Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak said he confirmed that land titles were issued for water easements in the Buhisan River and Mahiga Creek.
The councilor said 189 individuals have titles to 31 lots along the waterways of barangay Buhisan. Tumulak said the lot owners are not from barangay Buhisan and that some even live in Camotes Island.
At the Mahiga Creek, Tumulak said they found 129 titled lots in the barangay Kasambagan portion and 39 titled lots in barangay Mabolo side.
Most of the lot owners are Filipino-Chinese businessmen, he said.
The ownership claims are getting in the way of City Hall’s efforts to remove families living along the riversides and dangerzones for flood and landslides.
Based on the 1976 Water Code of the Philippines, Tumulak said the titles are questionable as the law prohibits any private individual from owning lots within the three-meter easement of a river or body of water.
Nullify titles
Isabelo Montejo, regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 7 (DENR 7) said his office created a team from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) in Cebu City to check titles issued for areas not supposed to be titled.
He said that he ordered the team to check the cadastral map for the area area involved especially the part below the dam.
Montejo said he is sure that the land below the Buhisan dam, right after the gate, is alienable and disposable which means that these lots can be titled.
Montejo added that the issuance of lot titles may have been done by their office administratively or through the court. He clarified that the area near the river should not be titled and no structure should be found within the three-meter easement.
Montejo said that based on their inspection, the river had been reclaimed and several families are already living in the area.
This becomes dangerous for the residents.
“If in the investigation, there are areas within the watershed that had been issued a title, administrative or by judicial title, it is our responsibility to notify the solicitor general’s office to nullify the titles, and that it is then the court who will nullify the titles,” Montejo said.
Montejo added that Buhisan Dam was classified as timberland and watershed in 1911, based on law, since that time, no lots within the waterway or even 20 meters from the gate should be titled.
While the investigation continues, Montejo advised the city and the residents in the area to relocate for safety.