the title issued covering the Forbes Park.

Mayor said the Office of the Solicitor General has committed to fast track the filing of the petition by the city for the nullification of the Certificates of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) issued by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). This was the result of his appeal to the president after a meeting on December 31, 2010.

The mayor said it is the Solicitor general’s office that can file action “to cancel, to nullify, and to revert” CALTs issued wrongly like the Forbes Park. It could be recalled that CALTs were issued on November 12, 2008 by the NCIP to the heirs of Lauro Carantes.

Domogan added the city will make sure that there will be no be construction at Forbes Park. He said that structures in the area were demolished because they did not have building and fencing permits.

According to him, a survey will be good for the city to define the alienable and disposable public lands that is part of the townsite reservations of the city. He said by this way he said the city will know the public lands that can not be given to private individuals. He said that the city will by all means find funds for the completion of the survey of the townsite reservations of the city.

Meanwhile, Domogan also clarified that the new preliminary screening committee is legally formed by the virtue of the enbanc resolution 090 of the NCIP. He said there are groups questioning the legality of the Baguio Ancestral Land Clearing Committee (BALCC) after its formulation last year. It was Councilor Isabelo Cosalan who introduced in 2009 the creation of the BALCC with its resolution Resolution Number 406.

Domogan said the clearing commitee is an offshoot of a meeting in September 2, 2009 with some city council officials, then Mayor Reinaldo Bautista, Atty. Melchor Rabanes, Bishop Carlito Cenzon, NCIP chairman Eugenio Insigne and Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III where he was present as the congressman of Baguio City.

“To you who are questioning it, we are not the ones who like it, “ he addressed. He reiterated that it was the NCIP by its enbanc resolution that the screening body be created.

Mayor said some land claimants worry that forming the screening body adds to the bureaucracy of the politicians. He said the screening body is to fast track the process of titling legitimate land claims and not because of this issue.

Moreover Domogan said legitimate ancestral land claims means those who are covered by the section 78 of the Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act. # nordis.net

By ADELA DEYAEN WAYAS
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — The Filipino-Chinese community here once more expressed appreciation to the City for making the Spring Festival an official celebration here.

POWERFUL. Kariza Kris Chan performing Taichi during the 2011 Spring Festival Media briefing held at Hotel Supreme last January 19. Chan is also one of the outstanding awardees of the 24th National Correspondents Club of Baguio (NCCB) Kafagway Sports Achievers Day program on January 15. Photo by Adela Deyaen Wayas/nordis.net

Domogan is chairing the Executive committee of the 2011 Spring Festival also known as the Chinese New Year.

Domogan added different tribes from different places are coming to the city. Thus, making it as an official celebration, he said it is also an expression of gratitude to what the Chinese have contributed to the city.

The Spring festival this year will welcome the year of the Metal Rabbit from February 3 to January 22 next year. The rabbit is the fourth animal in the Chinese Lunar calendar that symbolizes peace, goodluck and hapiness.

Dr Charles Cheng, chair of the committee on overall program, said this year’s Spring Festival will be very busy with the lined up activities for the city. The launching of the Spring Festival was held on December 13 last year at the Baguio City Hall.

A gift giving activity at San Carlos Heights Irisan Barangay was shared by the Filipino-Chinese community on January 21. Recipients of these gifts were identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) here.

The gift-sharing will be followed by the book launch of a children’s storybook authored by Richard Cheng on January 25, Tuesday at the Supreme Hotel.

A Medical and Dental Mission is also lined up on January 27, Thursday at the SM City Baguio Rotunda. The mission is with the participation of SM Baguio and the city health center.

The Chinese community here also invited the Ambassador of Peoples Republic of China to grace the celebration on February 3.

The highlight of the celebration will showcase a grand colorful parade on February 4, Friday from Upper Session Road to Melvin Jones Grand Stand. The most awaited fireworks display follows after the parade.

Moreover, Mascot shows will be held at Melvin Jones Grand Stand. According to Peter Ng, vice chair of the executive committee, some of the mascots will be coming from Manila to participate in this year’s celebration of the Spring Festival here. # nordis.net

By ACE ALEGRE
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BAGUIO CITY — Baguio City Representative Bernardo Vergara announced that House Bill 3759, an act seeking to revise Baguio City’s charter was recently passed on final reading in the lower house and is hopeful it would be passed in the upper house.

Vergara, who refilled House Bill 3759 taking cue from an earlier proposal of former Congressman now Mayor Mauricio Domogan, said the revision will be exceptionally fast as the Senate plenary has already endorsed the measure on January 17 to the Committee on Local Governments headed by Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

“The measure’s legislative journey is considered record-setting by parliamentary standards because in less than six moths, it was passed in the House (on December 13, 2010) through a unanimous vote on third and final reading,” he said.

Vergara said, Baguio has a national sympathy as the nation’s Summer Capital and premier tourist destination, as the changes in its charter will pave the way for land use development in the city. 

“The disposal of public lands is made more efficient and less cumbersome; as townsite land disposition is delegated from the national to the local government, thus ensuring ample land spaces for public use,” he added.

Under the new charter, Vergara said, privately occupied homelots within public disposable lands will now be immediately awarded by a local board headed by the city mayor to present occupants without their having to undergo the prohibitive process of auctions and bidding, thus recognizing rights arising from long-term occupancy.

The fast urbanization and migration patterns in Baguio for the past 100 years since 1909 has swelled from 25,000 residents to a high of 300,000, posing long-standing woes on housing, land use and resources.

The new charter will also settle, Vergara said, age-old territorial boundary dispute that has often strained the city’s relationship with Tuba town in Benguet, paving the way for closer cooperative endeavors with its neighboring town, the Baguio solon further explained.

National reservations lands which have been re-classified by national statutes and presidential declarations will now be disposed for housing purposes in closer coordination with the local government, thus providing homelot access to needy local constituents,  the new charter hopes.

With Sen. Marcos Jr. around, “baka belated New Year’s gift sa Baguio ng Senado ito,” beamed Vergara who hopes Senate’s favorable action is out before Congress adjourns in May. # nordis.net

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BAGUIO CITY — Two lectures on Mangyan Script and Poetry , sponsored by the Studies Center (CSC) of the University of the Philippines Baguio, in cooperation with its Committee on Culture and the Arts and the Mangyan Heritage Center will be held on January 26, Wednesday at 2:30 pm at the Bulwagang Juan Luna, here.

The first lecture, “Mangyan Script,” will be given by Lolita Delgado Fansler, a freelance writer and president of the Mangyan Heritage Center, Inc. Her lecture will focus on the Mangyan mode of writing, an ancient Philippine syllabary that has persisted to modern times.

Fansler said prior to Spanish conquest, the natives of the Philippine archipelago had their own scripts. She added, that by the end of the Spanish colonial period, almost all of these indigenous writing systems had been replaced by the Roman alphabet.

Fansler also said today only the Hanunuo and Buhid Mangyan, together with the Palaw-an and Tagbanwa of Palawan, have managed to retain their indigenous writing systems which have been declared as National Cultural Treasures and inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Registers.

The second lecture, “Looking into the Ambahan,” will be presented by Mr. Restituto Pitogo, author of Loob-Po! Ang Pamana ng Ginintuang Ambahan ng mga Hanunuo Mangyan para sa Likas-Kayang Kaginhawahan ng Sambayanang Pilipino. Ambahan, the indigenous song-poetry of the Hanunoo-Mangyan of Mindoro, is an ancient poetic form.

The ambahan, according to Pitogo, “proposes that we go back to the wellspring of faith and values. In the ambahan world, we see an integrated eco-centric life.” The lecture will dwell on the symbolic themes of the ambahan and the interplay of forces that it depicts, to bring out the poetry’s underlying idea of life as “sufficient and sustainable.”

Meanwhile, the lectures on Mangyan script and poetry are being held in conjunction with a photographic exhibition of Mangyan culture on January 25-28 at the Galerya Kordilyera of UPBaguio.# UP Baguio Release

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Dad pushes for City PUV registration
By Paul Rillorta/ PIO

BAGUIO CITY – City Councilor Nicasio Aliping is proposing a resolution for the eventual local registration of all Public Utility Vehicles(PUV) coming in and out of the city. Dubbed ‘Registration and Stickering System’ for all public utility vehicles citywide aimed at eventually recording all existing PUV’s plying the Baguio route. With the resolution, PUV’s will have to register and secure a clearance first with the city government before registering with the LTFRB.

It requires all PUV’s including buses, jeepneys, taxis, vans for hire and school service to secure a clearance with the city for purposes of registration, extension, substitution and transfer thru the Traffic and Transportation Management Committee (TTMC), the ordinance states. After registration, the PUV’s will be issued stickers at the expense of the owner or operator which will be placed on the vehicles windshield. The Office of the City Mayor thru the TTMC will be the sole agency in issuing said clearances and stickers. Public hearing and consultation for the said ordinance will be conducted soon. #

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Cultural and business sensitivity promised in Panagbenga
By Ramon Dacawi/PIO

BAGUIO CITY – “Panagbenga” or the Baguio Flower Festival promises to be closer to what it should be with assurances of cultural authenticity and greater support of the business sector that benefits the most from the city’s month-long special tourism-oriented event now on its 16th year.

This means adherence to the purity and genuine blending of the costumes, gong beats and dance steps of each Cordillera tribe in the street performances, according to regional tourism director Purificacion Molintas. This means rallying business establishments to financially contribute to the success of the month-long festival that generates huge revenues and keeps the cash registers of restaurants and hotels ringing.

“Let us not forget that the festival is, foremost, our way of thanking the Lord Almighty for the beautiful environment that He has given Baguio,” the mayor said. Seeking the blessings of the mayor, Cating, who owns the Ganza and Solibao restaurants at the corners of the Burnham Park grounds, promised to rally his peers in commerce to contribute to the business profit-generating festival.

The “Grand Canao”, a fore-runner of the Panagbenga that accent on Cordillera ethnic culture, proved a success for some years but eventually faded out, partly due to the failure of the business sector to sustain its fund counterpart to run the same. #

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Low turnout in tax payments worries Domogan
By Isagani S Liporada/ PIO

BAGUIO CITY – Only 1,000 of the expected 15,000 businesses have settled their city dues so far. This was revealed by mayor Mauricio Domogan last January 19 in the Ugnayang Panglungsod. He expressed hope “concerned Baguio constituents settle on time so that the city’s priority projects may be funded without delay.” He revealed, “a comment from a concerned taxpayer on the long lines for community tax certificates have in fact led us to pull out employees from other divisions so they could help the treasurer’s office in speeding up the payment process.”

Meantime, city treasurer Thelma Manaois egged taxpayers to pay early to avail of 20-percent discount for real property payments made before the end of March; 15-percent before the end of February; and 10-percent before the end of March.She added early payers could likewise qualify with daily raffles in city hall. She iterated, “We unveiled ‘Resibo Mo May Panalo’ where every qualified tax payer can spin the wheel at the one-stop shop and win instant prizes from now until March 31.”

Delinquent business taxpayers face closure after 5-days grace from conclusion of notice and hearing conducted by CTO. #