House in middle of road irks Benguet farmers

‘SIGA’ The village leader’s house (encircled) sits right in the middle of this farm-to-market road in Buguias town, Benguet province. This grainy photo was taken by a farmer. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Farmers of Barangay Baculongan Norte in  Buguias town,  Benguet province, have been spending more money to ship out vegetables to the market after a former village official built a house in the middle of their farm-to-market road.

At least 350 farmers, who till 3,000 hectares of land in seven sub-villages in Baculongan Norte, have been hiring men to haul their produce to avoid a house and vegetable patch that Delmon Thomas, a former village chief of Baculongan Norte, put up there last month.

Thomas has claimed a portion of the road as part of his inheritance. He began to pay taxes for the section of the road in 1983, a year after the road was built.

In June, Thomas reportedly took over the road by blocking it with a stone wall. His neighbors took the wall down a week later but he then returned and built a house.

The Public Attorney’s Office of Buguias told the farmers that they had the right to demolish the house and remove the road block. They heeded the advice, given by village officials, that they talk to Thomas.

But settling the matter amicably with Thomas proved futile.

On August 4, the farmers of the sub-villages of Alang, Bangsalan, Codal, Mandal-em, Palaan, Pelpeldit and Pugo asked Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan to help talk with Thomas.

The farmers said they were forced to shoulder the additional transport cost for shipping their goods to the vegetable-trading post in the capital town of La Trinidad in Benguet. Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon