Hope still springs eternal in Gov. Gwen

 A serious blunder was committed by the then Bureau of Lands survey team in the cadastral survey of Compostela, Cebu in mid-sixties yet. It was a case of gross haste sacrificing elemental accuracy… The survey blunder resulted in clashes between and among adjoining owners arising from altered and overlapping of boundaries of surveyed lots.

Domino-type blunders obviously came because the survey team did their field work even without the presence of ALL adjoining landowners to confirm the correct boundaries on their respective sides.

Few years later, the boundary disputes surfaced when a lot buyer/prospective buyer relocated/resurveyed the lot based on the erroneous technical descriptions and the sketch maps of the Bureau of Lands. And so, the buyer and adjoining owners got entangled in heated conflicts.

Sometime in mid-2001, this representation wrote to the Compostela Municipal Council about the many land confrontations, urging the municipal officials to petition the Bureau of Lands/DENR for a corrective resurvey. Unfortunately, no official action was made by the local officialdom.

 The boundary problems escalated in number, and so, one wrote another letter in November, 2006 to the Municipal Council. In early 2007, one attended their session, with Mayor Antonio Dangoy in attendance, wherein one cited many boundary over-lappings in Cabadiangan and its sitios. Some councilors confirmed similar “linapasay” in other barrios. Thus, they agreed to verify from Consolacion, Cebu how it was able to correct the same blunders from the cadastral survey also by the Bureau of Lands.

Sadly, the matter was shelved on account of the May 2007 elections, but Mayor Dangoy promised to pursue the matter after the elections. With his defeat, he missed to leave behind what would have been a lasting legacy to his constituents.

With the new municipal leadership, one personally contacted Mayor Ritchie Wagas and former Mayor Gilbert Wagas who both were enthusiastic to address the problem. Unfortunately, Ex-Mayor Gilbert relayed later the info that the DENR to which the office and functions of the Bureau of Lands have been devolved, demurred from making a resurvey. The local DENR allegedly suggested that the landowners individually initiate the correction.

Relevant questions: 1) Why did the DENR make the correction resurvey in Consolacion, Cebu, but not in Compostela? 2) Why should the correction be thrown to the affected landowners who are not at fault, thereby passing the buck that would entail expenses and hassle? 3) Will piecemeal corrections solve the problem considering that over-lapping of boundaries has led to the domino effect on practically all the lands townwide? 4) Can the DENR wash off its hands or shirk from the blunder of its own doing?

One had stressed to the past officials of Compostela the urgency of resolving such a public issue. Similarly, Mayor Ritchie Wagas and the Sangguniang Bayan will no doubt realize the far-reaching legacy that they could leave behind.

It’s said that hope springs eternal. All is not yet lost to put to right what was done wrong. With Mayor Gilbert’s “connections” somewhere “upstairs”, like DENR Secretary Lito Atienza, or Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo, no less, who knows that justice and right may still be attained.

 But much better else, and with instant promptness, there’s the proven solicitude and ready heart and hand of Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia. The Compostela LGU and its simple rural folk have been recipients of Gov. Gwen’s benevolence, as evidenced by the asphalt-paving projects in Cabadiangan and Basak, to cite a couple, as well as, in Bogo and Toledo cities regardless of political leanings. Why not implead the intercession of the service-oriented lady governor, that is, for DENR to meet its responsibility, and/or lend a hand in case it has budgetary limitations?

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