Land claims, sinkholes peril relocation of Benguet slide victims

BAGUIO CITY–New settlers have replaced some survivors of the 2009 storm-triggered landslide at Little Kibungan in Puguis village in La Trinidad, Benguet, where 77 people were killed, but the relocation site for the victims there has still not been developed.

La Trinidad Mayor Edna Tabanda said the town government’s relocation plans have been obstructed by land claimants and sinkholes found in the relocation site, which was segregated by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the Benguet State University (BSU) reservation.

Tabanda said the municipal government has been busy addressing the mushrooming of buildings near the Little Kibungan landslide, despite a warning from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) that the area is a “no-build zone.”

She said these constructions were not issued building permits and could be demolished. “We issued cease orders over these constructions and I think they already stopped,” she said.

She said some of the houses at the area are now occupied by non-residents, suggesting that some of the old Little Kibungan dwellers have abandoned the area.

However, the INQUIRER learned during a recent visit to the area that some Little Kibungan residents had rented out their properties while awaiting the resolution concerning their promised resettlement. Tabanda also said recent surveys unearthed the existence of sinkholes in the relocation area. “Why should we transfer the survivors from one dangerous area to another?,” she asked.

“We will not return the area. We just need to study very well how to resolve problems [regarding cross claims made by alleged land owners there] and the safety of the area before we let the Little Kibungan victims occupy it,” Tabanda said.

Early in January, BSU president Ben Ladilad said the university may reclaim the lot segregated for Little Kibungan residents should the local government fail to use it for its intended purpose.

“We did not donate the lot. We acceded to the President’s request then,” Ladilad had said.

On June 22, Feliciano de los Santos, an official of the BSU land reservation office, said the university had asked the Office of the Solicitor General to help it reclaim reservation lands that had been illegally settled or which were titled to other claimants.

He was silent about Ladilad’s proposal to recover the proclaimed resettlement lot.

Informed about people claiming rights over the relocation site, De los Santos said the segregated lot was free from land claims when it was part of the university’s reservation.
“I don’t know why claimants surfaced after the proclamation,” he said.

Faye Apil, MGB Cordillera director, said Tabanda need not fear the existence of sinkholes in the relocation site. Apil said the sinkholes are located along a 4,600 square meter-section of the 1.6 hectare relocation area. These have been identified and separated from the proposed resettlement site, she said.

La Trinidad municipal engineer Benedict Pineda said his office discovered four sinkholes, the largest of which measures 3.9 meters wide and 8 meters deep, in 2011. Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon