Illegal occupiers of Talisay railway lot may lose homes

At least 263 families occupying the old Philippine Railway lot in barangays Mohon and Pooc in Talisay City may lose their houses after its tenants ordered them to vacate the place.

The settlers, composed of the Libo Riles Urban Poor Organization, Lower Mohon Railway Urban Poor Organization and Sta. Cruz Mohon Urban Poor Organization, asked Mayor Socrates Fernandez to intervene in their problem.

The Philippine Railway lot was covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program under the Department of Land Reform, which awarded it to at least 11 tenants.

In their September 8 letter sent to Fernandez, the settlers said they have nowhere to transfer if their houses were demolished, adding that most of them have been occupying the place since 1980.

They said the tenant-awardees are not the absolute owners of the lot because the DAR and Department of Environment and Natural Resources have yet to finish the survey to determine whether it is under CARP.

Under the present Comprehensive Land Use Plan of the city, the contested area is now classified as residential area.

The settlers said the tenant-awardees are no longer titling the land and even sold a portion of it for residential and commercial purposes.

"We kindly request your office to help us own a lot by giving us an opportunity to amortize the lot we are occupying and possibly include us as beneficiary of the land tenure program of the government," the settlers told Fernandez.

Under Executive Order 152, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the housing agencies, law enforcement agencies, including local government units, to ask permission from the Palace on any plan to demolish informal settlers within or outside the metropolis.

Recently, the President gave police power to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council to go after squatter syndicates victimizing urban poor settlers, and to act as a demolition team of those illegal communities.

According to the EO, the President wanted to make sure that the Lina Law, or the Urban Development and Housing Act, be implemented. Under the Lina Law, illegal settlers must be assured of a relocation site. - Garry B. Lao