Baguio's Task Force Irisan recommends moratorium on demolition

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BAGUIO CITY (Jan. 19) — Community vigilance and unity of Barangay Irisan residents to fight for their right to shelter pressured Task Force Irisan to recommend a moratorium on demolitions, a status quo and to further study and clarify the status of land in the said barangay during a dialog last January 17.

Irisan residents welcomed the task force resolution, but they demanded a written order from the city government specifying the coverage and duration of the moratorium on demolition of houses.

Last week Irisan residents staged a rally to contest a demolition order issued by city hall in favor of a land claimant in Cypress Point Subdivision.

Revoke demolition orders, clarify land status

Geraldine Cacho of the Organisasyon dagiti Nakurapay nga Umili ti Syudad (Ornus), also a member of the task force, said the recent resolution is a step towards the solution of Irisan land problems. However, she iterated that the demand of Irisan residents is the revocation of past demolition orders covering the area and a status quo until all land anomalies and issues are properly addressed.

Cacho said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) must clarify the true status of the lands in Irisan to settle the validity of land titles that land claimants use to secure demolition orders.

Salvador Ramo, chair of the Irisan People’s Action against Demolition and for Good Governance (IPADeGG), another task force member added that the DENR should also file for the cancellation of invalid titles covering Irisan. He also stressed that other forms of demolition should also be addressed, which include forced negotiation and payment to claimants aside from the actual dismantling of houses.

Ramo also added that some members of the task force are involved in anomalous Irisan land sale, specifying Philippine Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) Head Rufino Beltran. He said IPADeGG already filed complaints with the task force.

Councilor Faustino Olowan, chair of the council Committee on Land Use, Housing and Urban Planning said the task force already wrote Beltran regarding the accusations thrown against him. Beltran did not respond, Olowan said.

Task Force Irisan member Councilor Jose Molintas told Nordis that the task force would propose a policy to acting Mayor Reinaldo Bautista to hold in abeyance all demolition orders issued in the past covering Irisan and for status quo in the area. He added that status quo would mean that no demolition would take place if no new structures would be erected in the area.

Molintas further said that the task force would also request the City Assessors Office and DENR to help clarify the status of lands in Irisan. He also said the they would propose to strengthen the task force.

“We propose that all demolition orders should pass through the task force for further study and recommendations before implementation,” he explained.

Dismayed but resolute

On January 16, around 300 Irisan residents trooped to city hall to attend the meeting set last January 11 by Bautista who promised that DENR and other city officials involved would be present. Bautista dismayed the residents when he did not appear in the meeting.

Alice Rosario, an Irisan resident told Nordis that instead of working she went to the dialog hoping Bautista would meet with them and come up with solutions to Irisan land problems. She thanked City Administrator Peter Fianza for accommodating them but said the meeting would have been more fruitful if the acting mayor was there.

Fianza explained that the January 16 talks was in preparation for the task force meeting on January 17 where residents were also invited as witnesses. He said the consolidation of the position and demands of all affected Irisan residents was part of the preparations.

The task force was created by Mayor Braulio Yaranon before he was suspended last year. # Kim Quitasol for NORDIS