Mandaue Council to set boundaries among 5 barangays

CEBU, Philippines - The Mandaue City Council has approved the creation of ad hoc oversight committee  to settle the boundary dispute between five barangays after their chiefs have asked for the intercession of the Mandaue City Council to resolve this issue.

City Councilor Ernie Manatad, who sits as ex-officio in the city council representing the barangays, said the barangay captains of Subangdaku, Tipolo, Guizo, Centro and Mantuyong  are seeking the intervention of the city council for the determination of the boundaries for each barangay.

The request of the barangay captains was made during their Liga ng mga Barangay-Mandaue assembly as they want to put a closure to the boundary dispute especially heightened due to the opening of new businesses in the area.

Manatad said the cause of the boundary dispute between the barangays can be traced to the lack of technical description of lands straddling these areas.

"We will continue to meet sa lima ka barangays after Holy Week.  So far, we have initially drawn our boundaries but subject to further discussions with the ad hoc committee members and the punong barangays of the five barangays for the partition of the reclamation area," Manatad said.

The ad hoc committee is authorized to create a Technical Working Group (TWG) to fix and define barangay boundaries.

"While the other disputes from other barangays will also be resolved once the ad hoc will be convened," Manatad said, adding that their timeline to resolved the issue is within this year.

He said that the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) plays a big part in the occurrence of boundary disputes.

They want to retain their old area for the purpose of the IRA, he added.

Manatad said that for disputed areas, land boundaries could be altered, stressing that under Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines, the Sangguniang Panlungsod has the authority to settle barangay boundary disputes. —/JBB (FREEMAN)