Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Land congress participants identify problems
PARTICIPANTS to the two-day lands conference adopted various solutions and alternatives to the land problems of Baguio.
In a resolution, participants said all stakeholders should first be identified and laws pertaining to disposal of public lands should first be reviewed to ensure all claimants are accorded the right to own lands.
The validity of 211 titles should likewise be identified, the participants said.
On the dispossession of the Ibalois and their continuing struggle for their ancestral domain, the participants said the State should recognize the legitimate claims over unoccupied lands of public domain and dialogue with affected claimants.
Measures also have to be taken to strengthen indigenous culture and traditional knowledge and ensure its transmission to the youth, the participants said in the resolution.
A comprehensive study should be done to reconcile conflicting land surveys and titles, and programs also have to be explored to solve squatting and implement instead a genuine mass housing project. (RO)
