Mayor seeks cancellation of forest land titles

BAGUIO CITY—The mayor of Mankayan town in Benguet province has asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to cancel three land titles it issued for lands inside a communal forest there.

Materno Luspian said the titles covered 60 hectares of land within the communal forest of Barangay Bulalacao, which serves as a water source for the villages of Bulalacao, Tabio and Poblacion.

Luspian said the municipality had already detected signs of clearing in the forest. “Nobody was caught but we suspect the holders of the titles were behind these clearings,” he said.

Ralph Pablo, DENR Cordillera director, ordered an investigation of the complaint, pointing out that titles issued within communal forests are void.

Luspian said the existence of the titled forest lots was discovered in 2011 when municipal officials stopped a group of villagers from developing portions of the Bulalacao forest.

“The people showed us the titles as proof of ownership of portions of the communal forest they were developing. When we investigated further, we confirmed that the titles were indeed issued by the DENR [in 1997],” Luspian said.

“Why would the DENR issue titles within a communal forest?” he said.

He said the municipal government would develop the Agaki water source inside the forest to serve at least five villages. Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon