Army unit to appeal DENR land ruling

MANILA, Philippines - The Army’s 4th Infantry Division (ID) said it will appeal a decision of the Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR) which favored some 200 families residing within their camp in Cagayan de Oro City.

Acting 4th ID spokesman Maj. Noli Kanashiro said they respect the DENR decision but stressed that the military has been administering the disputed land before the families resided there.  

“The military is already occupying, administering, and has developed the property since 1935, way ahead of the supposed claimants prior to that declaration upheld by the DENR,” Kanashiro said in a statement.

Last Sept. 21, DENR declared a 12-hectare lot at Camp Evangelista in Patag town as “alienable and disposable” based on its parameters and policy.

The agency said that if the land is classified as such, the property is a public domain. This means that those occupying the land deemed as alienable and disposable have the right to own it.

The decision stemmed from a petition filed by around 200 families who want their lots excluded from that of the 4th ID.

Kanashiro said most of the claimants are retired soldiers who are aware that they are residing on military land.

Kanashiro said the 4th ID would tap all possible legal means to assert its claim on the land.