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Friday, January 24, 2003
Tabogon brings land row to court
By Karen M. Flores
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AFTER 57 years, the Tabogon Municipal Government is finally bringing to court its boundary dispute with Borbon because both the Provincial and National Governments have apparently failed to resolve this.
The court has informed the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) that Tabogon is suing Borbon, among other purposes, to have the correct boundaries set and to collect at least P50 million in “unrealized income” for Tabogon.
This is because Borbon “encroached” on 400 hectares of “prime agricultural land” at the boundary of the northern towns, both fourth-class municipalities.
Tabogon also wants to be reimbursed of the attorney’s fees it is paying amounting to P150,000 plus P2,500 per appearance.
In filing the suit, Tabogon, represented by Mayor Roy Ornopia, said the Municipality has been unable to collect real property, income and inheritance taxes as well as the Internal Revenue Allotment it should have been entitled to since Borbon claimed the 400 hectares for itself.
Ornopia alleged that the conflict resulted from the political interest of one family way back in the 1940s to include the area Tabogon calls Sitio Lamac, Barangay Ilihan as part of Borbon.
In Borbon, the same area is known as Sitio Lamac, Barangay Don Gregorio Antigua.
For its part, Borbon maintained in a resolution approved in 2000 that a cadastral survey conducted in 1985 proved that the boundaries it is claiming are correct. The resolution has been attached as an annex to the case Tabogon filed.
In the suit, Tabogon said the continued boundary dispute has caused:
• Confusion on voter registration among constituents;
• Confusion on real estate taxation and barangay dispute settlement;
• Overlapping of duties of both municipal governments; and
• Diminished land area.
Mayor Ornopia also asked the court to issue a restraining order to stop Borbon from implementing the resolution its Municipal Council approved in 2000 giving authority to the mayor to demolish the boundary sign Tabogon put up.
Ornopia said Tabogon is willing to put up P100,000 as bond for the issuance of a restraining order although it is not required to do so since the Municipal Government is considered a “public corporation.”
In efforts to resolve the issue, the Tabogon Municipal Council has passed a total of four resolutions since 1946. The first measure asked the councils of both Tabogon and Borbon to sit down and discuss the dispute.
Twice, once in 1954 and again in 1985, it asked the Provincial Board to resolve the issue but three years later, the Board only advised town officials to take the issue to court using the Local Government Code as basis.
In 1988, the Tabogon Council asked the secretary of local gvernment to look into the dispute but got no reply.
(January 24, 2003 issue)
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