‘Glenda’ effective in removing illegal settlers in Mt. Banahaw

LUCENA CITY—Illegal settlers staying for years in Mount Banahaw in Dolores, Quezon, had to leave when Typhoon “Glenda” destroyed their houses.

“What we’ve been trying but failed to do, to force them to leave the restricted area, Typhoon Glenda did,” said SaludPangan, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) park superintendent for Mt. Banahaw.

Pangan said at least 30 illegal structures, some of which were semiconcrete, built inside a so-called “religious area” in Barangay Sta. Lucia, Dolores, were either heavily damaged or destroyed by the typhoon.

“The owners of the destroyed structures will now be forced to leave because we will no longer allow them to rebuild their houses,” Pangan said.

She said authorities had been trying to evict the mountain squatters since 2010 through legal means but the court has yet to issue an eviction order.

Pangan said town and villages officials of Dolores have requested the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) for a permit to retrieve fallen trees and cut them into lumber pieces to be donated to homeless storm survivors in Kinabuhayan and Sta. Lucia who are not illegal settlers.

Pangan said although Kinabuhayan is inside a religious area, the village was exempted from the restriction against squatters being an existing residential community before the implementation of Republic Act No. 9847 in 2009 that established the adjoining Mounts Banahaw and San Cristobal as protected areas.

She said the PAMB granted the request for a permit to retrieve wood.